Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade "No ticket!"

OK, so this post is kind of a revisitation of sorts but technically its also a new-ish one because I never actually directly labelled this one as the title of the film, plus plenty of new stuff is going to be written here and added ot it.  So, the post in question is the 3rd film in the Indiana Jones franchise: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, which is now almost 30 years old!

So, how has it fared after all these years????  Well, let's crack that whip and find out....

And yeah, you can expect the usual warning....

PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!!

STORY

So, the film begins in 1912 when Indy was just a teenager (played by the late River Phoenix).  Indy is on a boy scout trip with his class in Utah, where they break off into pairs look around the mountains.  Indy goes into one of the caves and finds some robbers who are digging for artefacts, and they find a cross that belonged to Coronado, a historic Spanish explorer.  Indy, believing its an important artefact that belongs in a museum, nabs the cross while the robbers aren't looking, and he flees as the robbers chase him.

Indy during the chase, makes his way onto a circus train, and after a close quarters fight with the robbers, he manages to escape with the cross (courtesy of a magic trap door) and runs home.  Once Indy get's back home, the robbers call the local sheriff who comes around and forces him to give the cross back.  The leader of the robbers, who dresses similar to how Indy dresses in the future, is impressed with his grit, and gives him his fedora.

The film the cuts to 1938 where Indy is on a ship fighting to get back the Coronado cross from its acquired owner (the man whom it was given to back in 1912 credited only as "Panama Hat" in the film and played by Paul Maxwell).  In admist a fight, the ship is blown up and Indy escapes with the cross.  Indy makes it back to his college in America and gives Marcus (Denholm Elliot) the cross to place in his museum.

As Indy leaves the college he is approached by some men who take him to meet an antiques collector, Walter Donovan, who tells him that he is on a quest to find the holy grail, and that Indy's father, Henry Jones Sr (Sean Connery) who was helping them with their research, has gone missing.  Indy checks out his dad's home, but doesn't find him, but he remembers that he was sent a parcel, delivered to his office, which he opens and finds his dad's diary on the Holy Grail.

Indy then agrees to go to Venice with Marcus to meet up with Henry's Austrian colleague, Dr Elsa Schneider (Alison Doody).  They go to a library where Henry was last seen, and Indy discovers from the clues in his father's diary that the tomb of one of the knights of the holy crusade is buried underneath the library.

Indy and Elsa go underneath the library into the catacombs and eventually find the tomb that Indy spoke of, and inside there is the skeleton remains of the knight, who has a shield, which Indy uses his crayon paper rubbing of the shield (which is only half complete) to complete the shield image.  However as he does this, some men come down into the catacombs and set fire to the water (which is laced with petrolium).

Indy and Elsa managed to escape the catacombs to the surface and are given chase by the men on a speedboat, Indy eventually manages to fight one of them and forces him to answer why they are trying to kill him.  The man, Kazim, tells Indy that he is a member of the Brotherhood of the Cruciform Sword, who are determined to keep the secret of the holy grail safe, Indy also asks if he knows where his father is being held, which the man eventually obliges, telling him that Henry is being held in a castle on the Austrian border.

Indy travels to the castle with Elsa, he manages to get inside and finds Henry (by crashing into his room using his whip to swing in through the windows!) who tells him that he sent his diary back to him so that it wouldn't fall into the Nazis hands, but he is appalled when he realises that Indy brought it with him.  However Indy is taken in by a ruse set by Elsa who appears to be held hostage by a German colonel, Ernst Vogel (Michael Byrne), but its revealed she is working with the Nazis as is Donovan, who are basically there to get the grail diary.

Indy and Henry are soon tied up and left in the castle, while Donovan and Elsa leave.  In an effort to escape the castle, Henry tries to use Indy's lighter to burn through the ropes, but he accidentally drops it, and it sets fire to the floor and soon the whole room.  Indy and Henry eventually escape the castle and are given chase by the Nazis on a motorbike, but they evade them, afterward Henry explains to Indy that they need to get the diary back as it has vital information to help them find the Grail.  Marcus meanwhile, who is hopelessly lost in Turkey, meets up with Sallah (John Ryhs Davies), and he has the grail map, which gives instructions to its location, but the Nazis soon capture Marcus.

Indy and Henry then go to Berlin to get the diary back, which Indy (dressed as a Nazi officer) takes them Elsa.  As they try to leave Germany in a zeppelin, but they are soon intercepted by the Nazis again, and  Indy and Henry escape in a small plane attached underneath the Zeppelin.  After a dogfight with Nazi planes, Indy and Henry managed to land the plane and thwart the other plane, by Henry shooing a lot of birds with his umbrella, who fly right into the path of plane, causing the pilot to crash it into a mountain.

Soon after Indy and Henry travel to Hatay and rejoin with Sallah, as they go after Marcus, who is being held captive by the Nazis.  Indy again soon gets involved in a fight in the desert with a Nazi convoy, as he takes on the Nazis in a tank (where Marcus is being held), and he rescues Marcus and Henry, and dives off the tank just before it goes over a cliff, killing Vogel.

The men eventually make their final journey to the canyon of the crescent moon, the location of the grail.  Indy, Henry, Marcus and Sallah enter the temple and find Donovan is using volunteers to try and get pass the traps set to reach the grail, but they are all killed.  Indy and the others are soon captured by Donovan's men, and Donovan forces Indy to get the grail, by shooting Henry in the chest.  Indy now must use his father's grail diary in order to traverse the traps ahead of him in order to reach the grail and try and save his dad's life....

THOUGHTS

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade for me is easily the second best film in the Indiana Jones adventures (after Raiders) and after the breakneck pace and the gruesomeness of the Temple of Doom, the Last Crusade thankfully get's back to the tone of Raiders.  Its also great that we are reunited with Marcus and Sallah from Raiders as well, who both help to keep the tone from the original as well.

Last Crusade is also very funny and witty in various scenes, as the screenplay was written by Jeffrey Boam (who wrote the screenplay for Lethal Weapon 2 that same year) there plenty of amusing lines of dialogue throughout.  Its also a nice touch that we also get to see a bit of Indy's past, when we see him in the past as a young teenager, who makes the gutsy decision to steal the Coronado cross and try and escape from the group of robbers who dug it up in the caves.

However one of the things that also helps make Last Crusade work so well is the relationship between Indy and his father, Henry, as Indy grew up, Henry was so embroiled his work over the Holy Grail, that he had little or no time for his son at all.  And there is a bitter tone from Indy, who clearly is not happy with the memories he had of his father in the past, and always refers to him in a negative light when he talks about him to Marcus, Elsa or anyone else in the film.  But at the same time when he meets up with his dad again, he does still stand to the attention of his dad, when Henry says something, Indy says "Yes, sir!".

PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section will contain spoilers!)

Performance wise, the Last Crusade definitely has alot to offer and the cast are all on great form.

Starting with Harrison Ford, who is great once more as Indiana Jones and by this time he had grown so comfortably into the part, and he has share of highlights and good scenes in the film.

And to start off there is the scene where Indy along with Marcus, meets with Elsa in Venice and they go off to a library to find clues that would lead to the tomb of a knight from the Holy crusades in the quest to find the holy grail.  So, in the scene Indy works out that the tomb is actually somewhere within the library itself.

So, Indy says to Elsa "Dad wasn't looking for a book about the knight's tomb, he was looking for the tomb itself. Don't you get it? The tomb is somewhere in the library. You said yourself it used to be a church!".  So, Indy points out the Roman numerals on the glass windows "Three. Three. Seven. Seven. Ten. And ten...!" however Indy can't see the numeral for ten, so he says to Elsa and Marcus "Look around for the ten".  So, Indy looking around decides to go upstairs and he suddenly sees the Roman numeral for ten "X" and he says to Elsa and Marcus "Ten!  X marks the spot!" contradicting what he said to his students earlier about "X never marks the spot!". 

Another good scene is when Indy and Elsa start their romantic fling as Indy finds his room ransacked aswell as Elsa's.  So, Elsa, looks shocked at her room and asks "What were they looking for?" and Indy produces the grail diary and says "This" and Elsa says "You had it?  You didn't trust me" and Indy says to her "I didn't know you".  Indy then says to Elsa "At least I let you tag along" and Elsa suddenly cross, says "Oh, yes!  Give them a flower and they'll follow you anywhere!" and Indy annoyed says "Knock it off!  You're not mad!" and Elsa spitefully says "No?!" and Indy says "No. You like the way I do things".  Elsa then angrily says "It's lucky I don't do things the same way.You'd still be standing at the Venice pier!".

Elsa then starts to walk out the room but Indy grabs her and says "Look, what do you think is going on here?! Since I met you, I've nearly been incinerated, drowned, shot at, and chopped into fish bait! We're caught in the middle of something sinister here. My guess is Dad found out more than he was looking for. And until I'm sure, I'm going to continue to do things the way I think they should be done!".  So, Indy then pulls Elsa roughly toward him and kisses her on the lips and Elsa, shocked says "How dare you kiss me!" and she kisses back passionately.  Indy then says "Leave me alone.  I don't like fast women!" and then start kissing again and Elsa kisses Indy's ear and says "And I hate arrogant men!".  And as they lie down on a couch and begin making out, Indy looks, smiles and says "I love Venice!" and Elsa grabs his head, pulling him down and they start kissing again.

Then there is the silly but funny scene where Indy and Elsa arrive at the castle where his dad is being held and he pretends to be a Scottish Lord and Harrison Ford puts on the least convincing Scottish accent ever!  And in the scene, Indy bangs on the front door and a butler let's them in and Indy says to him in a Scottish accent "And not before time! Did you intend to leave us standing on the doorstep all day? We're drenched!" and he feigns a sneeze over the butler and he says "Now look, I've gone and caught a sniffle!".

The butler then asks Indy "Are you expected?" and Indy says "Do not take that tone with me, my good man. Now buttle off and tell Baron Brunwald that Lord Clarence MacDonald and his lovely assistant...are here to view the tapestries!".  Indy then turns to Elsa and says "Dear me, the man is dense. This is a castle, isn't it? There are tapestries?!". The butler then says to Indy "This is a castle, and we have many tapestries. But if you are a Scottish lord, then I am Mickey Mouse!". Indy turns to Elsa and says in an almost Russian sounding accent(!) "How dare he?!" and he suddenly spins round and knocks out the butler with one punch. 

Another good scene from Harrison is when Indy and his dad, Henry escape from the Nazis at the castle in a motorbike side-car and Henry tells Indy that they should go after the diary which is now in the possession of the Nazis.

So, as they are about to head off to get Marcus, Henry objects and says "No, you're going the wrong way. We have to get to Berlin!" but Indy points to the other direction and says "Broady's this way!" but Henry tells him "My diary's in Berlin!". Indy insists "We don't need the diary, Dad.  Marcus has the map!" but Henry then says "There is more in the diary than just the map" and Indy then switches off the bike and says "Alright, Dad. Tell me".

So, Henry tells Indy about his diary containing clues to dealing with the final challenge in locating the grail and they must face three deadly traps, however he can't remember what they are and he says he wrote them in his diary, so he didn't need to remember.  So, Indy angrily says to Henry "Half the German army's on our tail, and you want me to go to Berlin?! Into the lion's den?!" and Henry says "Yes!  The only thing that matters is the grail!".  Indy then asks "What about Marcus?" and Henry tells him "Marcus would agree with me!" and Indy says to himself "Two selfless martyrs!  Jesus Christ!" and this prompt Henry to suddenly slap Indy in the face and he warns his son "That's for blasphemy!". 
 
