3rd doctor on tv is my enemy

Malcolm Hulke is in part responsible for such favourites as The War Games and Ambassadors of Death. This story picks up on the recurring theme of political diplomacy with other lifeforms, which is present in Hulke's Silurian stories. The Draconians more successful than the Silurians (and certainly the Sea Devils) in terms of embodying a credible vision of an intelligent alien species, they also look very convincing - with fantastic masks. They speak and act in ways which are on par with human intelligence and the political tension between Draconians and Humans is enjoyable, at least at first.

Frontier in Space begins very well. The TARDIS excitingly almost collides with a 26th Century spaceship, The Doctor and Jo end up on board. Through a port window Jo spots another spaceship shimmering and it becomes what is described as a Draconian battle-cruiser - which begins to attack.

The audience soon finds out that it is not Draconians, but actually the Ogrons attacking. A hypnotic wave is being set off "by someone", tricking individuals into seeing something they fear, rather than what is actually there. When Ogrons attack Humans, the Humans see Draconians. Elsewhere Draconians are falsely perceiving their attackers as Human.

This causes an interesting diplomatic tension between the two long term allies and makes for an enjoyable first couple of episodes. But this is where the plot starts to run a little thin. This same scenario is stretched out over six episodes with little or no development. I find it unbelievable that by the beginning of episode 6 the Draconians and Humans have yet to work out what is going on. I became frustrated at the same situation and arguments being repetitively played out on screen. We see The Doctor explain what is actually happening, then the two opposing sides explain what they have perceived to have happened - again and again and again.

If this was not bad enough, we later learn that this hypnotic ray (set off by The Master) makes the individual see "what they fear the most". Unfortunately, this does not tally with the fact that Humans and Draconians have been long term allies. Even if there was some historic friction between the two sides - why would they find each other more frightening than any other force? Or surely, at least one Human or Draconian would find something else (like a Dalek) more frightening?

This is not even the worst thing about Frontier in Space. About 5 or 6 times an episode we see a character (usually The Doctor) imprisoned and then escaping that prison. Hulke is stuck in a loop where every time a protagonist is in trouble, they get sent to a prison and then within moments escape that prison. We see Jo sent to a prison and then escaping that prison. We see 26th Century humans sent a to prison then escaping that prison. We see an Ogron sent to a prison and then escaping that prison. I lost count of the number of prisons in this story, but it could have been half that number and it would have been too many prisons.

At one point The Doctor is sent to a prison moon(!) which seems to be included for no reason other than to add a bit of local colour and to use up an episode. It is extremely bizarre that the moon prison and its political "peace" prisoners are never mentioned after The Doctor escapes that prison. So many ideas are set up and never revisited on that moon - it seems so confused.

I finished Frontier in Space dissatisfied with the number of loose threads it presented. What on Earth was going on with the Ogron's green God creature? It looked cool - but was included so briefly within the story and seemingly for no reason - It did not tie up at all.

The story gets better again towards the very end, the presence of the Daleks (with restored authentic voices) got my attention back, but it was too late for the story as a whole. I hope that Planet of the Daleks picks up on some of these loose threads and delivers something which makes both stories more satisfying.

It is a crying shame that this is the last we will see of Delgado's Master - this is not a fitting end of a character and a performance I have eulogised since Pertwee's second season.

My review from 05/01/2022

The main aspect of the story I noticed is the ambition of it. In a way its like a mini Doctor Who Flux hopping around from place to place with an overarching story. The story mainly acts as a piece of world building where the doctor navigates a politically unstable landscape, trying to prevent a terrible war. The story is very noticeably cynical on authority whether its the facist leaning ideology of General Williams or the sexist traditions of the Draconian court. Because the serial spends a lot of the time in exploring the world it, does drag quite a bit. Jo Grant also barely gets anything to do and could easily be removed from the story without any impacts. Despite this Pertwee and Delgado are in top form and the final cliffhangers is probably one of the best in the shows history.

This serial has something of a poor reception within fandom as being 'dull', and I don't understand it. I thought it was excellent. Whilst the ending leaves a lot to be desired and the Doctor seems a bit gullible when he somehow doesn't recognize the Master's voice over the radio in the cargo ship, overall it's a fun and epic space opera for the Pertwee era. Jo Grant is at her greatest here, as she demonstrates how much she has learned from the Doctor, and Roger Delgado's last performance as the Master is every bit as cold and commanding as you would expect. This serial deserves more love.

I was thoroughly impressed by Frontier in Space, a pleasant surprise after barely sitting through the vaguely similar Colony in Space. This was a lot of fun with a bunch of memorable characters and set pieces. What really stands out about Frontier to me is that each episode feels like its own thing. There's one where the doctor is stuck in a prison on the moon, another on a cargo ship, another on Draconia - they all feel really distinct and helped keep the serial interesting to me. I also like the characters, especially on the Draconian side as they felt like well-developed individuals to me (and even the humans weren't too bad).  The dynamic of Jo and the Doctor getting stuck between these two competing forces worked well for me too. The fun doesn't change when the Master shows up, and Delgado's final appearance before he tragically died makes this story special in its own little way.

Some of the Draconian costumes were a little sweaty but looked good, as did most of the sets. The Daleks feel a little unnecessary given they are about to get their own story, but I guess we are leading into that a bit. Little choices like that hold back an otherwise near-perfect experience, but overall I had a great time and would absolutely recommend this one.