Classic Who "Frontios" Parts 1&2 Reaction

[@Faction.Paradox]

Turlough with a hat rack would've ended the Time War in a weekend

[@paulhunter6178]

The world building in the first episode is truly brilliant, in that we learn so much as part of the plot without it coming across as a massive info dump. As others have said Frontios is a very real, gut punching drama and one of two stories this season that has a tone that allows the Fifth Doctor to truly shine.

[@ryanpollard1166]

Frontios is a solid claustrophobic story with some pretty grisly imagery, excellent production values and an intriguing race of monsters. Lesley Dunlop as Norna is one of the best examples of a companion that never was.

[@srmcd1]

One popular theory is that the hat rack is Kamelion in disguise

[@TheElderBlotch]

@@srmcd1 Okay, where has this theory been all my life?!

[@ImpossibleCaseEdits]

Friday + Classic Who with Jess = Best Day Ever! I think this is one of The Fifth Doctor’s greatest stories with his characterization being particularly strong. It’s not surprising given that the script was written by Christopher H. Bidmead, who helped developed 5’s persona. All the regulars are served exceptionally well here. Others might have mentioned it in the comments that behind-the-scenes a tragic incident occurred. Actor Peter Arne had originally been cast in the role of Range, but he was murdered shortly before production began. Very sad.

[@thethinkingcatakaneonormie3527]

Also the colony guards uniforms are actually reused federation uniforms from Blake's 7

[@robert_bbiii]

I love this story. Davison's third season is solid. A solid guest cast. Seems you have learned my philosophy. Annoyed 5 is the best 5.

[@whobp8]

Welcome back! Glad you enjoyed Turlough's "hat trick"😅

[@Wannabe_Baby]

It's wonderful to see how much you're loving this Tardis trio. :) And you gave a shout out to "The Hungry Earth"! This episode always stands out in my mind just because of Turlough and the hat rack. I also think the junkyard set looks really great and the music is really good too. The guy playing Plantagenet (the leader on Frontios) is Jeff Rawle, who you might recognise from "An Adventure in Space and Time". He was Mervyn Pinfield, who talked about inventing the teleprompter. He was also in the fourth Harry Potter movie. He played Cedric Diggory's father.

[@kathrynshore4756]

He was also in the Sarah Jane adventure as the curator of the museum who was obsessed with the Mona Lisa

[@TheElderBlotch]

Frontios is solid. A grim, gritty tale of humanity battling against impossible odds. I've always wanted the Tractators to make a comeback, even with the costumes I find the giant insect monsters with powerful gravity manipulation that suck people into the ground kind of skin-crawling. Especially Norna's line "He said the earth was hungry" seared into my brain. It's one of Turlough's most notable episodes and it's cool seeing the helmets from Blake's 7 pop up. Feels like "Fed up" is Five's most persevering trait - whether it's cosmic injustice, a high death toll or his companions bickering, the guy just wants a break.

[@MrOhara77]

The Tractators were suppose to return in season 23, before the season was scrapped in favour of the Trial.

[@jeremy355]

Big Finish did an audio of the Hollows of Time, the season 23 story the Tractators were supposed to return in.

[@GhostPurple69]

from early trailers that's what i thought the slug monsters in dot and bubble were going to be...

[@madgeordierob7890]

For a while, a lot of people speculated that the slugs in 'Dot and Bubble' might be redesigned Tractators

[@TakeNoteOfThat]

Tegan brought me fully into my teens in this story. Good lord

[@paulhammond6978]

I think I preferred some of her other outfits to this one with the very 80s print top and the short skirt.

[@AnthonyP73]

Anthony's pedant corner: it's a hat stand 🙂 So glad to have your Who reactions back and yes I hope your break was refreshing.

[@BeagleBabyBeastie]

This is the Hat Rack of Rassilon: it amplifies my sass

[@joeltasker6956]

When I first saw the slug creatures in Dot & Bubble, I thought they were tractators

[@cuedotfilms4427]

Me too.

