Classic Doctor Who Review: The Time Warrior

[@ealadubh4800]

Delgado may have still been alive while this story was being recorded; it was actually the holdover story from the previous recording block (common practice at the time, especially for introducing new cast members as they'd then have more time to gel in between blocks), and thus recorded right after The Green Death. Only five days separate Delgado's death from the broadcast of The Green Death part six. It definitely would explain the shift in tone and performance between Time Warrior 4 and Dinosaurs 1.

[@TheGojiShay]

Whenever you get around to checking out more 3rd doctor stuff, I strongly recommend giving Inferno a watch if you haven't already. It's without a doubt one of the most tense, suspenseful doctor who stories I've ever seen. Very well paced.

[@AubreySciFi]

It was a wonderful performance by Kevin Lindsay as Lynx in this story. Pertwee was on top form, It was a great intro to Sarah, and the supporting characters were all fun. (Rubesh, Irongron, Bloodaxe, et-al) I've always given this story top marks!

[@DenniWintyr]

"Like a medieval Black Adder" - So... Like Black Adder, then ;p

[@musicgarryj]

"The Black Adder" (first series) was actually set in this time period. Everybody says it's not as good as series 2-4, but I think it's well written....just a bit more subtle than after Ben Elton came on board. In particular, the episode "The Queen of Spain's Beard" is hilarious...also starring Jim broadbent and Miriam Margolyes: check it out!

[@DenniWintyr]

Funnily, the unaired pilot (which has a different Baldrick) bore a closer resemblance to the later series than what the first ended up being, including being shot on tape, & on set, rather than on film, & on location. The first season has some great moments, like Brian Blessed yelling everything, & saying he'll eat the Spanish contessa

[@Sunnucksboi]

Denni Wintyr I was about to comment the same thing!

[@dcsignal5241]

FRESH HORSES !!!

[@greedycapitalist8590]

For me, the original series of "The Black Adder" was streets ahead of what followed.

[@kemmdog4444]

This also had the first time the Doctor’s home planet is named.

[@martinmowbray6448]

Steve Kemmett was it not mentioned in the war games or the three doctors ?

[@highvoltage7797]

Martin Mowbray No just that he was a time lord.

[@paulware4701]

I love your enthusiasm for this. I regard Time Warrior as a very minor Pertwee story, mostly because at the time I was still cursing the show for losing Jo Grant, but in retrospect most of what you say is spot on. Thanks for reviewing something I remember so well from my childhood.

[@bruceparker1164]

The Pertwee era has a lot of great stories in, with only the odd few that really don't stand up at all. The Time Warrior is a really well crafted story and stands up so well, even forty five years on, but my personal favourite of the third Doctor is Ambassadors of Death.

[@RubesGoodBrainCoffee]

I really love Ambassadors of Death. When I first watched it, it was shown in black and white. Oddly enough, this gave it a more serious and 'grown-up' feel to the story. The music in it is terrific for the period, too -- good ol' Dudley Simpson.

[@alexinabox6931]

Inferno, The Ambassadors of Death, The Green Death, Spearhead from Space, Terror of the Autons, The Claws of Axos, Planet of the Spiders and The Time Warrior. La crème de la crème

[@bruceparker1164]

I saw it in black and white too to start with, and agree with you, that it gives a more serious feel, as with the B&W only copy of The Mind of Evil I first saw. I was given a copy of the tape from which the colour data was recovered to restore Ambassadors, which had horrible colour strobing and was quite frankly, difficult to watch, so I was astounded by how impressive result was.

[@MrDarthT]

I think this was one of my first experiences with Doctor Who. My father had (maybe still has) VHS tapes of this, "Spearhead from Space", and "The Pyramids of Mars".

[@Schming]

Just because I love it, I'd love to see you review the Comic Relief special "The Curse of Fatal Death" - a Comic Relief Red Nose Day special - written by Moffat long before the show was revived, and also the first appearance of a female doctor. It's pretty tongue-in-cheek, and the comedy doesn't age well, but I still love it, and this old British nerd, bereft of on-going Doctor Who back in 1999, was very welcoming of it. I rewatch it every Red Nose Day. (I understand in recent years, the US has adopted this long-running telethon of ours, started way back when over here by Richard Curtis and co)

[@Katherine_The_Okay]

I still watch that sometimes. The humor hasn't aged well and some of the gags go on for far too long, but I have to snort when I see ideas in it that would later creep into New Who

[@glenmcculla6843]

I loved CoFD at the time, but i don't know that i'd find it as funny now that most of its gags and tricks have actually been used in the series proper.

