Doctor Who at 50: The First Doctor (1963-66)

William Hartnell (1908-1975) played the First Doctor in 134 episodes and 29 serials, airing over three seasons and part of the fourth. His era introduced the core concepts of the show and recurring enemies such as the Daleks and Cybermen. He had 10 companions, more than any other Doctor.

The First Doctor: William Hartnell (1963-66)

 

The original plan for Doctor Who had been that the series would alternate between historical serials set in established times and places (and thus able to use existing costumes and sets from the BBC's considerable stocks) and science fiction stories incorporating space travel, monsters, aliens and futuristic settings. The idea was that kids would tune in for the SF shows and then be educated by the historical dramas. So, following the first episode the next three were set on prehistoric Earth and saw the TARDIS crew inadvertently give the secret of fire to a bunch of cavemen. Its ratings were worryingly low.

For the second serial, Verity Lambert commissioned writer Terry Nation to come up with a science fiction idea. Nation wrote a topical story riffing on both the ongoing Cold War and fear of a nuclear conflict (the Cuban Missile Crisis had taken place just a year earlier) and also on the idea of Nazi racial superiority. Nation's resulting seven-episode script was ambitious, charting the aftermath of a nuclear war on an alien planet that left the survivors divided into an advanced city of mutants forced to travel around in robotic shells, and pacifistic tribesfolk who had vowed never to fight again. Donald Wilson was unimpressed and suggested they ditch the script, but Lambert fought for it on the basis they had nothing ready to replace it with. Designer Ridley Scott (yes, that one) was brought on board to design the robotic shells of the aliens but he had to drop out in favour of Raymond Cusick due to a scheduling clash. Cusick's design for these 'Daleks' proved wildly successful.

The resulting serial was expensive but also hugely popular: audience figures more than doubled from the opening serial's worryingly low (and possibly cancellation-threatening) 4 million to almost 11 million, ensuring the show's future. Lambert realised they would have to bring the Daleks back and began planning a sequel, although there was no room for it in the initial production block.

The rest of the first season saw historical adventures with Marco Polo, the Aztecs and during the French Revolution alternating with stories set on alien planets. This format resumed for the second season, with some experimentation: in the first serial the Doctor is able to return Ian and Barabara to Earth (his attempts to get them home having formed a very rough story arc over the course of the first season) but something goes wrong and they end up miniaturised.

A Dalek from their very first appearance in 1963.

The second serial of the second season was the long-awaited Dalek sequel, The Dalek Invasion of Earth. The BBC stumped up extra money for the serial, hoping to capitalise on the Daleks' popularity, and the production team was able to film location scenes of Daleks on the streets of London. The extensive location shooting was unusual for the series, as the low budgets mostly kept it contained to the studio even for scenes set outdoors. The serial was again hugely popular and kick-started 'Dalekmania', a toy craze lasting until 1966 or thereabouts. During this time Dalek merchandise sold by the bucketload and two Dalek movies were produced. These two colour films adapted the first two Dalek stories and starred Peter Cushing as the human 'Dr. Who'. Despite their popularity, these films were considered non-canon to the TV series.

The Dalek Invasion of Earth also marked the first major cast change in the show's history. Unhappy with her limited character development, Carole Ann Ford chose to leave the show at the end of the serial. She was replaced by Maureen O'Brien, playing the similar role (though this time a young human woman from the future) of Vicki in the subsequent two-parter, The Rescue. A third Dalek story, The Chase, aired towards the end of the season and saw the departure of Ian and Barbara from the TARDIS as well and their replacement with space pilot Steven Taylor (played by future Blue Peter host Peter Purves). William Hartnell was apparently upset by the departure of the rest of the original cast and likely began considering his own future on the show around this time.

The second season would go on to feature more historical dramas - one set during the Great Fire of Rome in 64 AD and another during the Crusades (starring future Game of Thrones regular Julian Glover as Richard the Lionheart) - but it was becoming clear that the audience loved the SF stories more. An experiment was undertaken with the season's final story, The Time Meddler, which opened as a standard historical drama but then skewed into SF when the Doctor was confronted by the Meddling Monk, another time-traveller from the same race with his own TARDIS. This mashing-up of the historical with SF elements was successful, and would become the norm for stories set in the past after a few more years.