Another funny scene is when Indy and Henry board a zeppelin to escape the Nazis, however its not long before the SS officer, Colonel Vogel (Michael Byrne) and his men show up searching for Henry. And Vogel moving around the zeppelin keeps showing passengers a picture of Henry asking if they have seen him and he soon moves up toward Henry, who is hiding himself behind a large newspaper. So, Vogel uses his baton to pull down the paper and he grins and says to him "Guten tag...Herr Jones!" but Indy (who disguises himself as a ticket inspector) comes up behind Vogel and says "Tickets please!".  So, as Vogel turns around, he looks at Indy in surprise, who punches Vogel and throws him out the zeppelin and Vogel lands in a pile of luggage below and Indy afterward turns to the alarmed passenger and says "No ticket!" and they all suddenly panic and produce their tickets!

Another good scene is when the Nazis order the zeppelin to be turned back to Germany, prompting Indy and Henry to flee the zeppelin in a small biplane attached to the zeppelin and they take on two German fighters.  So as they take to the skies in the plane, Henry says to Indy "I didn't know you could fly a plane!" and Indy tells him "Fly, yes!  Land, no!".  And after they fly off, Indy spots the fighters and he shouts to Henry "Dad, you're gonna have to use the machine gun!  Get it ready!" and Indy notices the fighters and he yells to Henry "ELEVEN O'CLOCK!  DAD, ELEVEN O'CLOCK!!" and Henry looks at his watch and asks "What happens at Eleven O'Clock!" but Indy explains by yelling "DAD!  TWELVE, ELEVEN, TEN!! ELEVEN O'CLOCK!!! FIRE!!".

So, after Henry ineptly uses the machine gun and unwittingly shoots the biplane's tail, Indy is forced to make an emergency landing, so they crash land and get out and the German fighter planes continue to open fire at them and they take cover.  Henry then says "Those people are trying to kill us!" and Indy yells back "I KNOW DAD!!" but Henry surprised says "Its a new experience for me!" and then Indy says to him "It happens to me all the time!".

Sean Connery, as unlikely a choice as he could be for the part of Indy's father, Henry Jones, works brilliantly well in the role, despite the fact in reality Connery is only 12 years older than Harrison Ford!  But Connery plays Henry just right, with an almost dismissive sense of authority over Indy, and as a man who is so obssessed with his work, but despite all that they still share some nice moments together.

And Sean has his share of good scenes in the film also that include his first one, where Indy breaks into Henry's room where he is being help captive by the Nazis and Henry smashes a vase over Indy's head and suddenly moves into view for the first time and looks on at his son and says "Junior?!".  And Indy looks a little dazed after being hit and he says obediently "Yes, sir!" and Henry grins at him and says "It IS you, Junior!" and Indy says to him "Don't call me that please!".

Henry then picks up a piece of the broken vase and he goes over to a table light and examines it and says "Late 14th century. Ming dynasty.  Oh, it breaks the heart!" and Indy says to him "And the head! You hit me dad!".  Henry looks pained and says "I'll never forgive myself!" but Indy, who believes that Henry is talking about him, says reassuringly "Don't worry, I'm fine".  Henry looks at the vase again and then he smiles and says to Indy "Thank God!" and he crosses to him and they both smile together, as Indy is pleased that his dad appears to be concerned for him.  However, Henry then indicates the vase "Its a fake! See, you can tell by the cross-section!" and he throws the piece of the vase down.  

And this is followed by the funny moment where Henry reveals he posted his grail diary to Indy back home to get it as far away from the Nazis as he could only for them to be interrupted by Nazi officers. So, one of the officers asks "Dr Jones?" and both Indy and Henry says "Yes?" and the officer says "I will take the book now!" and they both ask at the same time "What book?" and the officer says "You have zee the diary in your pocket".  Henry however laughs and says "You dolt!  You think my son would be that stupid to bring my diary back here!" and Indy smiles nervously as Henry looks at him and he asks "You didn't did you?  You didn't bring it, did you?" but it quickly dawns on him "YOU did!".

So, Henry angrily says "I should have mailed it to the Marx Brothers!" and Indy angrily says to him "Will you take it easy?!" and Henry spits back "Take it easy?! Why do you think I sent it home in the first place?! So, it wouldn't fall into the wrong hands!!". Indy then angrily says to Henry "I came here to save you!" and Henry shouts back "Oh yeah?!  And who's gonna come to save you, Junior?!!!".  Indy then shouts "I TOLD YOU...." and he suddenly grabs a machine gun from one of the officers and shoots the Nazis dad and he turns to his stunned father and says to him "...DON'T call me Junior!".  

WARNING: THIS NEXT PARAGRAPH REFERS TO A BIG SPOILER!!!

Another good scene is when after Indy has just discovered that Elsa is working with the Nazis, Indy and Henry are tied up with their hands behind their backs and taken into a room within the castle.  So, Indy says quietly to Henry re: Elsa "How did you know she was a Nazi?" and Henry asks "What?" and Indy leans in and quietly repeats "How did you know she was a Nazi?" and Henry tells him "She talks in her sleep" and Indy looks stunned and Henry gives an awkward smile.  Henry then says to Indy "I didn't trust her.  Why did you?" and we suddenly hear a voice say "Because he didn't take my advice..." and we suddenly see Walter Donovan get up from a chair as he is also in cahoots with the Nazis to find the grail.  And Henry says to Donovan "I misjudged you, Walter. I knew you would sell your mother for an Etruscan vase, but I didn't know you would sell your country and your soul to the slime of humanity!".

Then there is the scene where Indy and Henry finally share a quiet moment together on the zeppelin as they talk about how they have never seen each other and that Henry was never really there for Indy growing up.  And Indy tells Henry that they had a lonely time growing up together without his mother (as she passed away) to which Henry replies "Actually, I was a wonderful father".  Indy laughs and asks "When?" and Henry, taken aback says to him "Did I ever tell you to eat up? Go to bed? Wash your ears? Do your homework? No. I respected your privacy, and I taught you self-reliance!". Indy however becomes angry and tells Henry how he felt he was less important to him then people who were dead for hundreds of years and how they have barely spoken in 20 years. So, Henry puts his diary aside and says "Oh well, I'm here now!  What do you want to talk about?" and Indy looks at him for a moment, speechless and he laughs and says "I can't think of anything!" and Henry says "Then what are you complaining about???!".  

Then we have the scene where Henry attempts to rescue Marcus from the Nazis, who is being held captive inside a German tank. So, Henry tells Marcus "Its a rescue, old boy.  Come one!" and before they can leave, Vogel appears with his men.  And Vogel takes off his clothes and slaps Henry with them as he asks him "What does the diary tell you that it doesn't tell us?!" and Henry suddenly grabs hold of Vogel's hand firmly and he angrily tells him "It tells me that goose-stepping morons like yourself should try reading books instead of BURNING THEM!!". 

WARNING: SPOILERS ARE IN THIS NEXT PARAGRAPH!

And last of all is Sean's final scene where Indy, Henry, Marcus and Sallah are set to head off on horses into the sunset. And after they leave the temple where the Holy Grail resides and having lost it when the temple collapses (and Elsa and Donovan have both been killed) Indy sadly looks toward the temple remains.  And Henry says to him "Elsa never really believed in the Grail. She thought she found a prize" and Indy turns to him and asks "What did you find, dad?" and Henry smiles and says "Me?  Illumination".  And as they mount their horses, Henry asks Indy "What did you find, Junior?" and Indy looks annoyed but Sallah asks "What does this mean?  This junior?!" and Henry tells him "That's his name" he points to himself "Henry Jones..." and points to Indy "Junior!".  Indy however, annoyed says "I like Indiana!" and Henry tells him "We named the dog Indiana!" and Sallah laughs out saying "You were named after the dog?! Ha ha ha!!".  Henry then finally says to Indy "After you, Junior" and Indy says "Yes, sir!" and he gallops off on his horse.

Up next is Julian Glover who puts in a fine performance as the devious collector, Walter Donovan, who is driven by his greed to find the Grail and he uses Indy and Henry in the process.

And Glover his some good moments too such as the one where after (SPOILER!!!!) Donovan has revealed his true colours as he is in cahoots with the Nazis just after Indy and Henry have both been captured.  So, in the scene, Henry says to Indy re: Elsa "I didn't trust her.  Why did you?" and then we hear a voice say "Because he didn't take my advice!" and then we see Donovan rise from a chair and Indy looks on angrily and says "Donovan!" and Donovan says to him "Didn't I warn you not to trust anyone, Dr Jones?".  

Another good scene from Glover is when just after Indy and Henry have been left in the castle tied up together, Donovan get's into a car outside and he is handed a couple of telegram from a Nazi officer.  So, Donovan reads the first one and says to Vogel "Well we have Marcus Broady and more importantly we have the map!".  The officer then comes back with another telegram, which Donovan reads ""By the personal command of the Fuhrer. "Secrecy essential to success. Eliminate the American conspirators.".  Donovan then turns to Vogel, who stands grinning by the car door, he says to him "Germany has declared war on the Jones boys!" and Vogel laughs and closes Donovan's door just before his car is driven away.

And last of all is the scene where Donovan and Elsa finally reach the temple where the Holy Grail is located but they are forcing to use Arab guards as volunteers to try and navigate past the deadly traps that lie in the way of the grail itself.

So, when Indy and the others are captured and taken to Donovan, Elsa surprised to see Indy still alive says "I never expected to see you again" and Indy grins and says "I'm like bad penny. I always turn up!".  And Donovan says to Elsa "Back up, Dr Schneider.  Give Dr Jones some room.  He's going to recover the grail for us" and he says to Indy "What do you say, Jones?  Ready to go down in history?" and Indy says "As what? A Nazi stooge like you?!".  Donovan however has other ideas and says "
Is that the limit of your vision? The Nazis want to write themselves into the Grail legend... take on the world. Well, they're welcome. But I want the Grail itself. The cup that gives everlasting life. Hitler can have the world, but he can't take it with him. I'm going to be drinking my own health when he's gone the way of the dodo".


Donovan then pulls a gun on Indy and he says to him "The grail is mine and you're going to get it for me" and Indy trying to contain his anger says "Shooting me won't get you anywhere" and Donovan says "You know, Dr Jones?  You're absolutely right!" and he instead turns and shoots Henry in the chest, who falls back on the ground.  Elsa, distressed moves forward saying "No!" but Donovan shous at her "GET BACK!" and Indy tends to Henry for a moment before he get's up and makes to move on Donovan.  Donovan however keeps Indy at gunpoint and shouts to him "You can't save him when you're dead! The healing power of the Grail is the only thing that can save your father now. It's time to ask yourself what you believe!".

Alison Doody is very good in her role as femme fatale character, Elsa Schneider, who at first appears to be on Indy's side but its not long before we find out where her real loyalties lie.  Alison Doody herself was actually only 21 years old at the time of filming, which is surprising when you look at her as she does look that bit more mature (and pretty hot!). 

And Alison has some good moments here aswell such as her first scene where Indy and Marcus just arrive in Venice and come off a pier. And as they do, Marcus asks Indy "How will we recognise this Dr Schneider?" and Indy says "I don't know. Maybe he'll recognise us" and we suddenly hear a female voice "Dr Jones?" and Indy turns around to see a beautiful woman with blonde hair, which turns out to be Elsa.  So, Elsa says to Indy with a smile "I knew it was you. You have your father's eyes" and Indy moves forward to her and turns on his charm and says "And my mother's ears but the rest belongs to you".  Elsa then smiles and says "It looks like the best parts have already been spoken for" and Indy smiles and Elsa looks to Marcus and asks "Marcus Brody?" and Marcus replies "Yes" and she introduces herself "Dr Elsa Schneider". 

There is also the scene where Indy and Elsa have their one-night stand together but I have already mentioned that in Harrison Ford's section of the performances, so I won't mention it again here just to save time!  However it is a very nicely played scene by both of them. 

Another good scene is when Indy turns up to rescue Henry and after killing a few Nazi guards and taking a machine gun he enters another room to find Elsa being held at gunpoint by Vogel, who threatens to kill her.  However, Henry tells Indy that Elsa is really a Nazi and they are bluffing him but Indy gives in and puts down his gun and Vogel let's go of Elsa, pushing her into Indy.  Elsa looks at him and says softly "I'm sorry" and Indy says "No, don't be" but then she takes the grail diary from his pocket and steps back and with a wry smile says "But...you should have listened to your father!".

