Dragonfire: Doctor Who: Season 24

Ok, Andrew Cartmel has had 2 strikes with his own writer mates already and in comes Ian Briggs. Strike 3? Well not quite, more like ball 1, stay of execution. Had Dragonfire been really bad, Cartmel would've probably been hurled out a window with J-NT following him down. This at least is written by a new writer who was actually a fan of the show (read that somewhere) and not a wannabe hack TV script writer. Dragonfire's definitely no classic but it doesn't stink on ice - pun intended - like the rest of the season has, in fact it shines out a bit because the people involved actually try with the material. Dragonfire gets rid of the lingering remains of Trial of a Timelord by bringing back Sabalom Glitz and then getting rid of him, and Melanie Bush is finally given her marching orders and takes off. Plus we get the introduction of a proper companion - Ace, even though her real name is Dorothy.

First Sylvester McCoy is no longer just playing the buffoonish idiot, he actually shows where his Doctor might go, finally his eccentricity is becoming more believable, that is until he climbed over a railing and basically hangs himself over a cliff to give us a cliffhanger and a 'comedy' moment at the end of part one. Again comedy has to be funny when one attempts it, this being the fault of the director. Melanie too is actually good in Dragonfire, she's not overly "nice" but shows she's got some spunk and doesn't scream too much, ok when the dragon appears she does revert to the most appalling companion at reflecting the helpless woman of the old days who just stands motionless and screams.

Glitz for some reason is way better in Dragonfire than he was in the trial and is more the likable rogue he was intended to be and the chemistry between him and the 7th Doctor is much better than with the 6th, his bickering relationship with Ace is well done too. Then Ace, who Sophie Aldred makes the star of these episodes, she grabs the tough little tomboy character, a teenager riddled with issues and makes it her own from day one, she's totally believable, interesting though that she must be the first non glamorous female companion for a while.

Dragonfire also has a fairly decent and simple plot, a dragon - in reality a bio mechanoid who is protecting a treasure from falling into the hands of the manager of Ice world - a guy called Kane. This guy is totally believable, he's tall, imposing, creepy and is an ice like humanoid that can kill you with his touch, now THIS is a villain! The script is well done as it gives just about all the actors something to do and develops their characters, from Belaz, Kane's right hand woman. She was once a runaway like Ace herself who wants to be free of Kane and talks at least one guy into helping her kill Kane. There's Ace's dilemma and even the frozen soldier who has a grudge against Glitz who sold him and his fellow crew members into slavery.

Pity that no one seems to really react to the fact it's freezing on Ice World. Here we come to the flaws that are due to the director, it still looks way over lit in places, the sets definitely don't look like ice and it has that kiddish feel still wafting through it. Bits that annoy being the Freezer shop and café scenes including Ace's fight with her boss and the completely ridiculous alien puppet that tries to bite Sylv's hand. The posh woman who can't act wandering around and the little girl who runs around and offers nothing to the plot - WHAT was the point of her? Plus the part one cliffhanger and it's resolution.

How did Glitz and the Doctor manage to scale down a sheer and bottomless cliff of ice? Least the music is better actually because Keff ain't doing it. Still most of the supporting cast do a good job, it's nice revelation of what the bio mechanoid was protecting in about the biggest alien head ever seen and the set piece of the soldiers hunting it down to kill it and it hunting them was well staged. So the whole city turns out to be a spaceship and Kane gets his by melting away in a nasty fashion.

Seems unlikely that Mel drifts off with Glitz in the most unmoving and quickly done exit scenes ever, gone are the days of the good ones. But with Ace in tow and Sylvester's acting starting to get better things are looking up for the next series, if only we could get rid of Clough and McMuffin and Andrew could wheel in some more decent writers for the next series things may start going places! But Dragonfire's only the beginning. 5/10



Grob

Sadly, I wouldn't call Dragonfire the beginning of some decent writers on Doctor Who. I'd call it the end of a very dull and lifeless season of squat. Firstly, Ian Briggs. Again, another one of Cartmel's mates who comes along for the ride cos his dole money has run out and good ol" Andrew thinks he may know how to turn a word processor on. To get an idea of how much research Briggs put into the television series he was now being paid to write for, it wasn;t called Draginfire, the story was called Absolute Zero, about a fourteen year-old financial genius and his sidekick, Mr Spewey, who seek a treasure -- revealed to be a living creature -- in the depths of an ice planet. Yeah that sounds like Doctor Who. By the way, how is your writing career going Ian? Oh yeah; last heard that you were working as a masseur somewhere. Obviously bludging jobs off your mates at the BBC paid off.

Once again Dragonfire is just like all the others of season 24 in that it is just childishly dull. Think about it; we've gone from wandering around Paradise Towers to wandering around the Welsh country side to wandering around the over lit ice corridors of the planet Bonox. Which incidentally does not AT ANY STAGE look like the interior of an ice planet. It just looks like the interior of a BBC studio. With lots of arc lights hanging down showing up how tacky everything looks. Again, this is not helped by employing the abilities (or lack thereof) of the BBC's most untalented director Chris Clough. In case you didn't know, Chris Clough has had plenty of experience directing many sci-fi hit shows including The Bill and Eastenders - shows that are well known for their extensive use of special effects and snappy deft direction. Still, wait til Silver Nemesis and you'll see a REAL disaster!

You know what Dragonfire is lacking? Its the bloody Doctor! What does he do? Nothing. What does he contribute to the story? Squat. How much charisma and presence has the lead character got in this story? None. He just fades into the background and does nothing. For some reason which is probably down to her cute arse, Mel is actually quite good in Dragonfire. Dunno why, but I'd still give her one. Oh, and Glitz really warrants a welcome return - NOT. He's not interesting, funny or worth thinking about. By the way, how did he get to Iceworld (which is set during 1987) when Mysterious Planet was set thousands of years into the future? And finally we have Ace. I'll lay my cards on the table here. I hate, hate, HATE this badly acted, one dimensional, cliched, appalling character played by one of Doctor Who's most overrated and talentless actresses. To give you an idea of how many actresses auditioned for the role of Leela - 3000. How many actresses auditioned for the role of Ace? 35. Doctor Who just goes from strength to strength doesn't it?

And what about that whole space bar scene? Milkshakes tipped over heads? Sophie Aldred's retarded acting style? Fake looking aliens? Dragonfire (and the season as a whole) is a complete mess made up of JNT's light entertainment / pantomime desires, Cartmel's lack of understanding what his job entails and thinking that Doctor Who is a bloody fairy story, Chris Clough's lousy direction, and Ian Brigg's complete lack of any talent or ability as a writer. Next time your idiot mates want a job Andrew, get them to work in a box factory - that is all they are capable of doing.