The third season was a time of even greater change. Terry Nation was keen to launch the Daleks as their own spin-off show (and under the licensing terms of the show, Nation retained a separate copyright on his creations and could use them in other projects) and the BBC decided to appease him by dedicated a massive twelve weeks (plus another one-off prologue episode) to a single storyline, The Daleks' Master Plan. This story was hugely important, establishing the Daleks as a major time-travelling threat and also featuring the deaths of two companions (albeit relatively short-lived ones), Katarina and Sara Kingdom. Nicholas Courtney also made his first appearance on the show, this time as Brett Vyon. A few years later he would return in the more famous role of Colonel (and later Brigadier) Alastair Lethbridge-Stewart. Verity Lambert also departed just before The Daleks' Master Plan and William Hartnell did not find the new incoming production team to be as personable.

The Gunfighters is widely-derided in Doctor Who fandom, though it has its fans.

More historical shows followed, including what is widely believed to be one of the show's absolute nadirs, The Gunfighters. An SF serial, The Ark, made the first, more original use of the TARDIS as a time machine (the Doctor's inability to pilot the TARDIS at this point, due to malfunctions, meant that it generally only showed up at the start and end of adventures and rarely inbetween). The Doctor and his companions arrive on a huge spacecraft and solve the crisis there in two episodes. They leave, but the TARDIS mysteriously seems to stay still. Emerging again, they find that centuries have passed and their actions have now passed into legend. Simple enough stuff, but at the time an interesting deviation from the standard format.

By the end of the third season, William Hartnell was clearly ailing in terms of health and was no longer happy working on the show, with almost everyone who had started the show off with him having departed. Producer Innes Lloyd and script editor Gerry Davis developed an intriguing idea: as an alien, the Doctor was not bound by the same rules of mortality as a human, and it might be the case that instead of dying the Doctor would rejuvenate himself into a new form and appearance. The producers consulted Hartnell as a courtesy, and he agreed that that show should continue without him and even suggested his own replacement: Patrick Troughton. In event several actors were considered, but the producers went with Hartnell's choice and cast Troughton in the role. The decision was made that Hartnell would depart at the end of the second serial of the fourth season, handing over to Troughton. This serial would also be important for introducing the Cybermen, an enemy species that would go on to rival the Daleks in popularity.

Review ratings are only given for complete serials I have seen, which isn't very many. Those looking for an in-depth and unusual review of the entire series are directed to Adventures with the Wife in Space, in which a committed Doctor Who fan exposes his wife to the series and records her reactions. Serials marked ~ are incomplete, with one or more episodes missing from the BBC archives (a future article will expand on why). Serials marked ~~ are completely missing, with no surviving episodes remaining.

Season 1: 23/11/63-12/9/64 (42 episodes)

A: An Unearthly Child (4 episodes) **** (first episode) *** (remainder)

B: The Daleks (7 episodes) ****

C: The Edge of Destruction (2 episodes)

D: Marco Polo (7 episodes) ~~

E: The Keys of Marinus (6 episodes)

F: The Aztecs (4 episodes)

G: The Sensorites (6 episodes)

H: The Reign of Terror (6 episodes) ~

Season 2: 31/10/64-24/7/65 (39 episodes)

J: Planet of Giants (3 episodes)

K: The Dalek Invasion of Earth (6 episodes) ****½

L: The Rescue (2 episodes)

M: The Romans (4 episodes)

N: The Web Planet (6 episodes)

P: The Crusade (4 episodes) ~

Q: The Space Museum (4 episodes)

R: The Chase (6 episodes) ***

S: The Time Meddler (4 episodes)

Season 3: 11/9/65-16/7/66 (45 episodes)

T: Galaxy Four (4 episodes)

T/A: Mission to the Unknown (1 episode) ~~

U: The Myth Makers (4 episodes) ~~

V: The Daleks' Master Plan (12 episodes) ~

W: The Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve (4 episodes) ~~

X: The Ark (4 episodes)

Y: The Celestial Toymaker (4 episodes) ~

Z: The Gunfighters (4 episodes)

AA: The Savages (4 episodes) ~~

BB: The War Machines (4 episodes)

Season 4: 10/9/66-1/7/67 (43 episodes)

CC: The Smugglers (4 episodes) ~~

DD: The Tenth Planet (4 episodes) ~

The First Doctor regenerates at the end of the fourth episode of The Tenth Planet, a result of extreme old age. This is the only 'natural' regeneration that the Doctor has undergone to date.

