The Moonbase: Episode 2

'The Moonbase' (which survives only in two episodes, the second one and the fourth one), is a Patrick Troughton era adventure set on a moon base. Jamie (Fraser Hines) has a strange disease and the Doctor has twenty four hours to solve the mystery - but could it be something to do with The Cybermen?

Sweetly naive about space (gravitons controlling the weather on Earth?) and defiantly low budget, this tale is nevertheless a good one, and if the Cybermen just look like men in shiny suits and not the robotic menaces of later years, well, what does it matter? Troughton was also an excellent Doctor, tiny and eccentric, a genius weirdo, and maybe that's the best way to read this character.

I also liked crusty Patrick Barr as the moonbase commander, irritated by both his unexpected visitors and the metal men stealing his patients.

It's no secret that The Moonbase is my favourite Doctor Who adventure of all (even nudging slightly above The Tomb of the Cybermen and The Tenth Planet). But this episode ends with the very best cliffhanger of any DW adventure.

Part 2 (Review of all 4 episodes):

This 4 part story sees the return, in a modified form, of the Cybermen which is welcome and successful. This time they are attacking a weather control station on the Moon in the year 2070.

I am in the minority, it seems, who preferred the Cybermen's original voices to the ones they have here but other than that they are improved upon. They maintain their appeal and unfeeling, chilling character but are a bit more sleek and high tech. Their plans, and therefore the plot, are similar to the first Cyberman story in many ways and the quality is mostly not far below that brilliant first Cyberman story either. It is generally great entertainment.

A few less successful ideas and imperfections occur but it is very very good despite that. There is great suspense and some superb scenes of dialogue and action.

The regular cast are on good form although Polly does yet more screaming and seems to have lost her initial strength in the last few stories.

The guest cast are really strong and convincing and this story helps to cement the Cybermen as one of Doctor Who's most iconic 'monsters'.

My Ratings: All 4 parts - 9.5/10.

The Doctor is given 24 hours to find a cure, or be thrown off the base.

I am really enjoying this story so far, it's very well written and very eerie. The set looks good, very solid. The music continues to add to the story. Pat is outstanding, he's still quite madcap as he was in earlier episodes, but he's incredibly charismatic. Some nice effects for the time, the way the virus spread for one. The virus is well thought out, and proper nasty.

Now we get to see a physical Cybermen, what a great design, and a real progression from those in The Tenth Planet, they look even less human, and more mechanical, I wonder if it was intentional at this point. A shame the classic series only got one story with the Mondassian Cybermen, although they would change at least two more times during Troughton's era.

It ends with a brilliant cliffhanger. 9/10