[@geraldvance7925]

I always liked Teagan's outfit in this story.

[@Skeezer66]

Her outfit in this has been imprinted on me for life! I will always think a woman dressed like this is beautiful!!

[@sg-zd8eb]

It’s so 80s. I remember my cousin had a bedspread exactly like it.

[@vivalapsych]

Though I’d normally not downgrade the effectiveness of a leather miniskirt with a hanging side belt, for me Tegan's peak appearance was in The Five Doctors. Hair, makeup and shoes. And I believe her dress in that story was actually shorter in the back than it was in the front! Or am I imagining that?

[@GeordieJoe1892]

So all Turlough needed when The Black Guardian & Keith were tormenting him was a hat rack. When the first episode started, I thought Brazen was Mr Fibuli back from the dead. Similar looking uniforms and hairstyles.

[@Allancarlostani]

"Frontios" is very underrated. I love the grim, dark atmosphere of this story.

[@neilmcdonald9164]

Dark note:The character of Mr Range was originally meant to be played by an actor called Peter Arne,but he was murdered 😢🎩

[@BearRava]

You're back to frontios. Sorry couldn't resist a good pun 😎

[@christopherwaldrop5293]

I know this is weird but Turlough is one of my favorite companions because he was such a mystery. No other companion has had such an unusual backstory, although a companion who's supposed to kill the Doctor is something the show could really only do once. But even after Enlightenment we don't get his full story--just that he's really good with a hat rack.

[@hornorsilk2901]

not weird; I really am a fan of his character, and the depth of it, when one knows it all

[@gus4u2c]

An Unearthly Boy

[@Wub-t5o]

Welcome back Jess and merry Christmas. This is a good one. A nice solid story and concept. One of the best of the season

[@nocturne8333]

I love Frontios, it’s such an underrated gem that no one really talks about.

[@Payne2view]

When Tegan looked at that black bar with writing on, I thought at first that it said "Dark Chocolate" rather than "Deaths Unaccountable".

[@Concreteowl]

The Frontius helmets are recycled from Blakes 7. A show you consider once classic Who is done.

[@jamesgorman7417]

Frontios is one of my favourite stories in the Peter Davison Era. A dark. grim and gritty tale of humanity battling for survival. It shows that the colonists becoming increasingly paranoid due to the increased risk of attack from an unknown enemy. The Tractators are long overdue for a comeback!

[@alexfletcher5192]

Mark Strickson is always entertaining this season and his guiding principle in part two seems to be: 'Start your intensity at 11 out of 10 and work your way up from there'. Of course it might be slightly more convincing had his nightmares turned out to be a terror from a subterranean world, but the BBC budget - and the show's time-slot - largely forbade that.

[@IsaacKuo]

Foreshadowing in Earthshock: "The dinosaurs were killed off by a powerful impact. An asteroid or something ... I've always meant to go and see what it was." Foreshadowing in Frontios: "You're not hat people, are you?"

[@coopercane500]

Frontios is a story with some major tragedies behind the scenes. The original designer for the serial, Barrie Dobbins unalived himself before production began. The role of Mr. Range was originally going to be played by actor Peter Arne. However, he was killed in his own home after attending a costume fitting. This led to William Lucas taking on the role at the last minute.

[@javelldunn3379]

I love this show when Turlough has the hat trick

[@robalexander8065]

What a delight to welcome you back, Jess! Frontios is an interesting one...

[@duvall5jd]

Tegan and the 5th Doctor is in my top 5 Tardis Teams. I LOVE Tegan.

[@kittyprydekissme]

Christopher Bidmead got the idea for Tractators from roly-polies in his flat. He intended for them to roll up into balls like actual roly-polies, but the costumes weren't flexible enough. If they ever bring them back, they need to include this ability.

