Review: The Two Doctors (Doctor Who)

; Date: Tue Aug 25 2009

Tags: Doctor Who

"When you travel around as much as I do, it's almost inevitable that you'll run into yourself at some point." This is yet another of the stories where the Doctor meets various instances of himself. This time the story starts in black & white (fading quickly to color), with the 2nd Doctor and Jamie heading to a space station (as big as 20 castles) to meet with some scientists. Thus ensues a rather screwball story that could only be Doctor Who.

The 2nd Doctor and Jamie meet scientists who have been experimenting in time control. The 2nd Doctor had been sent on a mission by The Time Lords to deliver a cease and desist request. But quickly they get into a trap where Sontarans attack the space station, kill everybody, kidnap the Doctor, and take him elsewhere.

There is a horrible continuity problem at this point. This had to have happened prior to the final episode of the 2nd Doctor, (davidherron.com) The War Games. At that time the Doctor was horrified to meet with The Time Lords, expecting the worst possible treatment from them. Why then would the 2nd Doctor be doing a special mission with the Time Lords. Further Jamie did not know who the Time Lords were, but in The Two Doctors they were on a special mission from the Time Lords, so at the end of The War Games he would have known of the Time Lords.

That aside.. the cease and desist request comes across like talk of nuclear research today. The 2nd Doctor was urging them into "safe" lines of time research. Doesn't that sound like the demand the western powers are making of Iran or Korea today?

The 6th Doctor in the meantime has gone fishing. And of course Peri is being the whiney stupid b____ that she is. Sorry, I really hate Peri, almost as much as I hate the pompous bombasity of the 6th Doctor. I really find this period of Doctor Who as very irritating. After they quit fishing and return to the TARDIS, the Doctor suddenly collapses with a vision of another version of himself being killed. That sets them on the quest, the first stop being the space station where they learn of the massacre and also encounter (and rescue) Jamie.

After that they head to Earth, near Seville specifically, where the villains have taken the 2nd Doctor. After a bunch of derring do and subterfuge .. they discover an intricate set of double crossing between the Sontarans and some collaborators. What they want from the Doctor is a secret to controlling time machines which apparently is encoded in the bodies of Time Lords. However the Doctor (both of them) are able to turn the tables on their captors, destroying them all. So, you can say they were destroyed by their greed?

The video quality is excellent. And despite the pompous bombasity and whiney b____ery there are a lot of funny moments in the story:-

  • "I am not interested in the beliefs of primitives, only what they taste like!"
  • "We Sontarans lead, we never follow"
  • "I think your Doctor is worse than mine" (Jamie to Peri)
  • "There's more places to eat in this town than you'd find fleas on a dog" (Jamie about Seville)

The package includes 2 DVD's. The first DVD has the episodes and only one special feature. The second DVD has a whole lotta special features.

About the Author(s)

(davidherron.com) David Herron : David Herron is a writer and software engineer focusing on the wise use of technology. He is especially interested in clean energy technologies like solar power, wind power, and electric cars. David worked for nearly 30 years in Silicon Valley on software ranging from electronic mail systems, to video streaming, to the Java programming language, and has published several books on Node.js programming and electric vehicles.