I WATCHED the arrival of the latest Dr Who adventure (BBC1, Wednesday) under the most unfortunate circumstances ... the television set was working perfectly.
So the true wale of the decline of the intrepid time traveller into one of TV's longest running in. jokers was exposed in all its dismal detail.
The current occupant of the title role and so the Tardis a diminutive oddball actor called Sylvester McCoy who fails to measure up to previous favourites such as Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker in more ways than one.
His attempts at playful whimsy are embarrassing "to behold—although to be fair, saddled with this shambles of a script Lord Olivier would look lost.
The Daleks of old must be hanging their exterminators in shame as they watch the present crop of low budget sci-fi baddles - a giant liquorice allsort, Sheila Hancock underneath a hundred-weight of make-up, and a herd of miniskirted trollops called the Happiness Patrol.
Presumably the last bunch are left over from their last failed mission—the Terry and June Show.
It will take more than any Happiness Patrol to salvage any humour from this dire, directionless, self-indulgent twaddle.
It will take better scripts and a star for starters but it would be wiser to come up with a fresh idea altogether. This one has clearly long some run out of steam.
Caption: Wimp in the Tardis ... Dr Who Sylvester McCoy and companion Sophie Aldred
Disclaimer: These citations are created on-the-fly using primitive parsing techniques. You should double-check all citations. Send feedback to whovian@cuttingsarchive.org