[@Katherine_The_Okay]

@@glenmcculla6843 Yeah, I feel that, now (especially having seen it before), it's less funny and more "heh, there's another one..." -- still I feel like most people should see it at least once for it's historical interest

[@IronSalamander8]

This is a great one. The first ever Sarah Jane Smith story, the Sontarans, some great humor. Solid all around.

[@highvoltage7797]

Robert Holmes was always great at creating a good double act.

[@jayanderson9375]

I saw part of this one on the twitch marathon last summer. What I saw was the introduction to Sarah, perhaps my favorite companion, can’t wait to see the rest.

[@tardisnet9487]

I love this story. It's one of the first Third Doctor stories I watched and it's still great. Sarah Jane is great in her first appearance and Linx shows the Sontarons at their very best. It's also a great idea with a medieval setting and having a villain from outer space affect man's development.

[@paulhirst3966]

I would like to see the Sontarans reappear in Dr Who but as a serious villian again and not as comic relief as portrayed by Strax.

[@frankbrody239]

I love The Time Warrior, but my favorite third Doctor story will always be "Mind of Evil". You have to watch it in black and white, it has an old school horror movie feel to it that would make you hide behind the couch if you were a kid. I watch it again every so often for the heck of it! Now THERES a story for a review!!

[@Ben-vf5gk]

My favourite introduction to a companion and the best Sontaron story to date.

[@roryahconnolly]

IIRC this story was filmed at the end of the previous season's production block, before Roger Delgado had died and Pertwee had decided to leave, so that might explain why Pertwee has a bit more of a spring in his step than you would expect of his final season. Great video!

[@chaosboxproductions-scotti7153]

I remember getting the VHS of this episode when I was young. Utter love it. Watched it recently now that's I'm older. Still love it. Such a classic. Great video as always :)

[@jessetorres8738]

Jon Pertwee may not be one of your favorite Old Who Doctors man, but he is (from what I have seen) my favorite Old Who Doctor!

[@Alfwin]

I've not seen _The Time Warrior_ in years, but it was the 2nd episode of Classic Who I ever saw, and I do remember really liking it. I can see the reasoning behind Lynx sticking his tongue out for no reason all the time. Presumably, it's the same reason that one guy in _the Daleks' Master Plan_ walks around with his arms held out to the sides: Just an odd little mannerism that makes the aliens seem less human.

[@BenS-dy9eq]

"There's buttons and there's Linx!" I see what you did there.

[@immoralq]

I find it very hard to pick a favourite Third Doctor story. I really like Doctor Who and The Silurians - I rewatch it at least twice a year. The Peladon stories (Curse of & Monster of) are really good too. The series really suffered with the loss of Roger Delgado. His Master was the best, IMHO. He’s Less of an out-an-out villain and more of a charming rogue and he gets some really great lines.

[@Slfriend79]

I love this story, it's one of my favorite classic era episodes. And I love Sarah Jane Smith. For me she was the perfect companion. ❤️ 😀 ❤️

[@lewisthellama2569]

I LOVE IRONGRON TOO

[@herbivarsawus4359]

I watched this one to death as a kid. Shame we never meet Professor Rubish again.

[@tardisnet9487]

The Time Warrior is great but Inferno is my favourite Third Doctor story.

[@maxeyre2024]

Tardis Net 1. Inferno 2. The Sea Devils 3. The Time Warrior

[@tardisnet9487]

@@maxeyre2024 my top 5 would probably be: 1.) Inferno 2.) The Sea Devils 3.) The Daemons 4.) The Time Warrior 5.) The Curse of Peladon

[@maxeyre2024]

Tardis Net Very nice list

[@Deathnotekeeper]

Jon is so great it’s hard for me to pick one. I’m surprised no one brought up the Daemons, one of my favorites especially during Halloween.

[@doctorthirteen5727]

Tardis Net Hmmm not Spearhead in Space?

[@silverspike1]

I suspect that the whole Lynx tongue thing was It's like a reptile. Tasting the air. Makes the character look more alien imo. In fact for me 'modern' Sontaron designs can't hold a candle to the original version.

[@Ben-vf5gk]

Eh they're fine but they'd be a lot better if they were black not blue. That being said Khagh in the Sarah Jane Adventures looks awesome. I really wish we got more Sontarons with scars on their faces.

