24x3. Delta and the Bannermen
Writer: Malcolm Kohll
Script Editor: Andrew Cartmel
Director: Chris Clough
Producer: John Nathan-Turner
Synopsis: The
Doctor and Mel are en route to 1959 Disneyland with an alien tour group
when they are diverted to a holiday camp in South Wales, only to find
that one of their traveling companions is Delta, the last of a species
known as the Chimeron, and that Gavrok and his Bannermen are intent on
finding and killing her.
Review: "Delta and the Bannermen," like its predecessor "Paradise Towers," is a fairly unique entry into the annals of Doctor Who history. I certainly can't think of another Who serial
where the Doctor's companion boards an interstellar tour bus and sings
along to "Rock Around the Clock," where the Doctor delays the villains
by dousing them with honey so that they get attacked by bees, where a
character helps save a species from extinction by transforming into one
of their number by consuming alien food, where a troop of soldiers
signal all stick out their tongues in unison, or where scenes of
characters driving back and forth are scored with the kind of upbeat
music that composer Keff McCulloch supplies here. Unfortunately, some
of this - however distinctive or unexpected it might be - verges on
inappropriate silliness given the stakes involved: Delta's species is
being hunted to the point of genocide, and the bus full of alien
tourists is destroyed with no survivors right when it appears they
might escape. The script also suffers not only from a slim backstory
(another commonality with "Paradise Towers") but from vague
characterizations whose decisions don't always make sense. Just who
exactly is Gavrok, and why are he and the Bannermen so intent on
killing the last of the Chimeron? Why does Gavrok kill the mercenary
who might otherwise have located Delta for him? Why do two of his men
untie their prisoners simply because the Doctor tells them to and waves
a white flag of truce, when they seem so unconcerned with any rules of
honor or fair play otherwise? Meanwhile, local aspiring singer and
mechanic Billy falls in love with Delta in a romantic subplot so
arbitrary that I found myself wondering if I'd missed a scene
somewhere, and the two of them go for a ride into the hills with no
apparent concern that someone might see her newborn green alien baby
that they're carting around. I like Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor, and
I'm pleased that the series seems to be moving past the often grim
style of the previous few seasons, but unfortunately these latest
serials have just proven too contrived and underdeveloped for me to
count any of them as a success.
Rating: ** (out of four)
Back to the main Doctor
Who Reviews page.