The Five Doctors

This is as happy a celebration as a 20 year old science fiction programme could hope to have. A mish-mash of Doctors and monsters, it works better as a series of character vignettes than a dramatic story. The episode (it is best viewed as the 90 minute film of the original transmission) ambles spendidly through mini-adventures for all concerned, sort of aiming towards the showdown at the end, but with no great tension for the audience.

It's a little odd to think that we're now another 16 years on.

It would have been more fun if they could have gotten Tom Baker instead of just using a couple clips of him, but it was a very fun adventure. It also gave me exposure to some of the other Doctors that I had never seen before.

This anniversary special is quite interesting as it features excellent performances from all involved. The natural chemistry of Patrick Troughton and Nicholas Courtney for instance is one of the truly shining elements of this production. Also Richard Hurdnall does a remarkably good and under rated version of the 1st Doctor. It is most interesting to see the 1st Doctor paired up with Tegan as they both have intense egos which work brilliantly in tandem. Meanwhile we have the familiar couplings of the 3rd Doctor and Sarah Jane along with just strange choices - Turlough and Susan. This adventures captures the spirit of Doctor Who at it's finest, and is quite well written, acted, and executed for an anniversary special!

This TV special promises a lot, bringing past Doctors together with the current one (at that time Peter Davison).

However, in practice, there are really only two other genuine Doctors in evidence - the funny little one, Patrick Troughton, and the tall, sardonic one, Jon Pertwee. Brief inserts of unused footage allow Tom Baker to be seen - but blink and you might miss him. And as William Hartnell had passed on by the 1980s, the original Doctor is played by Richard Hurdnall (very well, it has to be said, but he isn't Hartnell, who appears at the very beginning in footage from an old adventure saying he'll be back!)

So much for the doctors - what about the plot?

Each Doctor is removed from their separate time streams and placed in Gallifrey, where they have to battle old foes (The Master and the Cybermen), and the hallucinations of old friends. All is of course not what it seems, and the villain of the piece takes time to reveal himself. In the meantime there is friendly banter between the Doctors, who are not best pleased at meeting their other selves in the same time and space - one always feels that the Doctor is an arrogant being who likes to revel in his own glory, not sharing it with others.

Nevertheless the camaraderie is pleasing and it is good to see familiar faces back again, including Sarah-Jane, the Brigadier, and other companions.

'The Five Doctors' may be breaching the Trade Descriptions Act a bit, but it is watchable, short, and of some interest.

The 20th Anniversary episode of "Doctor Who" is low on plot and features some ridiculous dialogue (see above). But who cares. The nostalgia factor is very high. And it's great to see all the Doctors, companions, and monsters packed into one story. The story only seems to flag during the Fifth Doctor's conspiracy investigation in the Capitol.

Troughton and Pertwee easily slide back into their characters despite not having played them in years, and Richard Hurndall does well as the First Doctor.