Okay I can see what they were trying to do, either bravely or foolishly they attempted to make a true Doctor Who and independent spin off. There has to be a line between a fan mad fest and a watchable piece of drama, and in my humble opinion this teetered uncomfortably towards the former. On paper the story sounds an attractive one, but the trouble is the realization is not that great, it doesn't flow as well as it could have, it's a little disjointed. Some of the problems come from the characters themselves. The much loved Sarah Jane Smith is woefully underused, they manage to keep her in character but she has so little to do. Victoria is one of the main problems, never at any stage did I feel that this Victoria was the same character that had once travelled with Doctor number two. Mark Trotman and Peter Silverleaf looked like fans that had wandered onto the set. That said it's still enjoyable enough to watch, provided the viewer doesn't pitch their expectations based on something that may have been produced by the BBC. It's the Doctor element that's the main failing.
5 Reviews
Muddled, Confused, Fan-boy Excess
profh-126 June 2010
I've had the strong impression over the last 20+ years that "clear" storytelling is a tragically under-rated skill. Take DOWNTIME. I've now seen it twice. It's EVEN WORSE than I remember it! And yet, the other day, I read at least a dozen online reviews of it, and they were all gushing and overflowing with nothing but praise.
Everyone seemed to focus on the cast, the production, the effects, the story... but I don't think one person mentioned the story-TELLING. Basically, it's a muddled, confusing, unintelligible MESS. At first I thought Marc Platt was the guy who wrote DRAGONFIRE and THE CURSE OF FENRIC, 2 instances of throwing in "the kitchen sink" and more. But no, turns out, he's the guy who wrote GHOST LIGHT, which, until recently, was lambasted for being almost completely unintelligible (unless someone watched it multiple times to "get it"). In truth, GHOST LIGHT has grown on me, but then I liked that one from the beginning. This one bothered me no end the first time around. Now, 15 years later, I almost couldn't make it all the way through. There is just TOO damn much "stuff" in this for it to be one story, and none of it gets time to develop properly. It's like I'm not watching scenes, I'm just watching fragments of scenes, fragments of story ideas, all pasted together as if someone assumed the viewer should put it all together in their mind automatically, because the writer couldn't be bothered to do it himself.
What really bugs me the most is that this story features 2 of my favorite DOCTOR WHO characters ever-- The Brigadier, and Sarah Jane (in that order). And it's TERRIBLE! I'm almost done watching every single WHO story in my entire collection, and very, very few of them I'd NEVER want to watch again. I've just added this one to the list. The only time the thing ever seems to "work" is when Lethbridge-Stewart's on screen, and mostly, only in the 2nd half. Sarah Jane is WASTED being here, it feels as if her appearance was tacked on at the last minute, just because someone found out Lis Sladen was available. And Victoria... OH MY GOD, I've heard complaints about characters "not being themselves" in return appearances, but this is one of the most extreme cases. The whole thing with her and her father, and the character who is PLAYED by her real-life father, was just annoying beyond belief. But not nearly as annoying as that GIT who was her sidekick, who looked like some fan-boy who's spent too much time going to sci-fi conventions. (I understand Ian Levine was deeply involved with this... and I'd only recently been reading about his apparent involvement in ANOTHER over-complicated mess of a "story", ATTACK OF THE CYBERMEN. Sheesh.)
Two actors who did themselves proud here were John Leeson (terribly under-used), and Geoffrey Beevers (a real highlight of the thing, though I didn't even realize who he was until the end credits came up).
Years later, one of Marc Platt's WHO audio stories formed much of the inspiration for a 2-part David Tennant story. To my mind, there wasn't a single bad episode in the first 3 years of the WHO revival. I would NEVER have connected the alternate-universe Cybermen story with the guy who concocted this mess. The standards of the WHO production team seem MUCH higher, which may explain why Platt hasn't written anything himself for the revived series.
I think what made it worse than it might have been was, unlike the first time I saw it, this time, I watched it almost back-to-back with SHAKEDOWN. Crystal-clear, straightforward storytelling with well-defined characters, the likes of which had not been seen on DOCTOR WHO since Tom Baker starred. Call it what you like, to me, it was a MASTERPIECE.
Everyone seemed to focus on the cast, the production, the effects, the story... but I don't think one person mentioned the story-TELLING. Basically, it's a muddled, confusing, unintelligible MESS. At first I thought Marc Platt was the guy who wrote DRAGONFIRE and THE CURSE OF FENRIC, 2 instances of throwing in "the kitchen sink" and more. But no, turns out, he's the guy who wrote GHOST LIGHT, which, until recently, was lambasted for being almost completely unintelligible (unless someone watched it multiple times to "get it"). In truth, GHOST LIGHT has grown on me, but then I liked that one from the beginning. This one bothered me no end the first time around. Now, 15 years later, I almost couldn't make it all the way through. There is just TOO damn much "stuff" in this for it to be one story, and none of it gets time to develop properly. It's like I'm not watching scenes, I'm just watching fragments of scenes, fragments of story ideas, all pasted together as if someone assumed the viewer should put it all together in their mind automatically, because the writer couldn't be bothered to do it himself.