[@R.senals_Arsenal]

You know when we were getting glimpses of Ncuti's 1st season we thought the monsters from Dot & Bubble might be a return of Tractators. They weren't, but I bet you can see the similarities. Gotta love a slow moving monster! Always loved this story, and the thing that I always remember about it is Turlough's story, so looking fwd to next week's reaction!

[@hornorsilk2901]

This is a favorite of mine, though, I wish it had more budget to realize the ideas in it. Even then, though, it is so compelling.

[@davidrenwickjunior]

I remember this being one of the earliest stories I bought on video (vhs) about 25 years ago, came in a double box with the previous story The Awakening. I loved it, I’m glad to see you enjoying it. The character Brazen is played by Peter Gilmore who is probably best known for his role as Captain James Onedin in the seafaring series The Onedin Line which ran for several seasons. I believe you would really enjoy that show too if you give it a whirl, well made period drama. I’m looking forward to seeing your reactions to the next 3 stories in this season, no spoilers, but it’s about to become very exciting and a bit of a rollercoaster. You’re gonna love it.

[@ethantucker92838]

Almost being at the 5th doctor's last season is crazy, i remember when you were on Hartnell 😢

[@jonathanmurphy3141]

I have a hat-stand, and hats. It's wood. I have Irish Scottish, German - my ancestors. I have a Russian fur, for Wnter, and two of my Grandfather's hat's like a fedora. Can even hangs some wool Winter scarves on it. Bought it at a furnitures store in 1988, when I was in college. If I ever come home, and the hat-stand, and my Cat are only there, destroyed house,....I will know who my enemies are!! This is a fine story for the characters we know. Christopher H.Bidmead, who was script editor in Tom Baker's last season, wrote both Logopolis & Castrovalva. I wish had written more - science, imagination, and character in his scripts. He did write another script involving the Tractors, it was not made - yet adapted by BF Audio (I will say no more) One of my favorite Fifth Doctor stories!

[@tonynelson2262]

Actor Jeffrey Rawle, who plays Plantagenet, later played Amos Diggory, father of Cedric Diggory (Robert Pattinson), in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

[@cameronmonaghan6883]

I love Frontios. It's an interesting take on the Human survival concept. Especially when it comes to the fact the colony withholds important details vital to their future. Interesting trivia: this story was made around the time a rumour persisted about the TARDIS being written out. Also yeah when location filming for Dot And Bubble was leaked everyone thought the Man Traps were Tractators. I miss the Hatstand. Hasn't been seen since Amy and Rory left.

[@7bestthings]

A fantastic story by one of my favorite Doctor Who writers, Christopher H. Bidmead. Everything is taken to the next level. Davison really excels in this episode. This story is a 10 out of 10 for me, Doctor Who at its best.

[@Skeezer66]

Frontios is a Top 5 Fifth Doctor story for me. Watching the 1st time, it felt the closest to being that combination of 1st and 2nd Doctors that Davison said he was aiming for. He is just top form! It's also a good Turlough story, and the monsters are genuinely disturbing!! The 5th Doctor has had highs and lows, but this season is the peak!!

[@richardvannoy1198]

Was looking back at your reaction to the 11th Doctor’s farewell/regeneration. I’m 70 and I cry like a baby with you. BTW… I’ve watched Doctor Who since the 1970’s.

[@thethinkingcatakaneonormie3527]

This story actually has somethings in common with the first doctor story the Web Planet and yes the hungry earth basically ripped it off along with the silurians and sea devils

[@Danbutch24]

They say Frontios buries its own dead...

[@Thebrainymonkey]

i have the exact same hat stand. It's not very stable and it falls over easily. It's also interesting to see Jeff Rawle in a different kind of role.

[@chrisbrooker7260]

A good story, odd, but good. It’s well-developed and the setting is pretty well fleshed out with people desperately trying to hold things together against insurmountable odds and divisions. Turlough’s glee over Earth’s demise is epic

[@jimcat6795]

Your break was great! I'm timey-wimey manifesting it 🤩

[@SUK2293]

I have a meteor shower every morning.