[@ihateunicorns867]

Have you watched The Curse of Fenric? I'd be really interested to hear your thoughts on that one. You'd need to watch the special edition though. The way the original broadcast episodes were edited, the narrative doesn't make complete sense.

[@stephjovi]

I absolutely loved Sarah Jane and Pertwee 😍. I watched all of their episode and I haven't watched that much Classic Who yet. Pertwee is my favourite classic doctor

[@musicgarryj]

In one of the modern Doctor Who episodes (can't remember which one) there was a Sontaran complaining that they weren't allowed to participate in the Time War. Maybe the Time Lords took away the Sontarans' time travelling technology so there would be no distractions in the war with the Daleks.....?

[@kemmdog4444]

The tongue 👅 thing was Kevin Lindsey’s idea.Something that Roman warriors used to do in their helmets.

[@andrewbowman4611]

John J. Carney, who played Bloodaxe, was related to William Hartnell by marriage. Nephew-in-law, if I remember rightly. Jeremy Bulloch, who played Hal the Archer, would later go on to play Boba Fett. He also appeared in the First Doctor story The Space Museum. While I agree that this is a really good story, my favourite Pertwee story is the next one: Invasion of the [spoilers!].

[@bruceparker1164]

I'd never noticed that was Jeremy Bulloch. Guess I should pay more attention to the credits. I met him at a Comicon three years ago, who comes across as such a humble and great guy.

[@RubesGoodBrainCoffee]

This fact about Jeremy Buloch going on to play Boba Fett is one of many reasons why I suspect that George Lucas must have been inspired by Doctor Who. There's also that the Sontarans are clones (The Clone War), Peter Cushing played the Doctor in the movies, and the often-noted resemblance between the Daleks and R2-D2. There might be more which I've forgotten.

[@M-E_123]

I think this story was fine. Better than a lot of the third doctors non-UNIT stories (I think his whole character was written and planned specifically for the UNIT set up and he doesn't work quite as well once you take him out of that environment - this is probably the best episode of such stories but I rank several all UNIT stories ahead of this one, although admittedly I have to be in the right mood to watch them as they feel very different to a lot of Dr Who).

[@garyschwartz5315]

I love this episode very much. The sun Torrens are probably my favorite Doctor Who enemy I feel like they’re consistently fantastic. Wonderful channel wonderful show wonderful review thank you

[@Thunderwing88]

Thanks to BritBox I’ve seen everything that’s been recovered all the way up to Tom Baker. I’ll start on Davison after I get the Season 19 Blu-Ray.

[@Katherine_The_Okay]

Wait, what is this BritBox (a streaming service, a DVD retailer, etc) and are Americans eligible to join?

[@Thunderwing88]

Kat K It’s a streaming service for US and Canada, though the programming for both contrite is not identical.

[@Katherine_The_Okay]

@@Thunderwing88 Very cool. Thank you so much :) I'll definitely be looking into subscribing. So much cool content :)

[@maxeyre2024]

Very fun episode! One of my fave Jon Pertwee stories.

[@harrycarden5538]

What is your opinion on Rubish? The guy with the glasses who loses them. You didn't really say much about him although he was featured heavily in the story

[@ishaandw]

I watched this story during the twitch marathon and this was very entertaining.

[@JohnAShort]

It's a really good story to try if you aren't farmiliar with Classic Who or the Third Doctor. Fans of Modern Who will get a thrill out of seeing Liz Sladen's Sarah in her prime. It puts her later appearances in context. BTW... The full scale Sontaran spaceship is great isn't it?!

[@ITSMeatMan]

A fun classic with my favorite old who doctor

[@findoherty6148]

Lynx always creeped me out I think it’s his eyes 😂

[@greedycapitalist8590]

Good review. "Yours is indeed a towering intelligence!" As far as I'm concerned, this still stands as the best Sontaran story. It's also very unusual for the time, as it was the first pseudo historical story for several years - most Pertwee stories were either set on present-day Earth or in space. So it was a novelty from that point of view (although I'm fed up with the over use of pseudo historicals in the recent series). And you could always rely on Robert Holmes to deliver a good script.

[@jonathan.palfrey]

As others have commented, this was a Robert Holmes story, although he didn't want to do a historical story and had to be persuaded. Having been persuaded, he still didn't want to use any real historical figures, so we got generic fictional. It turned out well, although we completely miss Sarah Jane's initial reaction to the TARDIS: there's no "Bigger on the inside" scene, she just wanders into it by herself, unobserved by Doctor or audience, and then wanders out to find herself in the past. David Daker, who played Irongron, appeared in various other things on film and television; among other things, he was Kevin's father in "Time bandits".

