Doctor Who 033: The Moobase, written by Kit Pedler, directed by Morris Barry (1967)
27 August 2009A partially missing series, this Doctor Who story is missing the first and third episodes, but at least we get to see some of it (though I would have loved to have seen more of them in spacesuits in the moon). This is available in the Patrick Troughton Lost in Time DVD, though unlike the audio DVD’s the 2 episodes do not have narration like the BBC Radio Collection, so they are quite a bit harder to know exactly what is going on. A best case would be the creation of hybrid with both versions, and adding in the missing stills on the narrated version. This is an enjoyable adventure with fighting the arch enemies the Cybermen, though it is obvious that Jamie was thought to have left the show by now, because he spends most of the series unconscious babbling about some Scottish Demon that was going to attack him, which is in fact a Cyberman, though Hines does narrate the CD version.
The Doctor (the great Patrick Troughton) manages to land the TARDIS, this time on Earth’s moon in the year 2070. He with his companions Polly (Anneke Wills), Ben Jackson (Michael Craze) and his new companion the Scotish HIghlander Jamie McCrimmon (Frazer Hines) head out in spacesuits to play on the moon surface. Jamie though is hurt in the low gravity. They band finds a Moonbase, which they head towards. The base is run by Hobson (Patrick Barr) who runs the Earth Weather Controller from the moon surface with a large machine called the Gravitron. The moonbase is having trouble with people collapsing into comas with some strange infection going though their whole bodies, and showing up as spider web like veins, making the base quarantined. The Travelers arrive in this mess, and the Doctor tries to see what he can do, putting Jamie into the sickbay, and trying to learn if he can help these people cure whatever it is that ails them.
REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…
The Moonbase has also lost some air, and a crewman has been lost in food storage, as well as the radio being monitored from somewhere else on the moon.
Jamie in the sickbay starts ranting about the Phantom Piper coming to take him away to his death, and they just all believe he is delirious, but in fact he saw a Cyberman!
Polly though does see a Cyberman, and informs the Doctor, and the Cybermen are taking away the bodies of the infected crew members.
Hobson tries to keep up with Earth’s demands for Weather control, but with a skeleton crew is unable to function correctly, and assume he will soon lose his job.
The Doctors realizes the virus, is neurotropic and is spreading through the moonbases sugar supply from Food storage. The Cybermen come out from a hole from outside into food storage, and take over part of the base. They want the Graviton to destroy human life on Earth, so that they can take over. They have used 3 of the infected crew members who now obey their commands to go in and take over the Gravitron.
Jamie finally recovers, and with Ben and Polly they manage to fight their way out of the medical wing, and the first wave of cybermen are dispatched, but more of there flying saucers land, and a large invasion force heads toward them, also destroying a relief craft heading from Earth.
The Doctor gets Hobson to help him re-align the Gravitron and they just manage to use to destroy the Cybermen and their ships as the Cybermen use a cannon to punch wholes into the moonbase.
The Doctor and his companions slip away.
Back in the TARDIS they activate a scanner and see a huge claw on the screen, which is where they are going to land.
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Fun, though I wish Jamie had more of a part. Still it was great to see part of this episode on the Lost Episodes, I just wish they had used the CD with narration for the missing audio and then shown the missing episodes, but I am glad to have been able to see part of it!
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