The First Doctor's Companions

Susan (Carole Ann Ford): Seasons 1-2 (A-K)

Ian Chesterton (William Russell): Seasons 1-2 (A-R)

Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill): Seasons 1-2 (A-R)

Vicki (Maureen O'Brien): Seasons 2-3 (L-U)

Steven Taylor (Peter Purves): Seasons 2-3 (R-AA)

Katarina (Adrienne Hill): Season 3 (T-U)

Sara Kingdom (Jean Marsh): Season 3 (V)

Dodo Chaplet (Jackie Lane): Season 3 (W-BB)

Ben Jackson (Michael Craze): Seasons 3-4 (BB- )

Polly (Anneke Wills): Seasons 3-4 (BB- )

Doctor Who at 50: Genesis

On Saturday, 23 November 1963 the BBC aired the first episode of a new science fiction drama series, Doctor Who. It was almost ignored, most viewers still shocked by the news of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy the day before. The BBC - wisely - repeated the first episode a week later and the show gained more attention. Its ratings were modest and cancellation likely until the second serial aired. This serial introduced a race of cybernetic organisms called the Daleks which almost immediately became a hit on the playgrounds of Britain. Ratings soared and Doctor Who remained in continuous production for twenty-six years before it was unofficially cancelled in December 1989.

The eleven faces of the Doctor. From left to right: William Hartnell (#1), Patrick Troughton (#2), Jon Pertwee (#3), Tom Baker (#4), Christopher Ecclesone (#9), Matt Smith (#11), David Tennant (#10), Paul McGann (#8), Sylvester McCoy (#7), Colin Baker (#6) and Peter Davison (#5).

Following the success of a one-off TV movie in 1996, the BBC began working on ways of bringing the show back. This took a lot longer than planned, with the show not returning to British screens until March 2005. Since then it has become the most popular British TV show abroad, with the show becoming a cult sensation in the USA where the original series had always struggled to get much attention.

This November marks the 50th anniversary of the series. Since its first episode it has chalked up 800 episodes (the 800th is in fact this year's Christmas special) airing over 33 seasons. It has also spun off a canonical TV movie and two non-canon feature films, as well as stage plays, hundreds of books and several computer games. The show has featured more than sixty recurring actors, with eleven (potentially thirteen by the end of this year) playing the title role alone. Twelve showrunners have guided the show from behind the scenes. At its height in the UK during the late 1970s, the show was garnering viewing figures of up to 16 million per week. It is the BBC's most profitable television series in its history. The statistics are impressive, and would likely surprise those who created the show back in the 1960s.

Though a large team contributed to the creation of Doctor Who, Canadian producer Sydney Newman is usually credited with bringing the project to the screen and creating several of its core concepts.

Genesis

The BBC began development of a new science fiction project in early 1962. Eric Maschwitz, the assistant and adviser to the Controller of Programmes, is generally credited with starting the ball rolling by asking Donald Wilson, the Head of the Script Department, to brainstorm ideas and cost a new SF project. Wilson's staffmembers Alice Frick and Donald Bull delivered a report within a month, stating that the BBC could indeed afford to develop such a programme. A second report by Frick and another staffmember, John Braybon, was the first one to raise time travel as a possible plot device. Amongst the benefits of a time travel show was the ability to cheaply re-use props and costumes from the BBC's extensive stocks for historical shows and to spend more money on the SF ideas.

In December 1962 Canadian Sydney Newman took over as Head of Drama at BBC TV. An SF fan, he was made aware of the existing project and also an upcoming gap in the schedules on Saturday evenings. Newman had Wilson and his staff and another writer, C.E. Webber, continue to develop the idea with this timeslot in mind. The timeslot fell between the sports programme Grandstand and pop music programme Juke Box Jury. As a result, the new SF series would have to appeal simultaneously to both adults fresh from watching the sport and children waiting to watch the music programme. Contrary to numerous incorrect reports, Doctor Who was never commissioned as a children's series, but as a production of the adult BBC Drama Department that was designed to have a wide audience appeal.

Doctor Who's first head producer - or showrunner in modern parlance - Verity Lambert, on the set of Doctor Who in the third season.

Newman took a personal hand in the development of the idea and personally created the idea of a time machine larger inside than out. He also created the Doctor (originally characterised as a brilliant-but-human inventor from the 49th Century) and gave the show its name, Doctor Who. As development proceeded, a production team was assembled with the role of head producer - the closest to the modern notion of a 'showrunner' - up for grabs. After two producers had turned it down, Newman recruited a previous colleague of his, Verity Lambert. The hiring of a 28-year-old woman as the chief producer on a new BBC drama series in 1963 raised eyebrows at the corporation but Newman backed her to the hilt. Donald Wilson soothed concerns by appointing the experienced and respected Mervyn Pinfield as Lambert's deputy to provide support, but in the end Lambert's production skills were more than capable.