What really bugs me the most is that this story features 2 of my favorite DOCTOR WHO characters ever-- The Brigadier, and Sarah Jane (in that order). And it's TERRIBLE! I'm almost done watching every single WHO story in my entire collection, and very, very few of them I'd NEVER want to watch again. I've just added this one to the list. The only time the thing ever seems to "work" is when Lethbridge-Stewart's on screen, and mostly, only in the 2nd half. Sarah Jane is WASTED being here, it feels as if her appearance was tacked on at the last minute, just because someone found out Lis Sladen was available. And Victoria... OH MY GOD, I've heard complaints about characters "not being themselves" in return appearances, but this is one of the most extreme cases. The whole thing with her and her father, and the character who is PLAYED by her real-life father, was just annoying beyond belief. But not nearly as annoying as that GIT who was her sidekick, who looked like some fan-boy who's spent too much time going to sci-fi conventions. (I understand Ian Levine was deeply involved with this... and I'd only recently been reading about his apparent involvement in ANOTHER over-complicated mess of a "story", ATTACK OF THE CYBERMEN. Sheesh.)
Two actors who did themselves proud here were John Leeson (terribly under-used), and Geoffrey Beevers (a real highlight of the thing, though I didn't even realize who he was until the end credits came up).
Years later, one of Marc Platt's WHO audio stories formed much of the inspiration for a 2-part David Tennant story. To my mind, there wasn't a single bad episode in the first 3 years of the WHO revival. I would NEVER have connected the alternate-universe Cybermen story with the guy who concocted this mess. The standards of the WHO production team seem MUCH higher, which may explain why Platt hasn't written anything himself for the revived series.
I think what made it worse than it might have been was, unlike the first time I saw it, this time, I watched it almost back-to-back with SHAKEDOWN. Crystal-clear, straightforward storytelling with well-defined characters, the likes of which had not been seen on DOCTOR WHO since Tom Baker starred. Call it what you like, to me, it was a MASTERPIECE.
Doctor Who spin-off that does justice to original show!!!
mjshannon22 June 2000
After the cancellation of Doctor Who back in 1989 a lot of fans were starved for characters and scenarios that they had found so comforting and spin-off videos like this were(and are)the next best thing. Fans of the show should be very pleased to see the return of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart(played by Nicholas Courtney) along with third and fourth Doctor companion Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen), second Doctor companion Victoria Waterfield (Deborah Watling) along with John Leeson, portraying a DJ (who was the voice of K9 in the series) and Professor Travers (Jack Watling) who appeared in the two Doctor Who's this video follows up on. Yeti again fill the streets of London, the top secret U.N.I.T. is called in, The Great Intelligence is seeking to spread its web across the planet--ingredients right out of a Doctor Who! Missing, of course, is the Doctor himself and the Earthlings are on their own to save the world. Also unlike the show is the somewhat serious theme of the troubled relationship between the Brig and his daughter. The fact that this video explores the repurcussions of the Brigadier's years of secrecy working as the head of U.N.I.T. is welcome and intriguing and is dealt with in a very mature and sensitive manner. Although this is a low budget independent affair, it pulls off its story well (even though you may need to watch it a few times to fully understand the complex plot, especially if you haven't seen or read its predecessors). All in all, this is a well produced and directed video that should satisfy, especially, fans of the older series. Reeltime Pictures should be applauded for creating such diverting Who related stories that do the old companions and monsters such justice! Watching this is like slipping into a well worn comfy chair. A bit downbeat but definitely worth watching.
A later follow up to the Web of Fear
Sleepin_Dragon16 August 2015
I think during the show's cancellation were were grateful for any conceivable new material. Reeltime Pictures had been producing some wonderful interviews, and the odd drama. Downtime was the most specifically Doctor Who spin off and drew hugely from Troughton's classic serial 'The Web of Fear.'
It's a bit clunky, some of the acting is dodgy at times, and the effects are shaky. But I applaud it for what it was, it was brave, bold, fun and gave us what we wanted, once more the Brig, Sarah Jane, Victoria and The Yeti were brought back to life.
It has a definite charm, I loved seeing Victoria Waterfield back to life, she was a great character, such a shame so many of her stories don't exist. How nice for her to once again to act alongside her dad, Jack Watling.
The music I think is brilliant, and has a high quality feel.
It's flawed, but fun, nostalgic and went someway towards bringing Doctor Who back, bravo, 8/10, I wish very much they made more!
It's a bit clunky, some of the acting is dodgy at times, and the effects are shaky. But I applaud it for what it was, it was brave, bold, fun and gave us what we wanted, once more the Brig, Sarah Jane, Victoria and The Yeti were brought back to life.
It has a definite charm, I loved seeing Victoria Waterfield back to life, she was a great character, such a shame so many of her stories don't exist. How nice for her to once again to act alongside her dad, Jack Watling.
The music I think is brilliant, and has a high quality feel.
It's flawed, but fun, nostalgic and went someway towards bringing Doctor Who back, bravo, 8/10, I wish very much they made more!
This an excellent Doctor Who spin-off and is a must-watch!!!
mjimm28 September 2005
Warning: Spoilers
If you like Doctor Who, then you must watch this! It starts off in a Tibetan monastery where Victoria Waterfield (Deborah Watling) finds Professor Travers (Jack Watling) who is infested by the modestly named Great Intelligence! This is my personal favourite scene in the film. Later on, they find out that the NeWorld University is a front to bring the Intelligence back through to our world from the astral plane. This film by Reeltime Pictures sees the return of the yetis! Sarah Jane Smith and Brigadeer Lethbridge Stewart are also in this great adventure. This film is also extended in a novelisation which includes a cameo appearance from the third doctor!
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