[@alexfletcher5192]

Because of the nature of the aged fan-brain, when 'The Hungry Earth' finally became an episode in 2010, I imagine just about all of us went back to Norna's line 'the earth was hungry'. But we got a very different pay-off on that occasion.

[@Jaketherobonrd]

Hooray classic who reactions are back! My experience with Frontios is I remember owning on VHS. It came in a double pack with the previous story The Awakening and i do like this story. I think it’s pretty convoluted but I enjoy it, nonetheless

[@bobsteele9581]

I remember before this episode was first aired on the BBC, there were stories in the press that show runner John Nathan Turner wanted to get rid of the Tardis from Doctor Who permanently. So when it was "destroyed" in this story it was quite a big disappoinment for a lot of fans. Thankfully it just turned out to be a very clever bit of misdirection and publicity for the story from Turner himself.

[@sg-zd8eb]

He was not “show runner”, he was producer. Please don’t use current terminology on the classic series.

[@bobsteele9581]

@@sg-zd8eb- OK, so he was the producer that ran the show. Please don't be so pedantic in future. That's what I usually do and I wouldn't want anybody to think you were being a copycat 😉🤣🤣🤣

[@Sandman_jazz1983]

The production of this story has a rather unpleasant backstory. Veteran British actor Peter Arne, well known for playing villains, was originally cast as mr. Range. Sadly, shortly before production started he was murdered in his flat. William Lucas was cast last minute.

[@tmofee]

I think the most fascinating point of this ep is before the time war this was as far as the doctor could go (it’s the same era as the ark from the first Doctor ep)

[@papalaz4444244]

this run of stories is great

[@jimcat6795]

Tractator children are known as Tractator Tots.

[@hornorsilk2901]

I think we can see the way these humans eventually become the ones in Utopia...

[@Georgie_R]

The 5th Doctor, Teabag and Turnip.... possibly the most 'grounded' Tardis team the Classic series ever had. Tegan obviously liking the Doctor, but still not afraid to call him out and Turlough just being the sarcastic 'over it' friend who still helps out (against his better Judgement) Still think that reading of the fate of Earth to Tegan is quite funny!!!

[@happyman050]

When I watched this on original transmision I thought the Tardis had chameleonised into the hat stand hence the power discharge from it

[@htershane]

Christopher Hamilton Bidmead actually had a good handle on Davisons Doctor, I think he was the one that used the “old man trapped in a young man’s body” approach first. Shame he didn’t stick with it.

[@andrewgwilliam4831]

I first saw this story on initial broadcast when I was 10, which is perhaps the ideal age for it. As an adult I can see its flaws, but I still think the premise is fairly solid, and there's some horror to what happens. And thinking about it now, I feel this particular Tardis team was the best possible combination for this story.

[@hornorsilk2901]

it is the kind of story which would have been best realized as a major motion picture with Giger involved with it.

[@Eltonlaleham]

I do say Seska the sets in this story are awesome, and also I would recommend watching and reacting to sci-fi Blakes Seven which ran from the late 70s to early 80s and Alexa Chipman has reacted to it.

[@Stuart_Cox1969]

Talking of hats.....Blakes 7 anyone ;)

[@SUK2293]

Turlough ! Tegan ! Tardis !

[@Allancarlostani]

Next week... one of the creepiest cliffhangers in "Doctor Who" history... "It's Captain Revere!"

[@BernardJKD]

Yes but the excavator machine's prop design was vetoed. Could"ve been truly fabulous..

[@joshuajoshua2732]

Turlough might have sass but he's abit of a smart aleck too he's abit of a clumsy idiot.