Australia writer Anthony Coburn was brought on board to write the first episode, working from the materials created by the rest of the team and an early outline by C.E. Webber. Coburn refined a number of ideas, such as establishing the notion that the TARDIS's external shape could shift to blend in with its surroundings. Its first appearance would be a police telephone box. However, once the cost of redressing the TARDIS prop for every serial was worked out, it was decided that the TARDIS's circuits would jam and force the TARDIS to remain as a police box indefinitely.

Other production departments were also now brought on board: graphics designer Bernard Lodge and electronic effects specialist Norman Taylor created the distinctive title sequence by using the 'howlaround' technique, using a camera pointing at its own output monitor to create a form of visual distortion, over which the show's title caption could be displayed. Similarities can be found with Stanley Kubrick's work on 2001: A Space Odyssey (notably the concluding 'stargate' sequence), though in that case he used a different technique called slit-scan. This was later employed on Doctor Who to create title sequences throughout the 1970s.

An extended version of the original 1963 title sequence.

Similarly, composer Ron Grainer created the theme tune and an employee of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, Delia Derbyshire, ran it through a series of tape recorders and oscillators to create the theme tune that is so famous today.

The production team took some care over casting, deciding that the Doctor needed to be played by a familiar British actor. After several actors turned down the role, Lambert decided to ask William Hartnell. The 55-year-old character actor was famous from a series of roles as army characters in British films of the 1950s, but Lambert had seen him give a more nuanced performance in the film This Sporting Life. Hartnell was encouraged to accept a role that would both move away from his stereotypical roles and give him a wider audience. As he had two grandchildren, Hartnell was also pleased at being able to act in a series design in part to appeal to children.

The original cast. From left to right: Ian Chesterton (William Russell), the Doctor (William Hartnell), Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill) and Susan (Carole Ann Ford).

The regular line-up of the show was completed by Carole Ann Ford as the Doctor's granddaughter, Susan; Jacqueline Hill as schoolteacher Barbara Wright and William Russell as fellow teacher Ian Chesterton. The original idea was that the Doctor would be a somewhere more mysterious figure, with Ian and Barbara acting as the protagonists. It wasn't long before the more familiar pattern of the Doctor taking charge and Ian and Barbara representing the viewer's POV (by asking questions about what's going on) emerged, however.

The first episode, An Unearthly Child, was recorded in October 1963 and was beset by technical problems. Several lines were fluffed, the TARDIS doors malfunctioned and  William Russell knocked over a prop on the junkyard set. Carole Ann Ford also played Susan in a notably 'alien' way which the production team soon found distracting. The problems on the first episode convinced the team to reshoot it completely. They took the time to adjust Ford's costume and mannerisms to be more relatable to the audience. Hartnell's performance, which had been rather harsh and callous in the original recording, was also toned down a lot. A particularly major change was made to the script, with the Doctor's claim to being from the 49th Century being altered to him saying outright that he and Susan are aliens. This became key to the show's entire premise. This second recording was far more successful. The unaired first episode became known to the fans as the 'pilot', though this is technically inaccurate (British television at the time - and rarely since - did not use the American technique of making a pilot episode before entering full-time production).

Production was now able to continue on the rest of the first season, which was allocated a whopping 42 episodes to air almost across an entire year. No-one at the time realised that production on Doctor Who would continue without interruption for another quarter of a century.

Update on Paul Kearney's SEA-BEGGARS series

As long-term readers may recall, back in 2007 Bantam Books decided to drop Paul Kearney's nautical fantasy series The Sea-Beggars after two books, citing disappointing sales. Kearney was picked up by Solaris who published a new trilogy (the excellent Macht series) and reprinted his earlier, classic Monarchies of God series. The expectation was that, in time, Solaris would also be able to both reprint and complete The Sea-Beggars.

In March 2011 it was announced that this would indeed be the case: Solaris would reprint the two existing books, The Mark of Ran and This Forsaken Earth, in an omnibus complete with the brand-new third and concluding volume, provisionally entitled Storm of the Dead. To make this possible, the Bantam editions had to go out of print and Bantam had to agree to give the rights back to the author.