Then there is the scene where Indy and Henry have been tied up together, sitting on chairs with their backs away from each other and Elsa looks to Indy, who glares at her angrily. So, Elsa says to him "Don't look at me like that. We both wanted the Grail. I would have done anything to get it. You would have done the same" but Indy says to her "I'm sorry you think so" leaving Elsa a little stung.  However, Elsa brushes it off and moves in close to Indy and says to him softly "I can't forget how wonderful it was" and Henry says "Thank you, it was rather wonderful!" and Indy turns his head to look at Henry in disbelief but Elsa grabs his face and gives him one last kiss and she says to Indy "That's how Austrians say goodbye!" and she leaves.

And last of all is the scene where Indy and Henry head to Berlin to retrieve the diary from Elsa and Indy disguises himself as a Nazi officer at a book burning rally, Elsa however looks on, quite upset as she witnesses many German members of the public, throw piles of books onto fires. And as Elsa walks off sadly, Indy suddenly comes up from behind and says "Fraulien, Doctor?!" and Elsa looks stunned and asks "How did you get here?!".  Indy then roughly starts to search her pockets and says "Where is it?!  I want it!" and he takes out the diary from her jacket pocket and Elsa asks "You came back for the book?! Why???" and Indy walks away and says "My father didn't want it incinerated!".  Elsa taken aback, says "Is that what you think of me? I believe in the Grail, not the swastika!".  Indy angrily then says "But you stood up to be counted with the enemy of everything that the Grail stands for! Who gives a DAMN what you think?!!!" and Elsa shouts back "You do!!".  Indy then grabs Elsa by the throat and threatens her "All I have to do is squeeze..." and she says tearfully "All I have to do is scream..." and Indy after a second, let's her go. 

Denholm Elliott is also really good once again as he returns to his role as Marcus Brody, except this time rather than coming across as an intelligent capable scholar, he is more made out to be a bumlbing fool.  Or rather its more just that Marcus is simply out of his depth in the situation as he is not a field man like Indy is, and Indy also recalls how Marcus one time got lost in his own museum!

And Elliott has some good moments too in the film that include the scene where Indy and Marcus head over to Henry's house and find it ransacked. And Marcus says to Indy as they enter "Dear God! The old fool! What has he gotten himself into now?" and Indy suddenly realises the package he recieved in the post is Henry's grail diary, which he opens up.  Indy then looks around and at a picture of on the wall of a knight and he asks Marcus "Do you believe, Marcus?  Do you believe the grail actually exists?".  Marcus then replies "The search for the Cup of Christ is the search for the divine in all of us. But if you want facts, Indy, I've none to give you. At my age, I'm prepared to take a few things on faith".  Indy then looks grave and says quietly to Marcus "Call Donovan, Marcus and tell him I'll take that ticket to Venice now" and he walks off and Marcus says to himself "I'll tell we'll take two". 

Then there is the scene where after Indy narrowly avoids death at the hands of the brothers of the crucible sword, regroups with Marcus back at Marcus' hotel room and they look at the rubbing of the inscription from the knight's shield in the catacombs of the library.  So, as Indy tries to piece together where exactly the grail would be located, Marcus says "Your father would know. Your father did know!" and he takes the grail diary and opens it "Look. He made a map. He must have pieced it together from clues scattered through the whole history of the Grail quest. A map with no names. Now, he knew there was a city with an oasis due east, here. He knew the course turned south through the desert to a river, and the river led into the mountains, here. Straight to the canyon".  Marcus then shuts the book and says excitedly "He knew everything except where to begin! The name of the city!" and Indy says "And now we know".

And lastly there is the funny scene where we find out that Elsa and Donovan are working with the Nazis to find the grail and they capture Indy and Henry together and they intend to find the missing pages of the diary, which Indy gave to Marcus.  So, Donovan says re: Marcus "He sticks out like a sore thumb!  We'll find him" and Indy says "The hell you will!" and that Marcus has friends in every town and knows all the local customs and languages and can blend in and disappear and with any luck "he's got the grail already".  However we then cut to a bewildered looking Marcus, who is in Iskanderun and he shouts to the locals that surround him "Does anyone here speak English? Or even ancient Greek?" and people keep offering him things.  Marcus is then offered food by a local and he says "No, thank you, madam. I'm a vegetarian" and he says to himself "Does anyone understand a word I'm saying here?!".

John Ryhs-Davies also makes a welcome return in his role as Sallah, who appeared in Raiders of the Lost Ark alongside Denholm Elliott and here he slips effortlessly back into the part as if he had not been away.

And I will mention for time only one of his scenes and its the one where Sallah turns up at Iskenderun to meet a bewildered and lost Marcus.  So, Sallah greets him warmly and says "Mr Brody!" and Marcus says "Oh, Sallah!  What a relief!" and Sallah says "Marcus Brody, sir! But where is Indy?" and Marcus tells him "Oh, he's in Austria on a slight detour.  But don't panic, everything's under control".  However they are then met by two German officials (really Nazi officers in disguise) and one of them warmly greets Marcus and says "The director of the Museum of Antiquities has sent a car for you" and Marcus smiles and says "You're servant, sir" and Sallah says "And I'm his". And as they start to follow the two Germans, Marcus pleased says to Sallah "My reputation proceeds me" but Sallah warns him "There is no museum in Iskenderun". 

A then one of the Germans spins round and asks them for their papers suddenly.  So, Sallah nervously bluffs them and he says "Papers?  Of course" and he says quietly to Marcus "Run" but Marcus doesn't catch on.  So, Sallah produces a newspaper and says "Papers. Got it here. Just finished reading it myself" and again he says to Marcus "Run" but Marcus still doesn't quite understand Sallah and says "Yes?".  Sallah then shows the Germans the paper ""Egyptian Mail," morning edition!" and he once says to Marcus "Run(!)".  Marcus finally catches on and says "Did you say...." and Sallah suddenly puts his paper up to one of the Germans' faces and punches him and shouts "RUN!" and he pushes the Germans over a stall and he desparately tries to lead Marcus away from them.  Sallah the sees a truck nearby, which has a ramp down and he grabs Marcus and shouts "Quick!  Find the back door!  Find the back door!".  So, Marcus goes up inside the back of the truck only for some locals to then close up the ramp and shut the truck's door and the truck drives off, leaving Sallah dispondent. 

And last of all is Michael Byrne, who is very good in his role as the ruthless SS Officer, Colonel Vogel, who leads the Nazi quest to find the Grail. Byrne most likely because of his looks often has played German/Nazi soldier roles in the past and he even appeared in another film with Harrison Ford, "Force 10 from Navarone" back in 1978. 

And I will quickly mention two of Byrne's scenes with the first one being where Indy and Henry are left tied up in the castle and Elsa says her goodbye to Indy by giving him a passionate kiss and she says to Indy "That's how Austrians say goodbye" and she leaves.  However, Vogel then walks to Indy and says to him "And this is how we say goodbye in Germany, Dr Jones!" and he hits Indy on the head with his baton, which causes Indy's head to hit Henry's head aswell and Vogel walks out, leaving the Jones's reeling.

And lastly there is the scene where Henry tries to rescue Marcus from the Nazis as he is being held captive in a German tank, however they are both caught by Vogel's officer. So, Vogel orders his men to search Henry and he says to him as he takes off his gloves "Search him. What is in this book? That miserable little diary of yours. We have the map. The book is useless. And yet you come all the way back to Berlin to get it!".  Vogel then slaps Henry with his gloves "Why?!" What are you hiding? he slaps him again and then he asks "What does the diary tell you that it doesn't tell us?!" and Henry tells him that Nazis should read books instead of burning them.

DIRECTOR AND MUSIC 

As for the direction, well its another sterling effort by Steven Spierlberg, who does an excellent job here and he keeps the pace of the film moving along nicely and he does a great job at eliciting fine performances from the cast and does well at building the relationship between Indy and Henry.  At times perhaps the tone of the film is a bit overtly comical, but I think Spielberg helps keep it just about right enough to keep the overall tone in tune with the original film. 

As for the music score, John Williams once again provides an excellent one, which features the familiar and memorable Indy theme but also it adds plenty of new tracks that have plenty of atmosphere, excitment and even a bit of emotion here and there.  Its not quite in the same league as Williams magnificent score for Raiders but its still a very fine effort and let's face it, John Williams lesser scores often tend to be better than some composers very best works (no offence!). 

FLAWS (Warning: this section may contain spoilers!)

As for the flaws...well yeah OK, The Last Crusade has a few worth mentioning.

For starters I think one of the problems I had with the film was to do with the idea of Henry sending his Grail diary to Indy and its not so much that he sent it in the first place but its more a case of why didn't he include a written note with it to warn him what has happened to him?!  I mean that would have made alot more sense!  But of course it is done this way to build up the mystery and suspense of Henry's disappearance but even so I can't help but think, Henry could have written a quick note saying "I sent this book back so the Nazis don't get it. I've been captured so watch out!".  Would that have been so difficult?!

Further to this point, given that Henry was captured by the Nazis, how did he manage to even send the diary back in the first place?!  I can only imagine that he did it before he was captured and he sussed out what was going on but if that was the case again why didn't he include a written note to warn Indy what happened?!  Achh anyway, it all worked itself out in the end I guess!  

I also felt that the section where Indy tries to save Marcus from Vogel and the other Nazis in the tank, was also a bit long and drawn out as it takes a bit too much time for Indy to eventually get him out of there.  It also leads into the really daft bit where Indy has his fight with Vogel ontop of the tank, Henry is knocked off his feet and nearly ends up being crushed under the tank's rails but Indy uses his whip to grab hold of him, so he doesn't but meanwhile he does this, Vogel is beating up Indy and Sallah soon arrives in the nick of time to save Henry!  I mean convenient or what?! 

Another strange moment in the film is when Indy and Henry are on the zeppelin, it suddenly turns around to take them back to Germany on order of the Nazis.  However as Indy and Henry make their escape, Indy says "I thought it would have taken them alot longer to figure out the radio was dead". Right, what does he mean by that? Does that mean Indy somehow managed to get to the radio on the zeppelin and sabotage it?!  And even if he did, that means there would be no way for the pilots of the zeppelin to contact the Nazis to alert them about the Jones being onboard!  So, I don't quite get the reference and how the zeppelin would recieve orders to be turned about unless the radio WAS working!  Not unless of course they repaired it, which yeah OK, is a possibility. 

And lastly I found it a bit daft how in that scene near the end where Elsa makes the mistake of trying to take the grail out of the temple, only for it to cause the temple to being collapsing around them and Elsa ends up falling to her death as her greed to reach for the grail overtakes her and Indy loses his grip on her.  And as Indy nearly befalls the same fate, dangling over a chasm, he tries to reach for the grail, which lies on a bit of rock nearby him and Henry holds onto him.  However as the violent quaking carries on, it suddenly softens and stops when Henry calls Indy "Indiana" for the first time in the film and he says to him re: the grail "Let it go" and Indy let's himself be pulled up by Henry and they escape the temple.  Again its a rather strangely convenient moment that was worked into the film as if the temple is allowing for Henry to reach to his son and convince him to let go of his desire for the grail, just long enough for Henry to pull him up!  Yeah OK, that sounds a bit daft in itself maybe but if you watch the scene, you might get what I mean.

Anyway, that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So, to sum up, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is a very enjoyable and solid entry in the franchise and it was a pity that it would be followed up by the mediocre "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" almost 20 years later.  The casting of Sean Connery is a great choice and he and Harrison Ford share a great father/son chemistry onscreen together even though there are only 12 years between them in real life! 

The film is also ably backed up by a solid cast with Julian Glover and Alison Doody both being standouts here and its also great to see the return of Denholm Elliot and John Rhys-Davies in their roles as Marcus and Sallah.  And Spielberg's direction is once again great and he confidently handles the film's action aswell as the humour and John Williams again provides an excellent score here.

