18th April, 2020.
Life under lockdown … is an amazingly boring thing.
Possibly boring, at least.
After all, there’s only so many time you can sweep the floor, wipe the surfaces or stare at walls.
And only so much dinner you can eat.
I’m getting sick of sweets potatoes — the red ones — so I had a change of pace, today.
Brown rice, with chicken, runner beans and peas.
As seen on Instagram …
Talking of which … ?
I had a couple of women message me on Instagram: going by the handles of @bellakumesnancy and @christeenamanda062.
@bellakumesnancy seemed especially interested in — as she put it — chatting me up.
And sending me pictures.
On Goggle Hangouts.
Which is where I gently accused the young lady of being a scammer, blocked her, and deleted the chat.
It seemed a little too good, too much like a potential scam*, to be true.
~≈†≈~
At any rate, and back to was I meant to tell you about … ?
I’ve seen more TV.
Yes: you’re right.
~≈†≈~
Opening with the traditional recap, Episode 5 opens by showing us the Chameleon flight landing on the orbiting Chameleon satellite: and Blade (Donald Pickering) ordering his assistant to disembark their cargo: miniaturised humans.
Unknown to either? Jamie (Frazer Hines) has heard all this: and is intent on doing whatever he can about it.
Only to be captured: and taken before … the Director … !
Back at Gatwick?
Back at Gatwick, the Commandant has become increasingly convinced by the Doctor’s story: only being finally persuaded when the false Meadows (George Selway) is revealed to be an alien, and explains how they’re disguised, by whom …
And where they end up …
~≈†≈~
Episode 6 recaps episode five …
Then moves on: showing the Doctor (Patrick Troughton) and Nurse Pinto (Madalena Nicol) arriving at the Chameleon base: and trying to talk their way into the Satellite’s accommodation centre.
Only to be foiled by Captain Blade.
Back on Earth?
The Commandant is in full action. He knows that some of his staff are Chameleon duplicates, that the human originals are hidden someone in Gatwick …
And that the only thing to do is find the bodies: and wait for the Chameleons to contact them.
What the Commandant may have help.
The Doctor is slowly giving the Chameleons a headache …
~≈†≈~
Now …
Have I enjoyed both these two episodes, AND the story that The Faceless Ones is trying too tell me?
Yes, I did.
Yes: there’s flaws.
We don’t see enough of Ben (Michael Craze) and Polly (Anneke Wills) for my liking.
It’s their last story, after all.
To give the show its due, it’s something it tries to remedy in later years.
Not always successfully. I believe Louise Jameson has said, once or twice, that she would have liked Leela to go out with something of a bang: rather than wimpily falling in love†.
At least in the pair’s farewell in episode six? Sees a tearful Jamie, wiping his eye.
There’s also the mistake made by Patrick Troughton in episode five: where he calls the Pauline Collins character, Sarah.
She’s actually called Samantha.
I don’t know what went on, there: but believe it’s a mistake made by Troughton in the original recording, that the crew never had a chance to redo, or correct.
And therefore went out in the original recording that an unnamed fan taped: and passed on to the reconstruction crew.
I’ve check with the black and white version, and the tele snap reconstruction, as well.
But these are minor things, I think: like flaws in a gemstone, they only add to the pleasure.
And frankly?
Watching The Faceless Ones has been a pleasure.
It presents a Dr Who story that presents us with an old fashioned detective story, with pacing and characters unique to its era: and yet still riveting.
From an old school Dr Who detective story, to fanboy Easter eggs‡?
Whether you’re a fan or not, The Faceless Ones will appeal to all of us.
* Apparently? The popular term for what I think was being attempted was catfishing.
† Christopher Tranchell, the actor who plays Jenkins in The Faceless Ones also plays Andred in The Invasion of Time: the Time Lord soldier Leela leaves the Doctor for. He also plays Roger Colbert in The Reign of Terror.
‡ There’s those wanted posters in episode 1. And a Magpie Electricals billboard: the fictional company first featured in The Idiot’s Lantern.
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