Dr. Who (The Early Years) - Part 38 "The Hand of Fear"

Many of the Doctor Who stories are filmed in a quarry. This time, it's even more blatant. As the Doctor and Sarah start walking trying to decide where they are, a siren begins blaring. Sarah is the first to realize they are indeed strolling in a quarry and the siren is warning they are blasting. She warns the Doctor a little too late and they are nearly caught in the blast. Sarah is encased in rocks when she finds a fossilized hand. Initially thinking it might be from the Doctor, she passes out.

Sarah's grip on the hand does not release and as she's taken to the hospital, it goes along with her. The ring on the hand is active and infects her mind. She's driven by the command, "Eldrad must live". She grabs the hand and walks towards the nearest nuclear power plant. There the hand starts absorbing the radiation, and begins to regenerate, starting with it's finger, then starting to move. It's looking for more power.

The Doctor is successful in separating Sarah from the hand, but the ring falls from her hands and one of the technicians of the nuclear plant finds it. It infects his mind also and directs him to take the hand directly into the power core. An 'unexplosion' takes place and Eldrad's regeneration is completed. Eldrad provides a sad story of how 'he' and his home planet were betrayed. The Doctor agrees to take Eldrad back home, but not back in time as Eldrad had been encased in the rock face on Earth for 150 million years.

Once on Kastria, they learn the female looking version of Eldrad is not truly how he looks. With Sarah being the first template he came in contact with on Earth his regeneration was patterned from her. Now back on Kastria, he assumes his true form and it's revealed he was the one who betrayed his planet and was executed. Fearing his return, Kastria deleted all traces of their DNA so he would not be able to recreate the race, leaving him as the King of Nothing.

Returning back to the Tardis, Sarah complains of always being cold, shot at and hypnotized. When the Doctor spends more time working on the Tardis than listening to her she feigns an attempt to go home and packs her bags. While doing so, the Doctor receives a mental summons from the Timelords. So when Sarah comes back into the control room, the Doctor informs her she has to go home as he cant' bring her with. The Doctor regrets having to leave Sarah behind and tells her they'll meet again. He then drops her off in South Croydon, Hillview Road - her home. Upon leaving the Tardis, Sarah realizes missed his mark again, and she doubts she's even in South Croydon. Whistling, she heads home.

WHO: Sarah Jane Smith

DEPARTURE LOCATION: Earth, circa 1976

REASON FOR DEPARTURE: When the Doctor receives an important summons from Gallifrey, he realizes he can't bring her with him and he drops her off.


NEXT:Master Assasin

Doctor Who Graduation

My niece graduated from grade school this year. For her graduation, she asked for a Doctor Who themed party. I couldn't have been prouder. For all the kids, home-made "Tardis Bags" were presented.


A friend was called in to make the cake. Despite Despite having no knowledge of Doctor Who, I think she did a good job.


I was called in to supply the props; scarf, Tardis & action figures. I even had the soundtrack available, though it ultimately went unused.


No Doctor Who would be complete without a hidden 'Easter Egg'. This was found on back of the cake.

Hardware Wars - May the Farce Be With You

Nothing reminds me of my childhood more than watching the first Star Wars spoof. If you are a Star Wars fan and have not seen this, you MUST. 33 years later and it's still hilarious. Leave your comments below about the first time you saw this. Or what you thought of it, if this is your first time.

Dr. Who (The Early Years) - Part 37 "The Brain of Morbius"

The Doctor and Sarah make an unscheduled trip to Karn, a dark and story planet close to Gallifrey. He blames the Timelords for messing with his Tardis and forcing him to do their 'dirty work' as they did with the Daleks. At first he refuses to get involved but Sarah soon finds a field of crashed ships and a headless creature called a Mutt. The Doctor realizes the head was dismembered after the crash and deliberately. This is enough to get him interested in what's going on.

When it begins to rain, the Doctor and Sarah seek shelter from the only 'civilization' they can find, a large majestic mansion on top of a hill, lightening flashing behind it. Inside they meet Solon, who immediately praises the Doctor for having such a beautiful head. Sarah claims to have liked his previous silver model. When the Doctor thinks he recognizes the clay bust Solon is working on, Solon quickly covers it up.

There is also another group on Karn known as the Sisterhood. They have a connection with Gallifrey who knows of the Elixir of Life the sisterhood secretly protects. But the flame which is the catalyst for the elixir is dying and sisters are convinced the Timelords sent the Doctor to steal what remains. They then teleport the Doctor away from Solon, who they think he is conspiring with. Finding out Solon has been less than honest, Sarah sets out to find the Doctor. She succeeds in infiltrating the sisterhood and saving him from being burned alive, but a flash from high priestess Maren's ring takes her eyesight away.

