Delta and the Bannermen

Delta, the Queen of the Chimerons and the last of her people, is on the run. Her planet has been invaded by Gavrok and his mercenary army of Bannermen, her people slaughtered. Custodian of the future of her species, Delta disguises herself as a tourist amongst the Navarino party going to Disneyland on Earth in 1959 on a Nostalgia Trips Bus. The Doctor and Melanie are also along for the ride, having won their places on the trip as the 10,000,000,000th customers at a galactic toll port, but a freak accident lands the tour group at a holiday camp in Wales. The Bannermen raiding party is not far behind, bringing danger to an otherwise dull part of the world.

See how well a premise can start up and then just go right into the crapper? If you dig sci fi farce along the lines of Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, then the trend of absurdities on season 24 would be sort of up your alley, if, indeed, it was on par. Sadly it's not.

Now Delta not without its relative strengths; it's actually quite innovative and shot almost entirely on location (the exceptions being a brief scene inside the TARDIS and a few other simple sets) in a pleasant setting. It also has the first vocal incidental music score since The Gunfighters back in 1966, along with some re-imagined classic rock and roll tracks and similar inspired music. And the props people got the whole thing pretty good, kitting the cast out in retro 50's attire. But period looks have never been a problem for any arm of the BBC.

Where this one suffers, is, as I have said before, the realization of an alien tour group coming to earth in disguise. Clever, yes. Well executed? No. It just feels too... happy. And not engaging enough. I remember watching it for the first time back in 1987 and enjoying it because it was new, but then thinking I would never actually show this episode to someone as as elling point for the series. I did, however, show it to Jay yesterday and we did what we usually do and discussed the merits of the show (usually when we see a hot guy, and in this case we agree that young mechanic Billy is the eye candy of the piece) and a few of the detracting elements like mis-placed moments of musical score, the odd camera angle that did not make sense, and obvious gaffes like Sylvester McCoy clearly seen wearing his glasses as he drives a motorbike across a field. And even some downright funny bits where Gavrok kicks Mel to the ground.

For a 3 episode story, Delta has a pretty big cast, and some of them being very big names in British television. So I am told, anyways. Ken Dodd as the toll collector. Don Henderson as Gavrok. American actor Stubby Kaye as a bumbling American intelligence agent. And then there's this absolute gem of a character, the sensitive and lovely Ray, played by Sara Griffiths. I remember being really annoyed at the end of the show when Ray did not leave in the TARDIS with Mel and the Doctor; she would have been a great addition to the series as a period character. But no.

The show concludes on a happy note, with "Happy Days Are Here Again" playing as the TARDIS dematerializes (and the mysterious old Goronwy character winking leaving us to wonder just who this guy is - a Time Lord? The White Guardian? Just a really nice old guy who has strangers into his home for a cup of tea and a chat?). Happy days were not next, though, as the next episode in the televised series would be a bit more grim. But Big Finish have thrown a few new tales into the mix as well, with a few nasties out there for the Doctor and Melanie to face...

NEXT EPISODE : THE FIRES OF VULCAN