And despite any of its niggling issues to do with its plot, they are still don't detract from what is a highly entertaining movie, which easily remains the second best in the Indy quadrilogy.  And we can only hope that just maybe we might get one more Indiana Jones film from Harrison Ford, although now at the age of 75, he is just a bit too old to be doing big fight scenes, so he might need a zimmer frame for the next one if they get round to it!  Regardless of that though it would be good if they could work in a way to do one last Indy movie with Ford before long.

Right, so that's it for now and I will be back most likely next month now with another post.

So, until the next one its bye for now! 

Doctor Who - The Ark in Space (Revisited) "We found the Queen in the cupboard!"

Well, well, well.  I'm having a bit of a revistation bonanza at the moment as this post is another one that will look at yet another Doctor Who story and the story in question is the second story from the Tom Baker, The Ark in Space.

So, after 43 years how does it fair????  Well let's take another look...

And yep, the usual is coming up...

SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!!

STORY 

So the story begins with the TARDIS materialising onboard a space station, which appears to be in an inert state.  And as the Doctor (Baker) and his two companions, Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) and Harry Sullivan (Ian Marter) look around they quickly find that there is no air supply, which leaves Sarah almost unconscious.  The Doctor then manages to restore power and the air supply just in time however Sarah in the meantime is transported and placed into cryogenic suspension, leaving the Doctor and Harry to explore the station further.

As they look around the Doctor and Harry find a large cryogenic chamber, which holds a large number of humans in cryogenic suspension and they soon also find Sarah in one of the pallets.  The Doctor suggests they try and find a resuscitation unit which Harry finds in a cupboard along with a large insectoid alien lifeform.

Then one of the humans, Vira (Wendy Williams) in cryogenic suspension is awoken and revives herself using the equipment Harry found.  Vira, who is a medical technician, then manages to start the revivication process for Sarah and also her leader, Lazar who is nicknamed as Noah (Kenton Moore).  The Doctor then tells Vira that they have overslept for thousands of years as the alien insect must have sabotaged their control systems, which the Doctor had earlier repaired.

Once Vira has revived Noah, Noah is immediately suspicous of the Doctor and Harry and as the Doctor investigates the ship's power room, he discovers that an alien larvae and traps it inside the ship's solar stack.  Noah soon encounters the Doctor in the control room of the Ark and stuns him with a laser weapon and heads down to the power room where is infected by the alien creature.  The Doctor soon recovers and encounters Noah again who hides his hand from him, which has been infected and is starting to change into a green scaly skin.

As Vira revives another shipmate, Libri (Christopher Masters) the young shipmate sees Noah and backs away in fear as he thought he saw something horrible in Noah.  Noah however while talking to Vira, insisting the reviving process must be halted, starts to exhibit strange behaviour as he feels his mind struggling against the influence of the alien creature and he leaves quickly.  The Doctor then convinces Libri to go after him, which Libri does with a gun, but Noah overpowers him and shoots Libri dead and reveals that he is starting metamorphose into the alien creature.  Noah then sends out a message to Vira that they are all in great danger and that the alien creatures, named the Wirrn, will overtake and absorb the humans.

The Doctor and Vira then decide to pay Noah a visit, who has started to mutate even more into one of the Wirrn and he tells him they don't have much time.  The Doctor then decides the best solution now is to find out how to kill the Wirrn by finding their weakness and the Doctor dissects a part of the Wirrn's brain tissue and joins with it through a mental link using the control system and he discovers that electricity killed the dead creature.

From here, Noah now advancing into Wirrn form shuts off the system's power and as the Doctor goes to the power room to turn it on again he is attacked by Noah, who fully transforms into a Wirrn and warns Vira, who arrives with Sarah and Harry and the others to leave the ark or die.  And from this point on, the Doctor and his companions must find a way to defeat the Wirrn and save the future of the human race....

THOUGHTS 

As the debut story of the golden era in the show of the Hinchcliffe and Holmes years, The Ark in Space is undeniably effective and it shows the series go in a more gritty and darker direction.  And with Hinchcliffe and Holmes, the show became a bit more dark and gothic in terms of its approach but at the same time it still retained the show's humour as well but it was a stark contrast to the light hearted jaunty tone of the Jon Pertwee years.

And the Hinchcliffe & Holmes debut of The Ark in Space is a great example of the approach that Hinchcliffe and Holmes would use so well and here they dared to explore themes, which they would also later look at again in body horror, and transformation (which they do again in The Seeds of Doom) and the story has some strong and fairly shocking moments for its time.  The story also even featured a scene that was cut where the mutated Noah begs Vira to kill him, which was cut out by Hinchcliffe as he deemed it as being too frightening and the story would also signal the beginning of Hinchcliffe's battle with Mary Whitehouse, who was strongly opposed to several of the stories of that period due to the more horror orientated content.

The story also features another disturbing image where we see Noah finally complete his transformation at the end of the third episode as his human eyes are the last thing to change before he becomes a complete Wirrn.  And its moments like this that with Ark in Space it sure signalled that the show was changing and also for the better as Hinchcliffe believed the show should also appeal to adults as well as children hence the change in tone.  

PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section contains spoilers and is quite big!)

Performance wise the story is very good as you would expect from both the regular cast and the supporting one.

And to start off with Tom Baker, who here really started to lay the grounds for his potrayal of the Doctor after trying to find his feet in his debut story, Robot, as he plays the Doctor with a good level of seriousness, eccentricity, and a little bit humour as well as a strong moral sense.

And Tom has some great moments in the story and the first that comes to mind is the scene in the first episode where the Doctor tells off Harry for messing about with a control switch in the TARDIS.  So, as the Doctor exits the TARDIS into the ark's control room he berates Harry "You're a clumsy ham-fisted idiot!".  And we hear Harry say "I said I was sorry, didn't I?" and the Doctor irritably says "What?! Come out!  And don't touch anything!".   

Another good scene is when the Doctor tells Harry to throw his shoe to distract the electric guard cutout, which fires at anything organic.  So, the Doctor and Harry, who are hiding underneath a table, poise themselves.  So, the Doctor asks Harry "You don't want your shoe, do you?" and Harry says "I suppose not" and the Doctor then says "Slip it off! Right. Now, I want you to throw it across the room" and Harry makes to throw his shoe but the Doctor stops him by firmly grabbing Harry's arm "When I give the word, understand?!".  So, the Doctor then says " I'm going to try to distract it. Let's hope it's not double-barrelled. Ready? Now!" so Harry throws his show and the Doctor reaches up and disables the electric guard.  So, afterward the Doctor cheerfully says "I think we've done it, Harry!" and he then picks up his singed scarf (as the electric guard zapped it) and he says "Pity about the scarf. Madame Nostradamus made it for me. A witty little knitter. Never get another one like it!".
 
Then there is the scene where the Doctor is impressed by Harry's suggestion as to why the Ark is in space and he suggests it might be some sort of survival kit.  So, the Doctor smiles and says "You're improving, Harry!" and Harry, pleased asks "Am I really?" and the Doctor grins and says to him "Yes your mind is beginning to work!  Entirely my influence of course, you shouldn't take any credit!".  The Doctor then continues and says to Harry " Yes. If we are to assume that some great cataclysm struck Earth, and that before the end they launched this lifeboat, then the one obvious missing element is man himself. What's happened to the human species, Harry?".  The Doctor then presses a switch, which prompts another door to open and it reveals a cryogenic chamber filled with human shaped plastic pods, some of which contain humans, leaving the Doctor and Harry in a state of awe.

And then there is the hilarious and most likely unintentionally double entendre line where the Doctor explains his medical status and Harry's to Vira.  So, in the scene Harry introduces himself and the Doctor and Vira asks them "You claim to be med-techs?" and the Doctor replies "Well my doctorate is purely honorary and Harry here is only qualified to work on sailors". Oooo-eerrr! 

Another good moment is where the Doctor tells Sarah and Harry how Vira didn't stop them from going after Noah.  So, in the scene Harry asks the Doctor "Funny how they've given us the run of the ship!  Why doesn't Vira try and stop us?" and the Doctor tells him "Not her function".  Harry then asks "How do you mean?" and the Doctor tells Harry "By the 30th century human society had become highly compartmentalised.  Vira is only a medtech and I expect we are an executive problem!" before being confronted by Noah, who confirms his theory and holds them at gunpoint and says "Right, Doctor!  But not a difficult one!".  

Another good scene is where the Doctor discovers that the missing crewmember, Dune, was used by the Wirrn, who planted eggs inside his body and Vira says "You mean Dune's knowledge??" and the Doctor says "Has been thoroughly digested I'm afraid!".  And Sarah frightened by the prospect says "Don't make jokes like that, Doctor" and the Doctor says to her "When I say I'm afraid, Sarah, I'm not making jokes".     

Then there is scene where the Doctor teases Sarah in the last episode, where she pushes herself from a very narrow conduit panel, carrying a power cable behind her and she get's all upset as she get's stuck.  And the Doctor says to her "Stop whining girl!  You're useless, I knew we couldn't rely on you!  Hundreds of lives are at stake and you just sit there blubbing!".  So, this angers Sarah, who says to him "You wait until I get out of here!!" and as she appears the Doctor offers to help her and she says "I can manage I don't need your help!" and the Doctor grins and says "Yes you do, yes you do!" and helps Sarah out of the conduit. So, the Doctor says to Sarah "You've done marvellously, Sarah. I'm very proud of you. I really am very proud of you!".  Sarah then frowns and says "Conned again! You're a brute!" and the Doctor a little hurt says "Don't be ungrateful, I was only encouraging you!".

And last of all is the scene where the Doctor is saved by Rogin at the last moment from being killed by an exhaust blast from the Ark's shuttle. So, the Doctor turns up back in the Ark at the end to a much relieved Sarah, Harry and Vira.  And the Doctor tells them of Rogin's fate "Rogin's dead. I woke up in a protection hatch.  Was Noah on our side and one step ahead of us at the end?".  Then Vira receives a call from the Wirrn Noah, who tells her "Goodbye, Vira" and he destroys the shuttle, wiping out the Wirrn with it.  The Doctor then looks on and says "More than a vestige of human spirit.  It can all begin now, Vira.  Mankind is safe".  And at the end of the story, Sarah and Harry join the Doctor as they prepare to beam down to Earth together, and the Doctor throws his bag of jelly babies to Vira and says "Have a jelly baby, Vira!".      

Elisabeth Sladen is also as good as ever in her part as Sarah Jane Smith and she has some great moments in the story such as when the Doctor, Sarah and Harry land on the Ark and look around but they are soon aware of the lack of air.  And the Doctor says "Not much oxygen. Still, nothing to worry about" but Sarah reacts in disbelief and says "Suffocation is nothing to worry about?!" and the Doctor says "We can survive for quite a time yet".  And he starts to use his yo-yo and Sarah says "While you play with that yo-yo!" and the Doctor says "Just a simply gravity reading, Sarah. Yes, almost certainly we're in some kind of artificial satellite. Now isn't that interesting?" and Sarah says "Not very!" and the Doctor says "I think it is".  Sarah then with a heavy breath says "It's dark, it's cold and it's getting very airless!". 

Then there is the scene where Sarah near the start, is starved of oxygen due to the Ark's air supply turned off, but as the Doctor makes his repairs and turns it on again, Harry reassures her calling her "old girl".  So, Sarah groggily stirs and slowly says to Harry "Harry, call me old girl again and I'll spit in your eye!" and the Doctor says "Welcome back, Sarah Jane!".   

Another good scene is when the Doctor and Vira are trying to come up with a plan to fight the Wirrn but first Harry asks Sarah what did Noah say to them, so Sarah says "Vamoose, or stick around and get killed!".  And as Sarah suggests she could drag power cables through the conduits so they can rig up the power to electrocute the Wirrn.  So in the scene, Sarah says "Why can't I take that cable through?" and they look at her and Sarah says "Well I'm about that wide!" as she indicates the width of the conduits.