Unfortunately, since then there has been radio silence on the matter. It can now be confirmed that the Sea-Beggars omnibus is on indefinite hold, and may not appear at all. This is due to additional contractual and legal wrangling. Whilst Bantam UK gave up the rights as planned, Bantam Spectra in the USA refused. A check of Amazon.com reveals that the two existing Sea-Beggars books are still in-print and selling in the United States, which is presumably why Bantam Spectra have decided to hold onto the rights.

If the books are still selling well enough in the USA for Bantam to want to hold onto them, this would theoretically suggest that they might be interested in publishing the third and concluding volume as a stand-alone novel. However, this is apparently not the case. If the books are not selling well enough to warrant Bantam publishing a third volume, then it is unclear why they would want to hold onto the rights to prevent the series being completed elsewhere. If the series is selling well enough to warrant hanging onto the rights, then it is unclear why Bantam would not be interested in publishing a third volume as well. As it stands, it appears that the fans who have been waiting seven years for a conclusion to this series will have to keep waiting due to the inscrutable machinations of publishing houses.

On the bright side, Solaris are reprinting Paul's first three, stand-alone novels starting in January. Here's an art blog where they talk about the process of the creating the splendid cover art to A Different Kingdom. We may also get some news on new material next year as well.

Preview - TOTAL WAR: ROME II

In less than two weeks, Creative Assembly and Sega will release Total War: Rome II, the eighth game in the acclaimed Total War series and the sequel to 2004's Rome: Total War.

Roman and native forces engage in battle in Germania.

As with the other Total War games, Rome II will mix large-scale, turn-based strategic gameplay with a (pauseable) real-time tactical battle engine. Using the map you recruit and deploy armies and navies, build new structures, expand cities and manage diplomatic and economic matters. When one of your armies comes into contact with an enemy force, combat results. The game then switches to a map in which you directly control your army in battle. The focus in these games is on realistic tactics and unit formations, with a wide range of units to control from skirmishers to cavalry and archers. The same rules apply to naval combat, with you deploying fleets packed with troops and able to engage other fleets in battle and undertake boarding actions. For the first in the history of the series, however, the game will also allow combined-arms battles, with navies and armies fighting on the same coastal maps.

A naval engagement off the coast of Egypt.

Rome II also allows you to play as different factions. As well as Rome, you can play as Carthage, Macedon, Britannia (the Iceni), Gaul (the Arverni), Germania (the Suebi), Parthia or Egypt. A free expansion (available on release day) adds Pontus, whilst a month or so later another free update will add the Seleucid Empire. Three of the Greek city-states - Athens, Epirus and Sparta - will also be available to play as a paid expansion on release day, although this will be included free for those who pre-order the game. The game will also feature dozens of non-playable minor factions, many of them with unique forces, for you to defeat and conquer as you try to spread your empire across Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.

The strategic map showing the deployment of forces around Alexandria.

Available exclusively for PC, Total War: Rome II is the most graphically-impressive-looking game in existence. However, Creative Assembly claim that they have optimised the game so it will work on any machine that can run their previous game, Shogun II, without sacrificing visual quality.

For myself, I was a huge fan of the original Rome: Total War and Medieval II (released in 2006) but not so much of the more recent games in the series. But this is certainly looking hugely impressive, and will be the first Total War game I get on release day since Medieval II. Here's hoping it can live up to its immense promise.

Total War: Rome II will be released on 3 September 2013. It is available to pre-order now on Steam (though those without fast broadband might want to be forewarned that the game will be a colossal 35GB download, and maybe prefer to get a boxed copy for a faster install).

Dishonored: The Brigmore Witches

The assassin Daud has discovered a threat to the city of Dunwall. The enigmatic Brigmore Witches are working alongside a powerful woman named Delilah on a project with profound consequences for the Empire. Daud, wracked with guilt over his assassination of the Empress, decides to try to atone for his crime by getting to Brigmore Manor (a tricky task in itself) and defeating Delilah.

The Brigmore Witches is the second and final story-based expansion (following on from The Knife of Dunwall) for last year's excellent stealth game, Dishonored. Once again you take control of the assassin Daud - one of the first game's antagonists - and discover what Daud was up to during the events of the original game (in which you played Corvo, the Empress's bodyguard framed for the crime Daud committed).

The Knife of Dunwall established a new threat to the city in the shape of the Brigmore Witches, led by the mysterious artist Delilah, who is taking advantage of the chaos caused by Corvo's campaign against the Regent to further her own agenda. The Brigmore Witches opens with Daud headed to Brigmore Manor to confront Delilah, but first he needs passage upriver. The only person he knows with a ship is currently locked up in Coldridge Prison, so he must break in to rescue her and then help her repair her boat before they can depart.