Despite not trusting Solon, the Doctor takes Sarah back to have her eyes checked. Solon tricks the Doctor into thinking Sarah's eyes can only be restored with some of the Elixir. After he sets off, Solon sends his servant Condo ahead of the Doctor to warn the sisterhood the Doctor plans on stealing the Elixir. He hopes they will give him the Doctors head in exchange for the warning. While he's occupied, Sarah makes a discovery of her own. Solon has the brain of Morbius in his laboratory. Morbius is a Gallifreyan who was executed for his crimes of treason and attempts of galactic conquest.

Realizing he's been tricked by Solon, the Doctor offers to help the Sisters restore the flame that brings the Elixir of Life. Without it, they will soon perish. The Doctor also tries to assure them the Timelords did not send him to steal it. He's successful in reigniting the flame, but the Sisters abide to the agreement they made with Solon and send the Doctor back to him, bound.

While he was away at the sisterhood, Solon was successful in placing the brain of Morbius inside a hodgepodge body created from spare parts of those who crashed on the planet, including the arm of his servant Condo. Morbius plans on continuing his reign of terror, but the Doctor challenges him to a mind contest. This fries his delicate brain and Morbius tries to escape but is hunted by the Sisterhood who chase him with torches and ultimately over a cliff.

Next: Eldrad Must Live

Dr. Who (The Early Years) - Part 36 "Terror of the Zygons"

The Doctor, Harry and Sarah arrive on Earth after the Brigadier has summoned the Doctor back to Earth. Oil rigs in Scotland are mysteriously being attacked and destroyed. But the Tardis has not materialized close to the Brigadier's temporary headquarters so the trio must search out a ride after a long walk across a Scottish moor.

The Doctor concludes the oil rigs have been chewed up by something large and fierce. Adding to the mystery are several local people acting very suspicious including The Cabre, Sister Lamont & The Duke of Forgill. When Harry finds a survivor from one of the oil rigs, he is shot by the Cabre and left for dead. The bullet only grazed Harry, but killed the survivor.

While recuperating, Harry is kidnapped and brought to the real threat, the Zygons. They crash landed on Earth centuries ago and are now plotting to take over the world. Harry discovers the Zygons have kidnapped several humans and can use the templates to impersonate them, as they proceed to do with Harry. The Doctor had found a vital clue and the Zygons want to use Harry to get it back. The Zygon impersonating Harry runs into Sarah who figures out there is something wrong with Harry. She calls for UNIT soldiers to help her find Harry.

Sarah discovered the hidden entrance to the Zygon ship and the Brigadier and the Doctor soon follow. She rescues the real Harry, but the Zygons now kidnap the Doctor. But the Zygon leader Broton underestimates the Doctor who promptly escapes from his cell, releases all those held captive by the Zygons and blows up the ship. Only Broton escapes, currently impersonating the Duke of Forgill.

Broton soon reverts back to his normal fungus state with the template no longer hooked up to the Zygon ship. He is ultimately shot by Unit but has already released a Skarasen. But the creature is merely homing in on a tracking device which the Doctor has found. He promptly feeds it to the creature, which then makes it's way back to it's home in Loch Ness. Back at the Tardis, the Doctor offers Harry, the Brigadier and Sarah a ride back to London. The Brigadier refuses and Harry decided to stick to conventional routes. Sarah agrees to go with the Doctor as long as they go straight back to London.

WHO: Harry Sullivan

DEPARTURE LOCATION: Scotland, circa 1975

REASON FOR DEPARTURE: Having met the Cybermen, Daleks, Sontaran and nearly getting killed back on Earth, Harry decides he's had enough travels with the Doctor.




WHO: Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart

DEPARTURE LOCATION: Scotland, circa 1975

REASON FOR DEPARTURE: The Doctor moves on to adventures off Earth. Though the Brigadier makes several special guest appearances over the years, this is essentially his last regular series role.


NEXT: Dr. Solon's Monster; Morbius

Parents I'd Be Proud Of

Dr. Who (The Early Years) - Part 35 "Genesis of the Daleks"

The Doctor, Sarah and Harry are in mid-route via a trans-mat device when the Doctor is plucked from the travel by one of the Timelords of Gallifrey. They seek to recruit the Doctor in a task involving the Daleks. Foreseeing a time the Daleks become the dominant creatures in the universe the Doctor is to go back in time to he creation of the Daleks and given the options of averting their creation or affecting their genetic development so they develop into less aggressive creatures.