And last of all is the scene which also begins to show the natural chemistry that Tom and Liz had with one another on screen where the Doctor teases her to get her to move on.  And Sarah first off get's Harry trying to spur her on by saying "Come on, Sarah!  Stick at it!" and Sarah complains "That's the trouble!  I keep getting stuck!".  But when Sarah starts to get upset and teary eyed, the Doctor teases her and says "Stop whining, girl, you're useless!" and Sarah says "Oh, Doctor!".  And the Doctor then says to her "Oh, Doctor! Is that all you can say for yourself?! Hundreds of lives are at stake and you just sit there blubbing!".  And this angrily motivates Sarah into action and she angrily says "You wait until I get out of here!" and as Sarah emerges from the conduit the Doctor takes her hand and she protests "I don't need your help, I can manage thank you!" and as the Doctor tells her he is proud of her, she gasps and says "Conned again!  You're a brute!".

Ian Marter is also great here in his first second outing as Harry Sullivan (after playing a smaller role in his debut story, Robot) the bumbling but well meaning navy medic and he also provides some comic relief as well as he is given some possibly unintentionally funny lines to deliver.

Ian actually get's some of the best lines in the story such as his first scene where the Doctor berates Harry for messing about with the TARDIS controls and he calls him a "clumsy ham-fisted idiot!" and Harry says "I said I was sorry, didn't I?" and the Doctor says "What?! Come out!" and Harry off screen says "I was only trying to open the door!".  And then Harry steps out the TARDIS onto the Ark's control room and he says "We aren't where we were, are we?  I've gone mad!" and then Harry says to the Doctor of the TARDIS "You know you could sell that thing, Doctor" and the Doctor, taken aback asks "I could what?!" and Harry "Jolly useful in Trafalgar square.  I mean hundreds of bobbies could fit inside..." and Sarah interrupts him and says "Harry, stop burbling!".

Another good scene for Ian is when the Doctor and Harry find the cryogenic chamber with all the pods containing the chosen members of the human race but Harry is convinced they are dead.  So, Harry opens one of the pods and looks at one of the sleeping humans and says "Dead as door knocker".  Then the Doctor sees Harry checking the human's life signs with his stethoscope and Harry says to the Doctor "Sorry to contradict you, Doctor. Not a flicker of life!".  The Doctor then tells Harry "Suspended animation" but Harry looks incredulous and says "There are no metabolic functions at all. I mean, look at him. Now, even in the deepest coma, the hair and fingernails continue to grow. The epidermis....".  The Doctor then interrupts Harry and says "Total suspension, Harry! You can't 10,000 years in a coma" and Harry surprised asks "10,000?!" and the Doctor "50,000! 100,000! Time is immaterial!".

Then there is the scene when Vira says there is a technical fault on the ship, so the Doctor goes off to investigate it.  And Vira says "The Ark was designed to have a negative fault capacity" and Harry tells to her "Gremlins can get into anything, old girl, first law of the sea!".  And after the Doctor recovers the power, Harry cheerfully says to Vira "There you are.  What did I tell you?  The Doctor's a first class boffin!".   

Another is the scene where the Doctor and the others listened to an automated message of the future prime minister of the Earth (a female voice). So, Harry says to Sarah "Well I bet that did your female chauvanist heart a power of good" and Sarah asks "Why?" and Harry rather smugly says "Well imagine a member of the fair sex being top of the totem pole!".

And lastly there is the scene where Ian delivers one of Harry's best lines when the Doctor after overcoming the intense mental link-up with the Wirrn reveals that electricity is the one way in which they can fight against the Wirrn.  So, the Doctor says to the others "Electricity. Only by electricity. That's the one thing I found out!  It was the auto-guard that killed the queen. Half a million volts" and Harry says "We found the Queen in the cupboard!".

As for the guest cast, Wendy Williams does well enough in her role as Vira, the senior medical technician who revives her crewmates and loyalities are torn between the Doctor and Noah.

Wendy has some good moments in the story such as the scene where she tries to revive Sarah and the Doctor says that she has changed Sarah's body into a battlefield, and Vira says "Battlefield?!  I hypoid in classics by you dawn timers have a language all of your own!".  Then she opens a pod that has the Ark's leader in it, Noah, so Vira says proudly to the Doctor and Harry "Here is our prime unit" and Harry, puzzled, asks "Prime unit?" and Vira says "Our leader you might say? Noah!".  And Harry get's it and says "Oh, I see as in Noah's Ark, eh?" and Vira says "It is a name from mythology. His real name is Lazar, but we called him Noah as an amusement" and Harry asks "A joke" and Vira asks "A joke?" and she get's the word and says "Oh, yes".

Vira then continues "But there was not much joke in the last days" and the Doctor asks "What happened in the last days, Vira?" and Vira, surprised asks "Your colony has no records, no history?!  Where are you from?!".  Harry tells Vira "London, actually.  England.  The Earth!" but Vira says "That is not possible.  The Earth is dead!". The Doctor however disagrees and says "I'm afraid you're probably wrong about that" and Vira says "The solar flares destroyed all life on Earth" and the Doctor says "Ah, solar flares. I see!".  Vira then tells the Doctor "Our scientists calculated it would be five thousand years before the biosphere became viable again" and the Doctor suggests "Oh, the absolute minimum I would say!".

Another good scene from Wendy is when Vira tells Sarah and Harry that they should leave with the Doctor.  So, Vira says to them "If you are space travellers as you claim, you should leave now" and Harry, a little taken aback, says "I say, that's a bit brusque, isn't it? I mean, if it hadn't been for the Doctor..." Vira then interrupts him and says firmly "Noah will not permit contamination of the genetic pool. All regressive transmitters have been eliminated!".  Harry, protesting says "Come off it! We're not contaminating anybody!" and Vira warns him "He has the authority to initiate condign action. Personally, I consider your destruction is not necessary".  Vira then walks away, leaving Harry in a state of disbelief, who says "Thanks very much!".

WARNING: THIS NEXT PARAGRAPH REFERS TO END OF THE STORY!!

And lastly there is the scene at the end where after Noah, in Wirrn form, leads the Wirrn swarm into the Ark's shuttle and he speaks to Vira for the last time over the radio and says "Goodbye, Vira!" and the shuttle is then blown up, leaving Vira stunned.  So, Vira says "He must have known that that would happen! Noah deliberately neglected to set the rocket stabilisers".  And as the Doctor tells Vira that he will need to go down and check out the teleport receptors are working correctly, Sarah and Harry go into the TARDIS and get changed and come back out and join the Doc at the teleport.  So, the Doctor says to Vira "I hope don't mind being left" and Vira smiles and says "Well, I won't be alone for long. Life is returning to the Ark, and soon to the world".  So, the Doctor then throws his bag of jelly babies to her and says "Have a jelly baby, Vira!" and she laughs and says "Oh, thank you!". 

Kenton Moore is also quite effective in his role as Noah, who starts off as a rather arrogant crew leader but is soon consumed by the Wirrn and he starts to become slightly pitiful.

Moore also some good moments such as the scene where just after Noah has been slimed by the Wirrn larvae, he stops the Doctor, Sarah and Harry at gunpoint as they head to stop him going to the solar stack.  So, the Doctor explains to Harry about how the future works in terms of human society "By the thirtieth century, human society was highly compartmentalised. Vira is a med-tech, and I suspect we're an executive problem".  And at this point, Noah appears from nowhere and holds a gun at them and he says "Right, Doctor!  But not a difficult one, you can easily be eliminated".  The Doctor then says "Unlike the thing you saw in the stack, Noah?" and Noah says "I saw a pathetic attempt at sabotage. The observation port is damaged".  The Doctor looks aghast and says "Then its escape, we're too late" and Noah firmly tells them "Turn about! We will return to the cryogenic section!" and the Doctor is in agreement and says "You're absolutely right! There's not time to lose!  Come on!".  

Another good scene from Moore is when he shows his mental torment as coming into contact with the Wirrn larvae begins to effect his mind.  So, he gives his gun to one of the revived Ark members, Libra and as he goes off, Vira stops and asks him where is he going, so Noah says "The system must be shut down".  Vira then asks "What?" and Noah firmly says "The revivication must be stopped!" Vira however is puzzled and asks "Why? I don't understand" and Noah, suddenly hesitant says "It is an order.  I am the commander!".  Vira however protests and tells Noah "But the first phase isn't completed, and we need the technical crew, Noah, to operate the station!" but this makes Noah more anguished and he says painfully "Yes. No! No, the plan is changed! Hear me, hear me, the plan is changed!".  Vira, now very concerned asks Noah "Noah? What is it?  Is it something to do with Dune?" and Noah asks "Dune?" and Vira says "Technician Dune. I reported him missing".  However, Noah then says "But I'm here.  I'm Dune!" and Vira looks stunned and asks "What?" and Noah looks tormented and says "The system must be shut down! No more aliens!".    

Another good scene where he pleads with Vira to evacuate the ark and he fights to tell them agains the Wirrn, which is starting to take control of his mind "We...! You are all in great danger! Get our people out before.....before the Wirrn....!".  But then a calm comes over Noah and he suddenly gives an evil look as the Wirrn briefly takes control of him and his voice changes to a lower tone saying "We shall absorb the humans.  The Earth shall be ours!".

And last of all is the moment where the Noah having just fully turned into his Wirrn form tells Vira to abandon the Ark and leave it to the Wirrn.  So, in the scene, the Wirrn version of Noah says to Vira "Stay, Vira. Stay. Abandon the Ark, Vira. Take the transport ship. Leave now. If you stay, you are doomed!".  Vira however tells Noah "That would be desertion!" and Noah then says "Then you must die, all of you!" When the Wirrn emerge, you will be hunted down and destroyed, as you destroyed us!".

Sarah, confused asks what Noah means, so Noah explains "Long ago, long ago humans came to the old lands. For a thousand years the Wirrn fought them, but you humans destroyed the breeding colonies. The Wirrn were driven from Andromeda! Since then we have drifted through space, searching for a new habitat. The Ark is ours. It must be ours!".  The Doctor however says to Noah "
But the Wirrn live in space. You don't need the Ark!" but Noah says to him "You know nothing! We live in space but our breeding colonies are terrestrial!".  So, Noah completes his story and gives his ultimatum again to Vira "Leave the Ark, Vira, or die with the rest of your race!"

And lastly Morgan Richardson is great in his role as the Ark crewmember, Rogin, who is somewhat grumpy and he too get's some of the story's best lines.

An example is the scene where Rogin has been revived and he says to Vira "I told there has been a snitch up!  We should have taken our chances on Earth and went into the thermic shelters!  We'd be happily dead by now!".  And later he says to other revived friend, Lycett, "We should have stayed on the Earth.  I liked the Earth.  I like heat!".  Then there is the line where Rogin and Harry use the transmats to transport between areas in the Ark and Harry after he is arrives says "I say!  What a marvelous way to travel!" and Rogin rubs his teeth saying "It always sets my teeth on edge!".

And last of all is the scene where the Doctor and Rogin release the synestic locks from the Ark's shuttle, which would mean certain death for one of them if they stayed to remove the final lock.  So, as the Doctor is about to take out the last one, the Doctor says "Leave this to me" and Rogin says "You know what happens when you release that lock?".  The Doctor however insists "There's no point in both of us getting killed by the blast!  Get into the ark, man!" but Rogin then says "You don't want trouble with the space technician's union, Doctor!" and he suddenly punches the Doctor in the face, knocking him out, Rogin grabs the Doctor and says "That's my job!" and then he goes on to sacrifice himself by releasing the final lock.  

