The Space Pirates

"When the Doctor gets an idea, nobody can change his mind."

Writer: Robert Holmes 

Format: TV

Broadcast: 8th March - 12th April 1969

Season: 6.06

Featuring: Second Doctor, Jamie, Zoe

Synopsis 

There's a war in space surrounding the planet Ta and the argonite mines. Piracy and murder soon become part of the agenda and once the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe lose sight of the TARDIS, things get very serious very quickly. 

Verdict 

The Space Pirates was a pretty good penultimate serial of both this sixth season and the tenure of Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor. My viewing of this story, more specifically the five missing parts, sets a personal landmark for myself as I have now officially watched every single episode of Doctor Who in the format that is currently possible! It's quite amazing to know that I've got no new TV stories to watch and that little fact makes the new episodes all the more special! I had quite a thrill watching Michelle Gomez reveal she'll be returning as Missy in the series 9 opener The Magician's Apprentice/The Witch's Forever and knowing I'd be watching this story today I just thought that I'd love to have 'new' Classics again. But they've run out! I will never again watch a Classic Doctor Who story where I've not watched the story. Of course, if any episodes are animated or recovered in the future then I'll get a much better feel but for now that's it. No more new oldies. I thought the story started off well and I really enjoyed the first two episodes but I thought six episodes was to excessive for a story like this. It's no secret that this story is regarded as the poorest of Patrick Troughton's run and I'm inclined to agree. Only The Macra Terror shares the same and what I consider to be low rating but because the Macra returned in Gridlock I think that gives something extra to their debut that trumps this story so slightly. I loved the episode two cliffhanger where it seemed that Jamie had been murdered in cold blood. Zoe's reaction sold it perfectly and that was probably the most impressive part of the story. I think it was hurt by the considerably less screen time for the main cast trio. It took 16 minutes for the TARDIS to dematerialise which for this period is extremely surprising. I guess that's the cost of such a gruelling schedule. During episode six's filming, the main cast were out shooting The War Games! Madeleine was my favourite guest character and I liked how she was at first in league with the Pirates but once the murder started her allegiance soon shifted. The story surrounding her father was emotional and I just can't imagine being told that your father is still alive long after you believed him dead. I've no idea how I'd react to that. Caven was a good central villain and I liked his ruthlessness. The way the TARDIS trio were separated so far from the TARDIS itself across space was good and presented a huge problem. However, I didn't feel that it was really resolved well. All we had was a little chuckle at the end with them being given a lift by Clancey. Penn was a pretty good character but to be honest I didn't think the offer guest cast offered too much for the story. They were given little direction and with the main cast not appearing in prominent roles. I would have liked one possible continuity reference and I was surprised by how poor this story was overall considering the writer was Robert Holmes! The plot was a bit muddled but I did like the end scene where the Doctor carefully removed the detonator from the bomb. His remarks to Zoe about being bossed around during the story were typically funny. I think this has been Jamie's poorest season by a long way and that's inadvertently thanks to Zoe's intellect brilliance. Overall, this ended pretty well after a promising start that sadly went flat during the middle. It's clear to see why this is widely regarded as Patrick Troughton's worst story. But I still think it had its highlights! 

Rating: 7/10