Like The Knife of Dunwall, the Brigmore Witches consists of three new areas to explore. Coldridge Prison is partially recycled from the start of the original game (when, as Corvo, you had to break out of the prison). Following that you have to visit Drapers Ward, a district terrorised by two feuding street gangs, and win over both gang leaders to support your mission. The game ends with you assaulting (or infiltrating) Brigmore Manor itself and confronting Delilah. As is traditional in this series, you can accomplish your objectives through full-scale attacks, stealthy infiltrations and striking from the shadows, or 'ghosting', going through locations without people ever being aware you are there. The choice is up to you. The more violent and blatant your activities the more 'chaos' you generate in the city, which results in heavier security being deployed in later missions and also affects which ending you get (which in the case of this expansion has quite a major impact).

Unlike The Knife of Dunwall, where the final area was rather small and limited, all three of the new areas are extensive in size and consist of sub-areas. Drapers Ward has both a large riverfront area and a large textile mill to explore, whilst Brigmore Manor consists of both extensive grounds and the large, rambling manor itself with its confusing array of levels, sub-levels, attics, traps and hidden rooms. This expansion is both larger and features more content, more choices and more satisfying challenges. However, it's still fairly brief at about five hours in length and players who haven't experienced the franchise at all are advised to wait for the Dishonored: Game of the Year Edition in a couple of months which will include the original game and both expansions for a reasonable price.

The Brigmore Witches (****) sees the original Dishonored bowing out with style, with a satisfying narrative, some great gameplay and some good development of the character of Daud. The game has a tragic, maudlin atmosphere which pays off nicely in the ending (even the 'good' ending has a bittersweet quality to it). It's still relatively short, but packed with replayability.

UK to air AGENTS OF SHIELD soon after USA

Channel 4 (and 4 HD) in the UK will be broadcasting Joss Whedon's new show, Agents of SHIELD, within a few days of American transmission. The exact day of the week is still being worked out, but the show launches on Tuesday 24 September on ABC in the USA.

This is quite a coup for Channel 4, although it remains to be seen if they can translate the massive success of The Avengers at the box office to good ratings for its TV spin-off show.

Paul Kearney cover art

Solaris Books are reprinting Paul Kearney's best novel, A Different Kingdom, on 28 January 2014. They have unveiled the striking cover art:

And yes, they've spelt Steven Erikson's name wrong in the blurb. Hopefully they fix it before it comes out.

Star Trek: The Next Generation - Season 4 (remastered)

Star Trek: The Next Generation entered its fourth season riding the crest of a wave. Despite the extremely difficult circumstances it had been written and filmed under, the third season had been given a near-unanimously positive critical reception and the Best of Both Worlds cliffhanger had become a major TV event of the year. The production team thus started the fourth season with confidence and even a bit of swagger to their step and this translated into assured and confident episodes hitting the air.

One of the most noticeable changes in the fourth season is the great embracing of continuity. The fourth season episodes bring back Data's evil brother Lore and address the ongoing Klingon story arc begun in Sins of the Father in the third season. Worf becomes a father, Wesley Crusher departs for the Academy and LaForge comes face-to-face with the real woman about who he's constructed a holodeck fantasy. Lt. Barclay, Vash and Q return, and the events of an episode that no-one can remember, Yesterday's Enterprise, have unexpected major consequences as the season draws to a conclusion. Major new forces also appear, most notably the race known as the Cardassians who will go on to have a massive impact on the Trek universe in future seasons and in the Deep Space Nine spin-off show. The fourth season feels like more part of an interconnected whole rather than 26 random stories thrown together and this works very well.

This isn't to say that every episode is a home run. The Best of Both Worlds, Part II actually resolves the Borg threat in a manner that makes sense but the story is a little too big for the episode and doesn't quite pay off the promises of the Season 3 finale. Suddenly Human has Picard disobeying orders from Starfleet with no consequence, which is odd. Remember Me is terrible (disappointing for a rare Dr. Crusher-centric episode). Devil's Due is played for laughs and doesn't work. Clues is an inferior remake of a much better Red Dwarf episode. Galaxy's Child sets up a great scene where LaForge is called out for some inappropriate behaviour towards a woman but he - rather childishly - blames her for it and gets away with it. Data's behaviour in In Theory is rather implausible.