DIRECTOR AND MUSIC

As for the direction, Rodney Bennett does a fine job with the story and along with The Sontaran Experiment, it was the only other story that Bennett would direct for the show as he provides a good deal of tension of suspense throughout the story.  The sets are also very noteworthy in the story as future academy award winner, Roger Murray Leach produces some brilliant and imagnitive sets for the Ark space station. In fact you could almost say that this story acted as an inspiration for Ridley Scott's sci-fi classic, Alien, which was released four years later in 1979. 

And last of all, a nod deserves to go out to the show's regular composer at the time, Dudley Simpson who provides another fine dramatic score for the story, which is very well suited and features many atmospheric and dramatic cues.  In fact under the Hinchcliffe/Holmes era, this is where Dudley's scores became more rich and dramatic and less synthesizer orientated as they were in the Jon Pertwee era. So, overall its a very good one from ol Dudley.  

FLAWS (Warning: this section might contain the odd spoiler!)

As for the flaws............... well yeah OK The Ark in Space isn't quite perfect.

And its main flaw probably lies in the fact that while Noah's transformation into the Wirrn throughout the story is quite effective, the Wirrn themselves are less so and in the end we are subjected to more men in rubber suits shifting about!  And after the effectiveness of the story for the first three episodes, when you see the plastic rubber suited Wirrn shift around the studio, it takes away any convincing impact the creatures should make.  But I guess given the show's limited budget back then and the limited effects technology of the time they always in the end has to resort to using men in rubber suits for any insectoid alien lifeforms!

I also felt the story features one or two superflous characters specifically Libri and Lycett who in the end are just used as fodder for the Wirrn (well with Lycett he is literally consumed by the Wirrn larvae) and actually aren't given enough time to be developed as characters or to contribute to the story itself.

I think the pacing of the story is at times also a bit sluggish although it does get off to a very strong start, particularly in the first episode, which is atmospheric and suspenseful and the reveal of the Queen Wirrn at the end is very effective.  However by the time we get to the final episode, the pacing does dip a little, especially when the Doctor and the others try and sort out their plan to wire up the cryogenic chamber with electric cables to keep the Wirrn out as they last segment seems to drag on quite a bit.   

The lack of budget obviously was clearly a bit of an issue where we see in the scene the Doctor, Sarah and Harry walk down the corridors of the Ark that in fact there is only really one corridor area, which they keep reusing at different angles!  But to be fair these were just the time and budget constraints the production staff had to work with at the time.

Another issue I had with the story is perhaps the shift in tone between Robot and The Ark in Space at times is just a bit too dramatic at times, as Robot is nice and light hearted, whereas The Ark in Space is far more dark and gritty and also pretty serious (well except for Harry's comic relief). The Doctor also here is largely very serious and its a pity in a way that they couldn't have allowed for a little more levity for his character, although Tom does deliver the odd amusing line here and there. But just perhaps TAIS takes the new gritty and serious tone just a little too far at times. 

And last of all on a plot point, how the hell did Sarah get changed into her "Ark" outfit?? I mean she was unconscious when she underwent the process to be transferred into the pod and there were no other conscious people onboard at that point other than the Doctor and Harry.  So for me it doesn't make any real sense that she should magically change outfits without being conscious or anyone else helping her to either!

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So to sum up, The Ark in Space is a very good introduction to the Philip Hinchcliffe/Robert Holmes era of the show, which many people (and myself included!) believe it to be one of the very best periods of the show's history.  The story itself for the most part remains a very gripping and enjoyable one and even if the tone is maybe a bit too dark at times and the cheap rubber suited Wirrn look a bit disappointing, not to mention the pace drags in the fourth episode.

But the story's strong script and top performances more than make up for any of the story's drawbacks and it certainly did its part in introducing the show into a brand new and bold era.

OK, so that's it for now and I will be back soon with another post and next time it will be one with NEW content. Promise!

So, until then its bye for now!

Doctor Who - Robot (Revisited) "Send for the doctor! Quick, quick, quick!"

Well, this might be seen as yet another bit of laziness on my part but I figured since I had just reviewed the last Doctor Who story of the Jon Pertwee era, why not review the first story of Tom Baker's era, Robot, which I have already reviewed a few years back on this blog and it is the story that immediately proceeds Pertwee's finale, Planet of the Spiders.  So, I figured why not do another post revisitation for this one.

And with that said, let's take another look at Tom Baker's debut story as the 4th Doctor and see how it stacks up 43 years onward.....

And yes the usual warning is coming right up...

SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!!

STORY

So the story begins with the Doctor (Baker) having just regenerated infront of his companion Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) and the Brigadier (Nicholas Courtney) babble inconherently before he passes out.  The Doctor is taken to the medical bay where he soon comes round and tries to sneak back into the TARDIS but is stopped by the medical officer, Lt Harry Sullivan (Ian Marter) but the Doctor ties him up and puts him in a cupboard.  But as the Doctor is about to leave in the TARDIS, the Brigadier and Sarah both convince him to stay to help them find the culprit behind the theft of plans for a new powerful disintegrator gun.

The Brigadier then takes the Doctor to the Ministry of Defence advanced research centre where the plans were stolen where the Doctor notices a crushed flowers and strange rectangular footprint.  The Brigadier then sets a permieter around the centre to prevent any attack, but the culprit outwits them by burrowing up from underground as it collects the final part needed for the weapon.

Sarah meanwhile investigates a "think tank" group run by its director, Hilda Winters (Patricia Maynard) and her assistant Arnold Jellicoe (Alec Lindstedt).  Sarah finds out that they are developing a prototype robot K1 (Michael Kilgariff) which has been built to perform hazardous tasks in place of humans.

Sarah discovers also that the robot was in fact designed by Professor Kettlewell (Edward Burnham) who was a former member of the think tank who has now turned towards methods of alternative energy.  Kettlewell insists that he had dismantled the robot and that neither Winters or Jellicoe have the ability to reprogramme the robot correctly but if they have tried to it could have resulted in the robot suffering an existential crisis.

Despite the potential dangers of the robot, Sarah starts to feel sorry for it as she realises that Winters appears to be using it for her own ends and she programs the robot to kill a cabinet minister, Joseph Chambers (Walter Goodman).  The robot kills Chambers and then steals some papers which turn out to be launch codes for nuclear weapons of the major nations to only be used in times of grave emergency.

The Doctor soon discovers that Winters and Jellicoe are members of the Scientific Reform Society, who are a society dedicated towards putting scientists in charge of the world believing they can make better decisions for humanity.  The Doctor attends the meeting only to discover that Kettlewell, who is also present, is in fact the mastermind behind it all and he rebuilt the K1 robot along with Winters and Jellicoe and steal the codes to force humanity to change its ways.

And it is from here, the Doctor must try and find a way to stop Winters and Kettlewell from carrying out their plan which could lead to the end of the world.....

THOUGHTS

As a debut story for the Baker era, Robot is a very entertaining one and it sees the Fourth Doctor start with a nice bright and breezy story, which proved to be the final story to be produced by Barry Letts who said he intended to oversee the casting of the new doctor and also the first story before handing over his mantle to Philip Hinchcliffe.

The story itself also proved to be one of the last UNIT stories before they were eventually phased out by Hinchcliffe with Terror of the Zygons and the Android Invasion proving to be the last stories connected with UNIT in the Baker era.  Terrance Dicks who wrote the story had already given over his former script editor duties to Robert Holmes and he provides a pretty decent script as well.

And story wise even though its nothing too original its still quite an entertaining one and the inclusion of the robot as a Frankenstein-esque monster proves to be quite an effective centre piece for the story and the robot itself turns out to be quite sympathetic as it is reprogrammed by its masters and it feels an emotional conflict as a result.

PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES

Moving onto the performances things are pretty good here.

Starting with Tom Baker, who turns in a fine debut performance as the Fourth Doctor.  Tom at this stage naturally was yet to find his feet in the role but he does already show the doctor's eccentric ebullience and provides plenty of fun moments too.

And as a few examples there is the scene where the Doctor shortly after his regeneration, finds the TARDIS key in his boot and says "Of course. Obvious place!" before being stopped by Harry Sullivan.  And Harry says to the Doctor that he's "not fit" and the Doctor takes offence and angrily says "Not fit?!  Not fit?!  Of course I'm fit!  All systems go!" and he karate chops a brick in half on the table and sprints on the spot to prove his point.  Then the Doctor afterwards checks out his face in a mirror and he looks surprised and disappointed and says "As for the physiognomy. Well, nothing's perfect. Have to take the rough with the smooth. Mind you, I think the nose is a definite improvement!".

And as Harry tries to persuade the Doctor to go back to sickbay, the Doctor instead tries to prove that he is fit to Harry by grabbing a long piece of robe and he starts skipping the rope and forcing Harry to join in.  So, as the Doctor skips with Harry, he shouts a nursery rhyme "Mother, mother, I feel sick. Send for the doctor quick, quick, quick. Mother, dear, shall I die? Yes, my darling, by and by. One two three four!",

Another fun moment comes when the Doctor tries out various outfits before settling on his usual one.  And one such example is when the Doctor dresses up in a viking outfit and asks the Brig what he thinks and the Brigadier says "UNIT is supposed to be a security organisation" and the Doctor sheepishly asks "You think I might attract attention?" and the Brigadier says "It's just possible!".  Then after trying another couple of outfits he emerges from the TARDIS wearing his first proper outfit and he says to the Brigadier "Well, how about this?!".   

Another good scene comes when the Doctor examines the crime scene of the centre where the Robot broke in and the Doctor looks at a crushed flower and says "And according to my estimation of the resistance to pressure of vegetable fibre, it was stepped on by something that weighed a quarter of a ton!".

Then we have the scene where the Brigadier and his men surround Emmett's Electronics and the Brigadier says he has everywhere covered.  So, the Brig says to the Doctor " Believe me, Doctor, the place is impregnable" and the Doctor seems a bit wary and says "Never cared much for the word impregnable. Sounds a bit too much like unsinkable".  And this prompts Harry to ask "What's wrong with unsinkable?" and the Doctor says "Nothing, as the iceberg said to the Titanic" and Harry, puzzled asks "What?" and the Doctor does an imitation of a ship sinking as he says "glug, glug, glug!".  And after the robot breaks in and steals the next element needed to build a disintegrator gun and kills one of the UNIT soldiers, the Doctor, Brig and Harry enter the electronics vault and the Doctor checks out the big hole dug out of the ground.  And the Doctor says to the Brigadier "There seems to be a very large rat about, Brigadier" and the Brig asks "Rat???" and the Doctor says to him "Perhaps you should employ the services of a very large cat!".

Another fun scene is when the Doctor tries to enter the Scientific Reform Society meeting and he
empties his pockets at the front outside the meeting infront of a security guard (stunt actor and series regular, Terry Walsh).  So, the Doctor says to the guard "Freedom to the city of Skaro? No. Pilot's licence for the Mars Venus rocket run. Galactic passport. Do you travel much? Honorary member of the Alpha Centauri Table Tennis Club!".  However the guard grows tired quickly of the Doctor's antics and he stands up and walks toward him and the Doctor backs away and says "Very tricky opponents, those chaps. Six arms, and of course six bats. It really keeps you on your toes. I'll tell you what, I'll just pop outside and try something...".  The Doctor then swiftly trips up the guard with his very long scarf and he says to the guard "Oh dear, I'm terribly sorry. You just like there and get some rest. I'll find help. And above all, don't worry. Everything's going to be all right!".

Then there is the scene where the Doctor tries to make a metal virus that will destroy the robot at Professor Kettlewell's lab and he complains about Kettlewell's notes and says "Why didn't that man write up his notes properly?!".  And later the Brigadier radios in to say that the robot has sealed himself inside the bunker with Sarah.  So, the Doctor says to himself "Of course!  Supressed Oedipus complex leading excessive guilt and overcompensation!".  So, the Doctor grabs the radio from Harry and he asks the Brigadier "Brigadier, the robot will try to carry out Kettlewell's plan. Is the computer terminal in the bunker still active?!".  The Brigadier answers "As far as I know..." and the Doctor interrupts and asks "Can you switch off the electricity supply?" but the Brigadier tells him "No! Its on a special sealed circuit!".  So, the Doctor warns him "Then warn all the major powers. The emergency is not over!  They must operate full fail-safe procedures at once!".      