After arriving on Skaro, The Doctor, Sarah and Harry walk across a mine field where the Doctor nearly blows himself up. Finding a trench, they search it till they are caught in a cross-fire between Thal and Kaled troops. After things settle down, the Kaleds take Harry and the Doctor into their bunker, leaving Sarah thinking she is dead. Immediately, Harry and the Doctor are searched, items confiscated and refused tea. The Doctors Time-ring (which will take them back to the Tardis) is taken along with his sonic screwdriver, jelly babies and various other items.

The Kaleds are finally introduced to the Mark III travel machine, created by their top scientist Davros. He later declares they are to known as Daleks. While this is going on, the Doctor and Harry escape, meet up with Sarah who has befriended a Muto, and captured again. Learning the Doctor is from the future, Davros plans to torture Harry and Sarah unless the Doctor tells him about every Dalek defeat. Harry and Sarah try to persuade the Doctor to ignore them, but the Doctor gives in and the interrogation process is recorded.

Many of the scientists and some in the military realize the creatures Davros is creating is pure evil and group together to try and stop him. Davros tricks them into giving him time to decide if he wants to give up, but this just gives him time to make use of the few Daleks he's already created. He plans to find those who are loyal to him and exterminate the rest. This gives the Doctor the time to complete his task, utterly destroy the Daleks before they even begin. But he is reluctant to finally do so, believe that causing the genocide would make him no better than the Daleks.

Davros has a devious plan though and gives the Thals the information needed to crack their protective dome and destroy the Kaled people. He then double crosses the Thals by sending his few complete Dalek troops into the Thal dome to destroy everyone there. When Davros calls the rest of the Daleks back, a few Thal military leaders are successful in entombing Davros and his Daleks. So the Doctor ultimately has done what was intended, to hamper the progress of the Dalek. While inside the Kaled bunker, Davros is himself betrayed by the Daleks who consider him an inferior being. Now fully autonomous, the Daleks vow to repair and grow stronger and take their "rightful" place as the supreme power of the universe.

WHO: Davros

PLANET OF ORIGIN: Skaro

GOALS: To create the ultimate weapon.

WEAKNESSES: Essentially blind, handicapped and crippled. Needs his travel machine in order to survive.


NEXT: Rampage of the Loch Ness Monster

Dr. Who (The Early Years) - Part 34 "Robot"

The Doctor is newly regenerated and has a brief period of instability. UNIT medic Harry Sullivan tries to confine him to the sick bay, but the Doctor is adamant he's fine. When the Doctor decides to change though, his instability is reflected. First he comes out of the Tardis dressed as a Barbarian but the Brigadier reminds him UNIT is a secret organization and his clothing style might draw attention. His next few choices are also questionable, till he finally settles on the coat and scarf motif.

Meanwhile, Sarah is investigating a Think Tank organization but thinks they are hiding something. Suspicions aroused, she sneaks back in and discovers they are hiding a giant robot. The director is upset by her discovery and orders the robot to destroy her. With an established primary command of not harming humans, the robot is distressed and fails to complete his instructions. Sarah believes this causes the robot pain and she tries to comfort it.

The Doctor tries to sneak away in the Tardis but the Brigadier asks for his help and Sarah pleads he help as well. Once he hears the plans of a disintegration gun have been stolen as well as the components to build it, he snaps out of his instability and agrees to help the Brigadier. He correctly predicts the next thing needed will be a focusing generator for the weapon. Despite UNIT's involvement, the only one available is stolen.

Having befriended Professor Kettlewell, Sarah uses him to sneak into the Scientific Reform Society, the organization behind the Think Tank. They believe the world should be lead by scientists and are willing to launch a nuclear strike, planning to remain in their bunker till it's safe to re-emerge. Sarah is then shocked to learn Kettlewell is working with the SRS as well as his robot. She is saved by the timely arrival of UNIT.

Kettlewell ultimately tries to stop the robot, but is killed in the process. Having destroyed its creator, the Robot goes mad. The Brigadier learns it's not as hard to destroy as he thought and shooting it with the disintegrating gun only makes it grow in size. Enraged, the giant robot grabs Sarah to 'protect' her as she was the only person who tried to befriend her. It storms off to attack UNIT.

The Doctor saves the day when he uses another of Professor Kettlewells inventions to destroy the robot. With Harry Sullivan's help, he recreates a virus that eats away at metal and breaks it down. The virus is thrown onto the robot and quickly spreads till the robot is destroyed, much to the dismay of Sarah. The Doctor offers to take Sarah on a trip in the Tardis to cheer her up, but when Harry catches them sneaking off he is invited to go along as well.

WHO: Harry Sullivan

PLANET OF ORIGIN: Earth, 1974

REASON FOR JOINING: Invited into the Tardis to prove it can't travel in time and space.





NEXT: Enter the Kaleds.