But balanced against that we have the Klingon/Worf arc in Reunion and Redemption (and to a lesser extent in Family, Data's Day and The Mind's Eye) which is excellent throughout. There's Family's treatment of family life and Picard's backstory, which is well-acted by all involved. First Contact's brave experiment of showing the whole episode from the aliens' POV works extremely well. Brothers opens with a great hijacking storyline and ends with a striking confrontation between Brent Spiner, Brent Spiner and Brent Spiner which the actor pulls off with skill. Qpid has some great laughs (though not much else). Final Mission has some of the most spectacular location shooting the series ever did, and manages to (briefly) make the audience regret that Wesley is leaving. The Wounded expands on O'Brien's character a lot and paves the way for the entirety of Deep Space Nine. The Drumhead is an awesome episode about people using the fear of terrorism and sabotage to justify the draconian crushing of human rights and free speech (something even more relevant today than when the episode aired). The Mind's Eye is a great riff on The Manchurian Candidate. 

From the original SD DVD, the Enterprise approaching Peliar Zel II in The Host.

The same shot from the blu-ray, complete with remastered model visuals and newly-created planets and moons.

So whilst the fourth season doesn't quite hit the heights of the third (nothing here challenges Yesterday's Enterprise or The Best of Both Worlds in quality) it's still a highly entertaining collection of 26 episodes, with even the weakest episodes usually having scenes to recommend them. The regular cast are on top form and bolstered by some excellent guest stars (special mention must be made of Jean Simmons in The Drumhead and a returning Andreas Katsulas in Future Imperfect). There's a definite improvement in the quality of the effects for this season as well.

For this HD re-release of the season, every episode has been re-assembled from scratch from the original film stock, with every visual effect in the season recreated from the source materials (or, when they were unavailable, new CGI). As with the previous seasons, this has the happy side-effect of eliminating all greenscreen artifacts and 'halos' around models and superimposed characters, and allows for much greater detail in effects shots to become visible. Some effects that were originally quite ropey - such as Deanne Troi's dream-trip in Night Terrors - now look utterly fantastic and challenge modern effects work. The replacement of the generic original planets with more detailed CGI versions also continues and hugely improves the look of the show (Pelia Zel II in The Host looks particularly impressive). In a few cases effects that people have been moaning about for years - like the distinctly underwhelming explosion of the Borg cube in Best of Both Worlds Part II - have been redone entirely to look a lot better. The only major problem in the season is the terrible CGI for the space creature in Galaxy's Child, which looks amateurish and out of keeping with the rest of the series. With the rest of the effects looking absolutely stunning, there is no excuse for this.

The fourth season of Star Trek: The Next Generation (****½) is not the show at its best, but it is certainly highly entertaining and, with episodes like The Drumhead, thought-provoking. It is available now in the UK and USA.

The Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers

The Fellowship of the Ring has been broken. Frodo and Sam are heading east to Mordor, hoping to slip quietly past Sauron's forces. But they are being followed by the creature Gollum, who wants the Ring back for himself. Meanwhile, Merry and Pippin have been captured by uruk-hai loyal to the rogue wizard Saruman and are being taken westwards towards his stronghold. Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas are in hot pursuit, but their path is diverted south to the Kingdom of Rohan, where Saruman's armies now make war upon the beleaguered forces of the bewitched King Theoden. To gain victory and allow Rohan to join Gondor in resisting Sauron, the companions must free Theoden and win a victory over a vastly superior enemy.

The Two Towers picks up immediately from the end of The Fellowship of the Ring and makes no concessions to newcomers: no 'story so far', no opening crawl and only a couple of brief flashbacks. Like so much with the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy this was a risk but one that paid off, with the film gaining immense financial and critical success.

The film has much to recommend it. As with the first movie, it benefits from an excellent cast that gets even better in this film with the likes of Bernard Hill, Miranda Otto, Karl Urban, Andy Serkis, David Wenham and Brad Dourif joining proceedings (viewers of the Extended Edition also get an early chance to meet the excellent John Noble as Denethor). Little criticism can be made of the cast and their evident enthusiasm for the project and this helps carry the film over the bumps in the road. As with the first movie, the effects are excellent and even better than before, with Weta Digital clearly emboldened with confidence after their work on the first film. The stand-out is Gollum, the most stunning digital creature creation to date (and so he remains). Between the animators, Andy Serkis's superb performance and the reactions of his co-stars, Gollum is brought to life and utterly convinces you he is there in the film.