And last of all there is the last scene in the story where the Doctor tries to console Sarah, who is somewhat distraught over the robot being destroyed.  So, the Doctor in the scenes offers Sarah a jelly baby but she says nothing and he says to her "I had to do it, you know" and Sarah realises this and says "Yes, yes, I know. It was insane and it did terrible things, but, but at first, it was so human!".  The Doctor then says "It was a wonderful creature, capable of great good, and great evil. Yes, I think you could say it was human".

However as Sarah mentions to the Doctor about his commitments to the Brigadier in his unpaid job as a scientific advisor for UNIT and he says to Sarah "The Brigadier wants me to address the Cabinet, have lunch at Downing Street, dinner at the Palace, and write seventeen reports in triplicate. Well, I won't do it. I won't, I won't, I won't!" and he thumps his hand on the brick and instead this time hurts thumb.  And Sarah says he is being childish and the Doctor says "Well of course I am.  There's no point in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes!".  The Doctor then holds out his bag of jelly babies and says to Sarah "Are you coming?" and they both smile and she takes one gleefully just before Harry enters the room to end the story. 

Elisabeth Sladen also does a fine job again as Sarah Jane Smith who in this story takes a shine to the robot and ends up feeling sorry for it as the story goes on.  

Liz has some good moments in the story as well such as the scene near the start where the Brigadier mentions that the Doctor is still recovering in sick bay and that Harry Sullivan is looking after him.  So, Sarah asks the Brigadier of Harry "You sure you've got the right man to look after him?" and the Brig says to her "Young Sullivan?  Oh, he's a very fine chap.  First class doctor" and Sarah says "Seems a bit old fashioned".  The Brigadier then says to Sarah "Nothing wrong with that, Miss Smith. You may not have noticed, but I'm a bit old fashioned myself" but Sarah tells the Brig "Nonsense, Brigadier!  You're a swinger!".
 
Then there is the scene where Sarah shows her concern for the creature after Winters attempts to show that the robot cannot harm humans by ordering it to destroy Sarah and the robot refuses and becomes distraught before it is switched off.  And Sarah says to Winters "That was a cruel thing to do" and as Winters says its not human and has no feelings, Sarah say to her "Oh, it's got a brain, hasn't it? It walks and talks like us. How can you be sure it doesn't have feelings too?!".  

Sarah then asks the robot "Are you alright?" and the robot responds "My functioning is unimpaired" but Sarah says "But you were distressed. I saw that!" and the robot says to Sarah "Conflict with my prime directive causes imbalance in my neural circuits".  Sarah then says to the robot "I'm sorry it wasn't my idea" and the robot says to her "The imbalance has been corrected.  It is not logical that you should feel sorrow".  So, after Miss Winters and Mr Jellicoe warn her to keep quiet about the robot but Sarah simply says to them "Goodbye, Miss Winters, Mister Jellicoe" and Jellicoe is about to show her out, Sarah annoyed says "Oh, please, don't bother to see me out!".   

Another highlight for Liz in the story is when Sarah pays a visit to the Scientific Reform Society where she talks to a rather snooty staff member, Mr Short (Timothy Craven) who is aptly named as he is somewhat "short" with Sarah in this scene!  So, in the scene Sarah says to Short "Oh, I see you're having a meeting here tonight. Do you think it'd be possible for me to come?" and Short bluntly says "Sorry, out of the question. Private meeting, members only. No press!".  Sarah then asks "But if I joined?" and Short patronisingly says "I really don't you'd qualify.  We have very high standards!".  So, Sarah thanks Mr Short for his time and then he asks her before she goes "I do hope you'll include us in your article. We've been sadly misrepresented" and Sarah says to him in a flippant tone "Really? Well, we're covering a number of fringe organisations, and I'm sure we'll find a place for you. Somewhere between the flying saucer people and the flat Earthers!". 

Another good scene is when Sarah suggests to Professor Kettlewell while they are UNIT, that they later try to go to Scientific Reform Society meeting where Winters and Jellicoe will also be attending.  However, Benton is not so keen and he says regarding them going off together "But the Brigadier will go spare, so will the Doctor!" and Sarah says "Well one's away and the others asleep!".  Benton then suggests "Well, I'll go and wake the Doctor and see what he says" but Sarah insists "Don't you dare. He had a nasty knock on the head and he needs to rest!".  

However, Benton stands his ground and tries to stop them and says "I'm sorry, Miss, its just not on!" but then Sarah asks him "Mr Benton, are we members of UNIT?" and Benton says "Well, no, of course not".  Sarah then asks Benton "Are we under arrest?" and Benton sighs and says "No, miss" so Sarah then says to Benton "Well then, what we do and where we go is none of your business, is it?!" and she leads out Kettlewell and she turns to Benton and patronisingly says to him "Now just you go and blanco your rifle, or something!".

WARNING!  BIG SPOILER IN THIS PARAGRAPH!!

And last of all is the scene where the robot holds Sarah captive after it has killed Professor Kettlewell, it decide to go through his initial plan to launch the world's atomic missiles and start a nuclear war.  So, as the robot reactivates the countdown, Sarah tries to stop it but the robot pushes her aside and Sarah falls to the ground and she get's up clutching her head she asks "Why?  Why?!" and the robot tells her "I destroyed Kettlewell! I must see his plan does not fail".  Sarah however tries to tell the robot that Kettlewell changed his mind "But he changed his mind!  He wouldn't want you to continue!".  

Then later as the world powers activate their fail-safes and stop the countdown, Sarah says to the robot "You see? They've operated the fail-safe mechanism. Give up now. Please!" but the robot says "Humanity must be destroyed!  It is evil, corrupt!" so Sarah tries to plead with the robot "But you can't take on the whole world. Don't you understand? They'll destroy YOU!!".  The robot however just tells Sarah "Do not fear.  I cannot be destroyed" and they head out to face the UNIT troops. 

Nicholas Courtney is also really good once more as Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart who along with the Doctor investigates the think tank and their nefarious activities.  

And Nick has his share of good moments in this story, such as the one where the Doctor tries out a number of new outfits none of which seem suitable.  So, when the Doctor appears in his first outfit, which is of a viking and the Brigadier says "You've changed!" and the Doctor thinks he means his face and says "Oh, no not again!".  However the Brigadier corrects the Doctor and says "I didn't mean your face, I meant your clothes" and the Doctor asks "Don't you like them?" and the Brig says "UNIT is supposed to be a security organisation".  So, the Doctor asks "Do you think I might attract attention?" and the Brigadier says "Its just possible!".  

Then there is the scene where the Doctor asks the Brigadier "There's just one teeny weeny thing.  and the Brig asks "What's that?" and the Doctor says re: the robot "What are we going to do when we find it?".  So, the Brigadier wearily says "Yes. You know, just once I'd like to meet an alien menace that wasn't immune to bullets!".  

And later there is the scene where the Brigadier spots the disintegrator gun which he points at the robot and he says to Sgt Benton (John Levene) "Of course the very thing! I think just for once we won't need the Doctor!".  However as the Brig takes aim and fire the disintegrator gun at the robot becasue of its melocular structure the disintegrator ray causes the robot to grow to a giant size!  

And Nick has one of the story's best lines at the very end where he walks into the Doctor's lab and notices the TARDIS has gone (as he has just taken off) and the Brig says "Oh Doctor, her majesty is expecting us about....." and he looks around and says "Oh well, I'll just tell them you'll be running a little late!". 

Ian Marter also does well in his debut as Harry Sullivan, the old fashioned army doctor, who is assigned to look after the Doctor only to be eventually tied up by him and little does he know would end up travelling with the Doctor for the rest of the season!  However Ian is somewhat underused in this story though and its only in the other stories in this season where Ian's character get's more screen time.  

So, Ian despite his somewhat limited screen time still has some good moments as well in the story such as the scene where the Doctor sneaks out of sickbay and tries to leave in the TARDIS but he is stopped by Harry.  So, in the scene, Harry says to the Doctor "There you are.  Now come along, Doctor, you are supposed to be in the sickbay!" and the Doctor looks at him and says "Don't you mean the infirmary?".  Harry then says "No I don't mean the infirmary, I mean the sickbay! You're not fit yet" and the Doctor looks at him and says "Not fit? I'm the Doctor" and Harry says "No, Doctor, I'M the doctor and I say that you're not fit".  However the Doctor tries to prove his point that he is and runs on the spot and then checks out both of his heartbeats and Harry listens in on his stethoscope and the Doctor says "Hearts beat?" and Harry says "I say, I don't think that can be right!".  

Then there is the following scene where Sarah and the Brigadier find Harry tied up in the cupboard and they hear a clattering from the cupboard at first and then open it to find him there.  So, Sarah asks Harry "What are you doing down there?!  Where's the Doctor?!" and Harry says to them both "He tied me up and hung me up in here like an old pair of boots!".   

And then there is the last scene where Harry enters the UNIT lab and sees that the Doctor and Sarah are about to leave in the TARDIS and he asks where they are going and the Doctor says they are going for a trip in the police box.  And Harry says to the Doctor "On, come along now, Doctor.  We're both reasonable men.  Now we both know that police boxes don't go careering all over the place!".  The Doctor then asks Harry "Do we?" and Harry laughs and says "Of course we do.  The whole idea is absurd!" and then the Doctor asks him "Is it?  Would you like to step inside for a moment?  Just to demonstrate that it is all an illusion?" and Harry says "Well if you think it will help" and the Doctor says "Yes it would make me feel much better".  So, Harry then says "Right-o" and he steps inside the TARDIS and we hear him exclaim in surprise "Oh, I say!!" and both the Doctor and Sarah grin. 

As for the other cast members Patricia Maynard does well with her role as the officious and amorally amibitious "Think tank" director, Hilda Winters, who plans to be take over the world by holding it to ransom using the nuclear codes to launch a nuclear strike if their demands are not met.

And Patricia has some good scenes aswell that include the one where Sarah sneaks back into robotics section of Think Tank but then suddenly the doors open the robot walks in and advances on Sarah but it is soon deactivated by Winters and Jellicoe.  So, in the scene Sarah asks "Is it dangerous?" and Winters asks "Why do you say that?" and Sarah tells her "Well, it just struck me that it could be a very powerful weapon if it got into the wrong hands. It could be misused".  Winters then turns quite sinister and says "Like this you mean?" and she turns her attention to the robot "This girl is an intruder and a spy. She must not leave here alive. Destroy her!".  However the robot becomes conflicted as it refuses to obey, so Winters tells it to terminate and it goes limp. 

So, just before Sarah goes, Winters warns her about what she has seen of the robot "One moment, Miss Smith. If I were to make a formal complaint about your behaviour here, you might find yourself in a very difficult position".  Jellicoe pitches in aswell and says "Dangerous thing, curiosity.  Can get you into a lot of trouble".  So, Winters gives Sarah her an ultimatum "So I'll make a bargain with you. Keep quiet about what you've discovered here, and I'll keep quiet about how you discovered it" but Sarah simply says goodbye to them and walks out.  And after Sarah goes, Jellicoe objects to Winters demonstration "That was an appallingly dangerous thing to do! Telling it to destroy her. The inhibitor's only just been reset. You know there have been problems. Suppose it had obeyed you?!" and Winters looks to Jellicoe and simply says "It made an interesting test".  

And lastly there is the scene where Winters delivers her passionate speech at the Scientific Reform Society meeting.  So, Winters says "And as you know, my friends, tonight is the culmination of many years of work and planning. A brilliant and audacious scheme is about to come to its climax! You have all waited long and patiently during the years of scorn and ridicule. The days when we were laughed at as cranks. Well now a new and better future is almost within our grasp!".  So, Winters continues "A future in which we, the elite, will rule as is our right! We owe it all to one man. The man whose unrivalled scientific genius has put us in the commanding position we now hold. Professor Kettlewell!" and Kettlewell walks onto stage to a warm standing ovation.  And Winters finishes her speech "He brings with him the symbol of our movement. The creature whose intelligence and power make him a fitting emblem for our scientific new order!" and then there a big cheers.  