[@doughosford5849]

I really like this story as well but I have a real love for The Three Doctors for the shear idea of the first three Doctors meeting.

[@Terry.W]

It is a classic ...Jon Pertwee is so suave and an action man..

[@carwynstv5040]

Not really to with the episode but as a point of interest. The actress playing Eleanor is June Brown today she's 91 years old and still working. 5 years ago on "the Graham Norton show" she struck up a friendship with Lady GaGa it's a moment that has since become a thing of legend. They are still friends.

[@ChrisBrown-jp1hi]

Pertwee’s second best after Inferno.

[@CarlB_1962]

Forget Jo Grant, forget Leela - Sarah-Jane Smith is the companion who got my teenage hormones raging!

[@jackboren431]

I hadn't realized until now how similar the plot is to another great Who story, "City of Death".

[@MasterFiggy]

I thought this was an amazing story! Love Elizabeth Sladen and Jon Pertwee! It's not my fav story, but it's definitely in my Top 5 3rd Doctor stories.

[@dawn1110uk]

"indeed, yours is a towering intelligence!" Ummmm!!!!!😁 Or " he is a longshanked rogue with a mighty nose!" Etc. And, for the first time gallifrey is mentioned!

[@Ocsttiac]

Ayyyy, the first story to name the Doctor's home planet, Gallifrey!

[@highvoltage7797]

They fixed the explosion on the DVD.

[@spiggypop]

Easily the best Sontaran costume/makeup.

[@tevo46]

Even better than the new ones.

[@spiggypop]

Trickmyster46 easily!

[@bsabruzzo]

Do you think John Pertwee's son, (Alfred on Gotham) could make a suitable stand in for the 3rd Doctor if the show wanted to bring that incarnation back for a guest on an episode?

[@Reprodestruxion]

Benjamin Abruzzo he doesn’t want to because it’s his dad’s legacy but the third doctor should be like Hamlet, take the 70’s retro mod dandy thing and give a different spin like wearing a turtleneck

[@bsabruzzo]

@@Reprodestruxion In an article in Radio Times from June of 2016, Sean said the only reason he didn't take up the offer to appear on Doctor Who as a guest was because he was busy with Gotham. Gotham is ending, so... I do see an article from WhatsonTV from January 2018 (?) that says he doesn't want to do that, and would like to do something honoring him, but the question that was asked was not included in the article, so it's difficult to say what he was saying no to. However, that was not my question. I asked if he could do a good job, not if he wanted to.

[@Reprodestruxion]

Benjamin Abruzzo he’s accomplished actor in his own right so if he took it as a role and not a parody, he’d be incredibly

[@montiellopezbeatriz4796]

i think 3 had the best stories with enough buget to look ok and with good writers

[@julieeverett7442]

3rd had 24 STORIES only a few were bad, this was not one of them! The intro to Sarah Jane was fun, a journalist, a civilian getting involved in a military operation, amusing. And yes, people do tend to forget that Jo was a UNIT agent, and the ONLY hint of a romance in classic who was between her and 3rd!

[@callisto8413]

Loved the Time Warrior. Loved Sarah Jane Smith thinking the Doctor was the bad guy! HAHAHAHAHA!

[@RubesGoodBrainCoffee]

Jon Pertwee is really my first Doctor. (I had watched a bit of Sylvester McCoy before then, but I didn't know exactly what the show was about until PBS started showing Pertwee episodes.) Whenever I'd tell people about how much I liked Pertwee, I'd often hear, 'He's a too much like James Bond for me. Then recently I learned why that is: He essentially IS James Bond. Ian Fleming knew him when they served together in the Navy and I find it almost certain that James Bond was based upon Jon Pertwee: www.express.co.uk/showbiz/tv-radio/379986/Jon-Pertwee-From-secret-agent-in-WWII-to-Dr-Who

[@jimmyjambhere]

i grew up on Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker. they have always been my favorite doctors

[@barry1369]

Love this story

[@Reprodestruxion]

Comparisons between John and Sean?

