"A bit far-fetched..."

"A bit far-fetched..."

Rewatching 'The Chase' today has reminded us just how much fun everyone is having with it. For the most part it's not trying to be serious dramatic science-fiction, but a jaunty jog through Time & Spain that still manages to sneak in a couple of really dark moments that would have attracted some complaints had they featured in a more conventional story.

Dennis Spooner once said that the whole point of 'The Web Planet' was to see how far they could go with 'being weird', but an episode like 'Journey Into Terror' briefly toys with the idea of it being set in The Human Mind. Viewers get to learn the truth at the end, but the TARDIS crew never do, which is a strange choice to make, but there you go.

It's also never explained when Frankenstein's Monster pauses to put on his best jacket before chucking that Dalek around with such gusto...

The 'American' accents attempted in 'Flight Through Eternity' seem to be the resut of a car crash between the production teams of 'Columbo' and 'The Beverly Hillbillies' (and that's being generous), but Peter Purves still manages to earn himself a rapid return, showing the sheer panic-stricken nature of any what might be laughably called 'forward planning'.

A few minutes later a woman and a baby jump into the sea and are strongly implied to drown.

Nobody could accuse this story of anything approaching a consistent tone, making it in some ways a sort of Cup-A-Soup version of Season 2.

The Robot Double Of Doctor Who doesn't look much like the original, you might say, and the jungle on Mechanus goes all post-modern when you get a lingering shot of a camera. There are some stories where you'd be aghast at some of the amateurism on display here, but it's all done with such naive enthusiasm that I can't throw too many stones.

Sometimes, when you're trying that brave move of introducing people to old 'Doctor Who' you make the mistake of giving them something a bit too serious. Judging from the comments, I've seen today something like 'The Chase' is actually a much better bet.

Yes, like Ian's book 'Monsters From Outer Space', it's a bit far-fetched, but that's not a crime in itself. Sometimes, it's just the way you tell 'em...

(By Andrew Trowbridge)