Edward Burnham is also good in his role as the seemingly harmless Professor Kettlewell who built the robot and in the end turns out to be working with Winters and he also sprouts a pretty ridiculous looking hairdo! 

And I will only mention one of Burnham's scenes and its the one where the Doctor, the Brig and Sarah visit Kettlewell at his lab.  And during the scene the Doctor takes a look at Kettlewell's scientific notes and he says to him "This will never do, you know!  If theta over x coincides with your disputed factor, you're losing half your output!".  But Kettlewell defiantly says "Oh, rubbish!  I checked all those calculations myself" and the Doctor says "Look, the error's in the third part of the calculation" so Kettlewell checks his figures on his calculator and looks astonished at the Doctor and says "Bless my soul!".  The Doctor then encourages Kettlewell by saying "But you're doing vital work, Professor. Earth's human race should have started tapping solar power long ago!" and Kettlewell wholeheartedly agrees and says "This new solar battery will provide an endless supply of pollution free energy at a fraction of the present cost and they haven't the wit to see it!".

So, as Kettlewell babble on about the days of the great scientists, the Doctor cuts him short and says "Professor, I think you ought to tell us about the robot".  So, Kettlewell stops and takes a moment and says "It was the last project I worked upon before I decided to leave. I gave orders for him to be dismantled. It was like putting my own son to death. I thought it was for the best. His power, his capacity to learn had begun to frighten me!".  Sarah then says "But it wasn't destroyed was it?" and Kettlewell suggests "I don't know. That woman, Winters, might have countermanded my orders".  And when Kettlewell asks if people were killed during the break-ins and if the robot could have carried them out, he says "Oh, it's out of the question. You said he refused to harm you, didn't you? Yes, well, I gave him my own brain pattern. He has my principles, my ideals!".  The Doctor then suggests that the robot's circuitry could be tampered with but Kettlewell dismisses the idea that Winters could do it.  However, Kettlewell does finish the scene by saying "If they force him to go against his prime directive, they'll destroy his mind. He'll go mad!".
 
John Levene also nicely reprises his role as Benton, who in this story is promoted to Regimental Sergeant Major and looks rather pleased with himself when he tells Sarah about it and he says to her "You see, technically speaking, the Brig should have a Major and a Captain under him. The UNIT budget won't run to it so they settled on promoting me!". 

Then later there is the scene where Benton saves Sarah and the Doctor from the robot as he and the other UNIT soldiers divert the robot from them and it escapes.  So, Benton asks Sarah of the unconscious Doctor "Is he OK, Miss?" and Sarah says "Yes, yes, I think so" and Benton says "We just couldn't stop it".  Sarah then objects to Benton firing on the robot "Oh, well, what did you have to start shooting for? He wouldn't have harmed you" and Benton says "You could have fooled me. It was trying to kill the Doctor, wasn't it?".  Sarah then says "Yes, but that was because. Well, it doesn't matter, and it wasn't your fault, I suppose. You did your best" and Benton rather taken aback says "Oh, thank you very much. The US cavalry never got treated like this!".

And lastly there is the scene when Benton gives the Doctor the vital information he needs to help destroy the robot as he refers to what he heard from Professor Kettlewell about the robot's growing metal capacity.  So, Benton says to the Brigadier "Excuse me, sir. When Professor Kettlewell was here talking to Miss Smith, he said the robot was made of some kind of living metal. He even said it could grow".  The Doctor, interested says "Did he now" and Benton continues "Yes, and he went on about some kind of metal virus. Something that attacked the living metal...." and the Doctor, intrigued muses "The same way that disease attacks animal tissue".  Benton however suddenly thinks he has been no help and says "Oh, I'm sorry. It was probably a daft idea anyway..." however the Doctor is delighted as it has given him the answer and he shakes Benton's hand and exclaims "Wonderful, Mr Benton!  Wonderful!".  

Alec Linstead is also pretty good in his role as Jellicoe, Miss Winters henchman, who takes part in their wicked activities.  I will only mention one of his scenes and its the one where Winters and Jellicoe are working on the robot as Jellicoe adjusts settings inside the robot and having removed the robot's head, he reattaches it.  

So, Jellicoe says to Winters "There. I think that's it" and Winters asks him "Think? You better be sure!" and Jellicoe says "It's a delicate job. I'm not really trained in this sort of work" and Winters says "Well, we better test it".  Jellicoe then says "This time, emphasise the recall instructions. You know, it refused to return after that last business. I found it wandering near Kettlewell's place" and Winters laughs and says "How touching. Perhaps Miss Smith was right!".  Jellicoe asks "About what?" and Winters says "Perhaps it does have feelings. It misses Daddy!". 

And last of all Michael Kilgarriff provides a nice performance as the K1 Robot and Kilgarriff himself does both the voice and plays the physical part of the robot and his robot costume is actually fairly impressive (if a bit clunky!).  Kilgarriff also does a nice job at showing the robot's emotional conflict when it is asked to carry out evil deeds and you actually feel sorry for the robot as it has been viciously manipulated by Winters to do her evil bidding.  

And Kilgarriff has some good scenes aswell such as the one where Miss Winters as a demonstration to prove the robot cannot harm humans, orders it to destroy Sarah.  However in the scene the robot becomes conflicted and says "I cannot obey. This order conflicts with my prime directive!" and Winters pressures it more by saying "You must obey..." but the robot still feels conflicted and it says "I must obey...I cannot obey...! I, I!" as it clearly shows sign of anguish and then Winters says "Terminate" and the robot goes limp. 

Sarah then asks the robot "Sarah then asks the robot "Are you alright?" and the robot responds "My functioning is unimpaired" but Sarah says "But you were distressed. I saw that!" and the robot says to Sarah "Conflict with my prime directive causes imbalance in my neural circuits".  Sarah then says to the robot "I'm sorry it wasn't my idea" and the robot says to her "The imbalance has been corrected.  It is not logical that you should feel sorrow". 

Then later there is the scene where Winters has programmed for the robot to kill the Doctor as he is lured to Kettlewell's lab and the robot is there waiting for him.  The robot asks the Doctor "Are you the Doctor?" and the Doctor says "How do you do?  I've been so looking forward to meeting you" but the robot asks again "Please confirm your identity. There must be no mistake. You are the Doctor?" and the Doctor says "Yes, yes of course!".  The robot then advances on the Doctor and says "You are an enemy of the human race. I must destroy you. Please do not resist. I do not wish to cause you unnecessary pain!" and it takes a swing at the Doctor, who ducks and the robot smashes a window.  

So, the Doctor tries to slow the robot down to little effect but then he asks it "Prime directive!  What is your prime directive?!" and the robot says "I must serve humanity and never harm it!" and the Doctor says "Then you musn't harm me!  I'm a friend of humanity!" but the robot insists "No, you are an enemy. You must be destroyed!". The Doctor then briefly subdues the robot by sticking his hat over its head but the robot then hits the Doctor on the head and he falls down on the ground and the robot advances on him.

Another good scene from Kilgarriff is when the robot turns up at Kettlewell's lab in a state of emotional conflict.  So, the robot in an anguished voice says "I,I, I...I have been given orders that conflict with my prime directive!" and Kettlewell says to himself "Oh, no!" and the robot continues "They say there is no conflict, yet I know there is conflict. I do not understand. Help me!". 

Then later there is the scene where the robot unwittingly shoots Kettlewell with the disintegrator gun and it cries out "Aghhh!  I have killed the one who created me!!" and the robot then collapses.  And later the robot also takes a shine to Sarah and when it is fortified in the research bunker with Sarah the robot says to her "I can bring about the destruction of humanity!  But do not fear, Sarah.  You alone will be saved".

DIRECTOR AND MUSIC

Finally moving onto the director Christopher Barry who does a good job with the story and he keeps the tone of it nice and light and paces the story out well and as a four parter its just the right length and ticks along nicely without ever feeling overlong.  Barry was already a veteran director on the show as he directed the very first Dalek story from the William Hartnell era and would later go on to direct two more serials from the Baker era, The Brain of Morbius and The Creature from the Pit.   

As for the music score Dudley Simpson provides another light, pleasant and jaunty score for the story which saw Simpson move even closer toward pure orchestral arrangements with the odd bit of keyboard thrown in here and there. And its a pity now that old Dudley has passed on as he was a real stalwart of the old series but he still had a good innings as he died last year at the age of 95.   

FLAWS (Warning: this section may contain spoilers!)

So as for the old flaws section..... yes Robot has the odd one or two.  

To start off the story itself is pretty silly and unoriginal with yet another megalomaniac in Winters wanting to take over the world its nothing the show hasn't done before now and it has been done better in previous stories as well.  Which brings me to the character of Winters herself who comes across more like a stern school teacher rather than anything else and she isn't really a character that makes you feel intimidated or has effectiveness to make the viewer believe she is a dominating megalomaniacal figure head.  

Another point of the show which it has to be said is pretty daft is the use of CSO (colour separation overlay) which was a visual effect constantly overused during the Barry Letts era of the show, where a false background is superimposed (quite badly) and is well noted in the scenes where the robot grows in size and picks up Sarah as it just looks silly.  This is especially daft when you see the robot carry a miniature doll version of Sarah for the medium shot!  

And worst of all is the stupid inclusion of the tank scene in which a tank is wheeled in by the Brig to try and destroy the robot but the robot instead destroys it easily with the disintegrator gun, and the tank used in the scene itself is a toy one!  And at this point in the story it really is quite laughable and obviously the BBC's budget couldn't stretch to using a full tank (well that and the fact that they couldn't disintegrate one either no doubt!). 

I also though the scene where Miss Winters demonstrates the robot will not harm humans by ordering it to kill Sarah was also a bit bizarre, not in the manner of the demonstration but more the fact Miss Winters essentially attempted to murder Sarah right then and there.  Yet in the scene, its actually Miss Winters that wants Sarah to keep quiet, despite the fact that she instigated an attempted murder!  So, surely Sarah could tell her "Well I don't need to keep quiet as I will just tell the others that you tried to use the robot to kill me!.  Basically I think Sarah had more leverage on her side with what went on than Miss Winters did!    

And lastly I thought the moment where the Doctor warns the Brigadier to inform all the major powers to activate their fail-safes was also a bit silly because at that point the countdown was pretty much done!  So, that meant between the Doctor and the Brigadier radio conversation they had about 20 seconds to make the call to the major powers and get them to activate their fail-safes!  I'm pretty sure that 20 seconds really wouldn't cut it in all honesty here, well either that or the Brigadier has a hotline right through to them!  Still even at this, its pretty far fetched to think that they could abort the countdown so quickly!

So, that's it for the flaws

SUM UP
 
So, to sum up, Robot is still a very enjoyable debut story for the Tom Baker era and it saw Tom make a very self assured start to his new role as the Doctor and one where even then, he started to nail his portrayal of the character that he would then go on to develop further.  The story is also very well backed up by a solid cast and with Elisabeth Sladen and Nicholas Courtney both in very good form as well as the introduction of Ian Marter as Harry Sullivan, the rather old fashioned medical doctor, who would later end up travelling with the Doctor and Sarah. 

And yes it has some problems with the plot here and there and yep that toy tank is frankly just laughable when you see it and yes again, Barry Letts shows his overt passion for using CSO once again. 

But despite these drawbacks, they don't stop Robot from being a very entertaining start to the 4th Doctor's era, who would always be in the public's eye, one of the most popular and enduring incarnations of the character. 

Right, so that's it for now and I shall return with a new post of some kind soon (I promise!).

So, till the next one, its ciao for now!