
#Doctor who key to time trial#
He's put on trial by the alien judge, jury, and executioners Megara and produces an old-style wig from out of nowhere to don as he gives his defense.

Baker is great, as always, when he falls into his trickster routine in the final episode. The horrific elements are offset by effective humor. Beatrix Lehmann is a great secondary foil as Amelia. Tom Baker and Mary Tamm finally demonstrate consistent chemistry in this third adventure together as the Doctor and Romana.
#Doctor who key to time serial#
They also stumble upon a Druid cult, giant moving stones that feed on blood called Ogri, and a spaceship hiding in a hyperspatial dimension.Īnd yes, the story is every bit as contrived as these elements would suggest - and that's what makes this serial especially fun for Doctor Who fans. They arrive on present day earth, Cornwall to be more precise, and meet feminist professor Amelia Rumford and her assistant Vivien Fay. Throw in a thoroughly British setting, cheesy special effects, and silly monsters, and you've got a fun Doctor Who romp.Īs this is the third serial in the Key to Time storyline, of course the Doctor and Romana are after the third chunk of the titular key. Both genres, of course, are traditional cornerstones of this television show. The first two episodes have a decidedly supernatural bent while the final two episodes have strong science fiction leanings. David Fisher's script did a nice job of synthesizing several elements of Doctor Who during this time period. In any case, The Stones of Blood is a rather noteworthy serial in that it aired on Doctor Who's fifteenth anniversary and represented the program's 100th storyline. For some reason, despite the number of classic Doctor Who stories still awaiting a DVD treatment, BBC Video has seen fit to double dip on this season with new "special editions."

#Doctor who key to time series#
The Key to Time series had been released several years ago on DVD. Assisting the Doctor in his quest for these pieces are Romana, an intelligent Time Lord, and his robotic dog, K-9. This cube has been split into six pieces and hidden across the universe, and the White Guardian needs the Key in order to keep the universe aright. The basic premise of The Key to Time sees the Doctor called into duty by the White Guardian to assemble the Key to Time, a cube object whose purpose is to maintain the equilibrium of all time and space. With his curly hair and lengthy scarf, Baker played the Doctor for seven years and became one of the most popular actors to appear in the role. The Stones of Blood is the third storyline of The Key to Time: a season-long epic in the middle of Tom Baker (the Fourth Doctor)'s tenure in the role. David Tennant is the tenth actor to assume the role, for example, so he is the Tenth Doctor. Thus, each new actor becomes a numbered Doctor. His ability to regenerate when facing death allows for a new actor to assume the role, perhaps in part explaining why the series has been able to last for 45 years. Typically, he goes on adventures with companions - often from Earth. I grew up with the Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Doctors, and the program remains close to me as it was an important component to my childhood imagination.įor the uninitiated, Doctor Who follows the exploits of an alien Time Lord named the Doctor as he travels through time and space in a cavernous vehicle called the TARDIS. My first experience with Doctor Who came in the 1980s, when WVIZ, channel 25, a PBS station in Cleveland, aired the show each Saturday night. It can be seen on the Sci-Fi Channel here in the States, and, of course, on DVD.

That's 26 years! After a lengthy hiatus (filled by a plethora of novels and Big Finish full-cast audio productions), the series recently returned to production with great success. It initially ran almost continuously from 1963 - 1989. The BBC science fiction series Doctor Who is a powerhouse legend in television.
