TV Review: Classic Doctor Who: The Three Doctors

This is a 1972 opening series of the tenth season of Doctor Who, and is the first in which a prior Doctor comes back.  It features the first three Doctors, who are brought together by the Time Lords as the home world of the Time Lords is under attack, and their energy is being sapped into a black hole. Because of this attack, the Time Lords go against their own rules, and put the three Doctors together to attack the threat.  The Doctors are played by John Pertwee (third and current to movie Doctor) Patrick Troughton (second) and first William Hartnell (First).  The first Doctor is not able to materialize, due to insufficient energy, but appears on a view screen.  He is often the most level headed, and is sent to calm the other two down.  As the first two get together, they become engaged in a rivalry, which hinders their effectiveness.  The stream in the black whole is sent to find a Time Lord.  The Doctors eventually discern that they need to follow the stream, and so they do so.  There the find an old Time Lord Omega, who helped establish the Time Lord realm to begin with, but all thought he had sacrificed himself in an explosion.  His "will" has allowed him to exist where nothing should exist, in a black whole which is made of antimatter.  However as his "will" is what allows him to exist, he cannot leave.  He has brought the Time Lord to force them to use their will so he can leave.  However he has gone made, and actually the particles have destroyed his body, so he is an empty suit of armor.  Omega has accidentally brought many friends and others from Earth to the black whole, in his attempts to find a Time Lord.  He agrees to send them back, if the two Doctor Who's stay.  They agree.  However the use Omega's insanity and anger against him, and are realized, and restored to their natural spot, when Omega is set free through death.  The black hole becomes a star.
I found this entertaining.  The soldiers of the world created have interesting weapons, but they seem to always miss.   Their appearance is somewhat grotesque.  They energy being which is sending everyone to the black hole is a interesting special effect.

Doctor Who: ****Spearhead from Space

This series of four shows is on classic Doctor Who on Netflix.  It aired in 1979 and was the start of the seventh season and introduced the third Doctor played by John Pertwee.  This show also introduces the Autons and the Nestene Consciousness.  The Nestene have a power over plastics, and so this is the first Doctor Who show in which plastic comes to life.  It eventually brings to life all the store dummies, and not only do they come to life, they shoot and kill.  The goal of the Nestene is to colonize Earth, and destroy whatever is already there.

The Doctor has a new face, but he becomes a part of UNIT, an organization responsible to investigate aliens.  They are investigating the mysterious landing of comets in a pattern.  These individual comets have held the consciousness in different parts.  They have all been gathered but one, which was found and hid by a farmer.  It is this move that keeps the Consciousness from becoming fully complete, and starting the conquest of the world.  The Doctor works with Liz Shaw (Caroline John) and Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart (Nicholas Courtney).  The Doctor is able to study the last part of the consciousness, and they discover a wax museum with new dummies of prominent world leaders.  The Nestene steal the last piece, and complete themselves, and begin the takeover of the world.  Can the Doctor use what he has learned to make a weapon to combat the Consciousness, because a bullet has no effect on the plastic dummies.
This is a really good, old Doctor Who.  I hate the ones were the dummies come to life.

TV Review: Classic Doctor Who:****The Carnival of Monsters

John Pertwee stars in this series as The Doctor.  He is the third Doctor and this is the tenth season.  He, and his companion, Jo Grant, (Katy Manning) find themselves in trouble when they and the TARDIS get caught by a Miniscope.  This is a device, previously outlawed, which catches things, entraps them, and makes them smaller.  This one is owned by a circus performer and his assistant.   In the machine is the carnival of monsters, which includes, They are visiting a planet with political intrigue, but after making their presentation are told their contraption is illegal as it harbors alien races, Tellurians (humans) on a ship from 1914, Ogra (related to Dalek's), Cybermen and Drasheks (a dinosaur type monster).  All these creatures are in a machine the size of a box, with no way of escaping.   Most of the residents don't realize they are captive, but the Doctor and his companion do, and they start trying to escape, which gums up the works.  They wander into the Drashek's territory, and get the Drasheks chasing them.
The circus performers are showing their machine off to a planet, where the ruling race is very worried about being effected by alien races.  When they see the show, it is declared illegal, and subject to be destroyed.  However the exterminator does not destroy it.  It is intended for organic matter only.  There are a couple men, who are willing to do anything to get ahead.  They want to sabotage the supreme ruler by creating a disaster.  They see that the circus performer are having some problem, with things getting out of their space, and in fact, the Drasheks, which eat anything including metal, are getting out.  These two help them, while sabotaging the exterminator.  When they get out what will happen?
This series was very entertaining.  I enjoyed the story, and the adventure.  The monsters were corny, and the men of the planet had bald spots, with lines showing in their bald wigs. But that is part of Doctor Who.