The set design and miniature work is also excellent, with Edoras and particularly Helm's Deep being extraordinary creations. This informs the Battle of Helm's Deep, the stand-out battle of the trilogy and one of the most stunning engagements ever depicted on film. Jackson films the battle with dynamism and allows viewers to follow the geography and ebb and flow of the battle with clarity. He also holds back on the CGI as much as possible to focus on scenes of actors engaging in actual combat and some excellent use of miniatures (particularly when the Deeping-wall is breached).

However, the film is not quite as successful as Fellowship. The biggest problem is inherited from the book, with the action split three ways between three different groups of characters. Tolkien decided that switching back and forth would be distracting, so he held back Frodo and Sam's storyline and did it all at once. Jackson is forced to switch back and forth and this is indeed not as successful as might be hoped, with carefully-built tension dissipating as we move to another storyline at a moment of tension. This problem is enhanced by the fact that a large chunk of Frodo and Sam's storyline has been held back for the third movie (where it does actually belong, chronologically), including the infamous cliffhanger ending. This forces Jackson and his team to introduce new material to fill the void. This results in the infamous 'weakening of Faramir' arc where Faramir first decides to give the Ring to his father and then changes his mind. The problem isn't so much the idea - giving Faramir more to do and more of an arc is not necessarily a bad idea in itself - but the logic. It is unconvincing that Faramir, having started to fall under the Ring's influence, would then back up and let Frodo go with it. The book approach (where Faramir avoids being influenced by it at all) is less 'dramatic' but makes more sense.

Merry and Pippin also suffer from the structural issues, though this is inherited from the book. Whilst Aragorn and company engage in political issues in Rohan and fight off Saruman's forces (twice in the movie) in epic battles, Merry and Pippin spend most of the film on the shoulders of a giant ambulatory tree talking about stuff for hours on end. The actors do their best, but it's hard to suppress a groan when the action cuts to another scene of Treebeard talking in extreme slow motion. It also doesn't help that the Entmoot lacks the grandeur of the book and their storyline then suffers a major believability collapse when the Ents seem to be unaware that Saruman was burning down their own forest (and Treebeard can then summon an entire Ent army to him instantly). It's only at the end, during the assault on Isengard, that their storyline really kicks into life. However, there's not much helping the interminable Elrond/Arwen scenes or the pointless 'Aragorn falls off a cliff' interlude.

Still, whilst the weaknesses niggle, the sheer scale of the movie, the splendid cast and effects and the epic impact of the battle for Helm's Deep cannot fail but impress.

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (****) is not the instant classic its predecessor was, but remains a highly watchable and entertaining movie. It is available now in the UK (DVD, Blu-Ray), and USA (DVD, Blu-Ray).

Note on the Extended Edition: As with its predecessor, The Two Towers was re-issued as an Extended Edition a year after its original release. The Extended Edition adds approximately 40 minutes of new material to the movie. These include more scenes with Merry and Pippin (some of which fortunately do not involve riding around on Treebeard) and more material for Frodo, Sam, Gollum and Faramir. This, happily, has the effect of balancing out the three big storylines in the film and makes them feel more of equal weight. The highlight of the Extended Edition is a great flashback scene uniting Boromir, Faramir and Denethor on screen which helps explain their dysfunctional family dynamics much better than dialogue alone ever could. Despite the greater length, the Extended Edition of The Two Towers actually feels shorter by improving the pacing between the three storylines and adds some excellent new scenes. Accordingly, the Extended Edition (****½) is the definitive version of the film and is recommended over the cinematic cut. It is also available now in the UK (DVD, Blu-Ray) and USA (DVD, Blu-Ray).

Paramount considered a new STAR TREK TV series last year

It's been surprisingly confirmed that Paramount held some meetings last year with Michael Dorn - who played Worf on seven seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation and four of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - to discuss creating a new Star Trek television series. According to Dorn, the meetings went well but further development was shelved out of respect to J.J. Abrams's then-filming second Star Trek film.

Dorn has been saying for several years that he would be willing to return in a new Star Trek series focused on his character. Worf is one of the most popular Star Trek characters and has appeared on screen more times than any other character (outstripping his nearest rival - Colm Meaney's Chief O'Brien - by a clear fifty episodes). Whilst there has been strong fan support for such a plan, there has also been scepticism about Paramount's willingness to consider a new Star Trek series set in the original timeline whilst the 'Abramsverse' has proven popular with movie audiences. However, with Abrams moving on to the Star Wars franchise and the Blu-Ray re-release of Star Trek: The Next Generation selling very well, Paramount may be reconsidering their previous position.

A new Star Trek TV series is inevitable at some point, but whether this will be it remains to be seen.