[@mark-s]

This is the story in the season i cannot remember that well i have to revisit it one day but the next story is a classic in fact next 3 are brilliant stories

[@antonmassopust568]

Despite what anyone says, this is a really good.Well written episode very nineteen eighties watts of doom and gloom very positive at the end

[@alexfletcher5192]

Frontios author and former Dr Who script-editor Christopher Hamilton Bidmead was one of the 'conspirators' pushing 'The next Doctor Who could be a woman?' notion after the 4th Doctor retired from active duty in 1981 (along with Producer John Nathan-Turner and Tom Baker himself). However, unlike that idea - and another 'wheeze' by Nathan-Turner: leaving a piece of paper in the production office suggesting an upcoming story called 'The Doctor's Wife' - the idea of replacing the Police Box design of the TARDIS never took off. For one thing, it would have been entirely self-defeating. By 1984, Gen X kids only knew a police box as a TARDIS - whether they were avid followers of the show or not (and by then they largely weren't) - and so changing it meant changing the one constant in the series. The word TARDIS itself had long entered the vernacular. Even today, a Brit who enters an unusually spacious interior setting, or climbs into a car to find there's more room than expected, is apt to say 'It's like a TARDIS in here'. That's cultural currency you can't buy.

[@GeoffreyBrundell]

I like Tegan costume in this story. Very 80s which you could where it now

[@kant12]

This episode is so silly but I always like watching it.

[@theyoungbloodtrilogy]

I remember being annoyed when The Hungry Earth aired at how much it ripped off this story. It would have made more sense if it had been some kind of sequel involving the Tractators, but instead, it was the Silurians, so the theft (especially "the earth was hungry") felt really tacky and unnecessary. But maybe I was defensive because this is one of my favorite 5th Doctor stories, with the Doctor at his snarkiest against the incompetent authority figures, something 14-year-old me lived for back in the day. And of course, Turlough and the Hatrack of Doom. (Surely Big Finish will make that a spin-off series any day now.)

[@darynvoss7883]

Just a little misdirect...

[@fergusalwin]

Yay you’re back (In a timey wimey kind of way)

[@jimcat6795]

That's got to be the sturdiest hat rack ever produced 😜

[@dngillikin]

It's really Kameleon in disguise. (insert smiley here)

[@mark-s]

​@@dngillikin yes but the hat rack was more useful than kamelion😅

[@meropetied]

Same writer as Logopolis and Castrovalva (and, really, most of the so imaginative and rather visionary season 18). This one is written deliciously. So much marvelous 5th Doctor, Tegan, and Turlough moments. And certainly the world of Frontios is very nicely established. Perhaps not a classic, but boy is this good Doctor Who, right in amidst a rougher period as the contemporary script editor was in increasingly great disagreement with the contemporary producer over how to steer this boat.

[@IsiahBradley]

P.S. Yeah, I was wondering where this fit in, break-wise :)

[@cosmosrunner]

Finally back ❤❤❤

[@Wub-t5o]

Christopher H Bidmead more or less created the Fifth Doctor and was one of the best writing for him

[@IsiahBradley]

🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩

[@SpiderandMosquito]

Algorithm boosting comment algorithm boosting comment algorithm boosting comment

[@richardd9938]

Never understood the Doctor randomly being so uptight about interfering in other species worlds and affairs in this story xDD Was it constant in flux instead of fixed point vibes between The Aztecs & and Frontios?😅

[@seanbarron2890]

Hope you are going to will have had a great break Jess from the future and past!

[@Alexandrashepiro]

Welcome Back!

[@joshuajoshua2732]

It's not earth it's set on the alien planet "Frontios" as mentioned in the title.

[@jacobhogan3208]

W!

[@tmofee]

I love turlough. So so sassy

[@farmbrough]

*hatstand

[@thethinkingcatakaneonormie3527]

This is the last till Paradise Towers that i really like as i usually stop watching the 5th doctor after this story as the next season i actually really hate and the trial of a timelord season picked up slightly but really it wasn't till McCoy that things improve for me.

[@BernardJKD]

Relevance?

[@stickytapenrust6869]

@@BernardJKDI think he’s a couple of spanners short of a toolbox

[@resiseven7407]

..what about androzani??

[@TakeNoteOfThat]

@@thethinkingcatakaneonormie3527 Thanks.