[@Stephen-Fox]

There's a weird scene that feels missing - An interior TARDIS scene when Sarah Jane Smith enters the TARDIS looking for the missing scientist. These don't normally feel absent, but when it's a new companion? When part of the narrative relies on her hiding from the Doctor within the TARDIS? And the closest to an onscreen depiction of this moment is Sarah Jane Smith being a bit confused when exiting the TARDIS and stating "It's still only a police box." - Sure we can interpolate that she hid in another room in the TARDIS or whatever, but I'm not sure it's good writing to assume the audience knows that the TARDIS is bigger on the inside when that's plot-relevant (Or anyone's first experience of the TARDIS, for that matter) rather than just making it so that the TARDIS isn't just an extremely cosy way for multiple people to travel if they don't know that. Though if that's my biggest issue with the story? It's a strong one.

[@shaunhouse8469]

When you said "like a medieval Blackadder" had you forgotten that the first Blackadder was set in 1485?

[@tevo46]

One of my favourite story's.

[@deathfalcon5023010]

I agree, personally I believe this is one of the best 3rd Doctor stories.

[@kirstyshadowdancer5095]

Lois want 50 years before. She was kinda invented around the 50s and pertwee was mid 80s. So 30 years at most :P I ken Im nitpicking. Oh and old series most of the powerful races have what the doctor calls "sloppy time travel. Sloppy time travel tend to use teo options. Travel in time but not space. So they still have to travel long distances in space. Or basic wormholes connectin a physical location usually by a machine or archor point to another point after the machine was put in place. So you can only travel as far back as when the machine was set up but can go forward to any point after that the machine still exists in. Only the Timelords have the ability to travel freely in time snd space.

[@jayanderson9375]

Kirsty Shadowdancer Lois lane first appeared in Action comics, June 1938

[@jayanderson9375]

So, thirty five years earlier. Yup the earnest, female, investigative reporter Character was well, established by ‘73. Maybe it was a nostalgia thing...

[@maryzerey3295]

mid 70s mid 80s was the 5th and 6th doctor's

[@TheCrippledEgg]

Sarah!

[@tonyparker7349]

Maybe the tongue things is like dogs and thats how he cools down.

[@TheGingerburger]

The Doctor's son was so good in GOTHAM 🙂

[@CouncilofGeeks]

He's good in everything. Have you seen Dog Soldiers?

[@TheGingerburger]

@@CouncilofGeeks yeah, funny as fuck👌classic

[@slumdogjay]

Still the best Sontaran story by far.

[@langleymneely]

I know its probably corny and you may not care for it but every time you begin and end your videos I keep expecting you to use a gavel! You do whatever your cold open intro is going to be THEN you knock twice to bring the COUNCIL to order, when the vid is complete and you say your ending catchphrase, “you’re the Council, I just run the meetings” (which i love btw) you bang the gavel twice again effectively “ending the meeting”. Maybe it’s too much of a hassle or not worth it to you, but I think it would add just a touch more theatricality to the proceedings, and as a fellow theater kid we can ALWAYS do with more theatricality! Onscreen and off! Lol Also Ive been meaning to ask where and how are you watching old school DrWho episodes? I assume you are buying them somewhere? I ask because unfortunately HULU stopped showing them a long time ago and that was the only streaming subscribed way I could look at most of the old DR Who back catalogue! Now they are nowhere like that. It seems the only recourse is to buy episodes outright from Amazon or iTunes? If anyone knows of a cheaper, legal, less committed way of watching old Who, Im all ears?! You would think BBC would be all about continuing to license the show to a streaming service, if not jump on the late as hell bandwagon and create one of their own? Oh well, Cheers!

[@Katherine_The_Okay]

Another commentor mentioned a site called BritBox so I checked. It's a streaming service which looks like it has ALL the (non-lost) episodes of classic DW available (26 seasons), plus a bunch of other British goodness. It's got a 7-day free trial. After that, it's $6.99 (USD) a month or $69.99 a year for unlimited streaming. I may have to find a way to justify subscribing... (edit: looks like it's run, or at least authorized, by the BBC and iTV)

[@jonathan.palfrey]

I have it on DVD.

[@rocklobsterjwt]

I have to wonder if the make-up was uncomfortable and that's why the actor was sticking his tongue out.

[@Gemma-Majoran]

watching these is enjoyable even without context... Lack of access to said context is less enjoyable but eh!

[@Concreteowl]

Liz Shaw was much more progressive.

[@HereComesPopoBawa]

I didn't pick up on it so much as a kid, but when re-watching all of Pertwee a couple years back I was blown away by how good Liz Shaw was.