WATCH ALONG | CLASSIC DOCTOR WHO | 13x4 | Terror of the Zygons: Part 4
Added 2025-03-17 23:13:07 +0000 UTCThis is a rewatch as I reacted to this story in 2023 in preparation for the 50th anniversary special.
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A Few Notes:
Please no spoilers beyond this episode unless you see that later episodes have already been released. In that case, no spoilers beyond those episodes.
This reaction is in a watch-along format. This means you'll need your own copy of the episode to watch alongside my reaction. This is in an effort to avoid copyright infringement.
If you're based in the UK (or using a UK streaming site), here are instructions for how to get your copy to sync with mine.
The show footage will play for the first 30 seconds with both video and audio. After that, the show footage will be silenced, and the video will be blurred for the remainder of the episode. There is also a count-up timer that begins once the episode has started. These things will hopefully make it easier for you to keep your copy of the episode synced with mine.
This episode was viewed on BritBox via Amazon Prime.
If you want to know what’s coming up, check out the schedule here.
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*Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED. All rights belong to their respective owners.
Comments
The character of Harry was devised in the early planning stages of Season 12, when it wasn't yet known who the new Doctor would be. There were ideas of possibly casting an older actor in the style of the first Doctor, in which case they would need a sidekick able to handle the physical action scenes (as with Ian in the Hartnell era). However, when Tom Baker was cast, it was obvious that he could do all the physical stuff himself, and that aspect of Harry immediately became redundant. So they quickly wrote him out at the end of what would have been the final story of Season 12 (had the season not been artificially truncated) -- a decision that producer Philip Hinchcliffe later said he regretted, having seen how well the Doctor/Sarah/Harry team worked.
Steven Cooper
2025-03-18 14:39:15 +0000 UTCTerror of the Zygons is such a great story, you can stick this one on at any time and have a blast. It's just about the perfect start to season 13, which is my second favourite season of classic Who after season 7. Phillip Hinchcliffe and Robert Holmes had already begun to put their stamp on the show in the previous season, but it's with this story that the gothic horror tone they wanted to bring to Doctor Who truly took off. There's such a creepy, unnerving atmosphere that pervades this whole story. Particularly the scene in the barn with Sarah and Harry, which is the stuff of nightmares. It's a brilliantly directed scene, but this whole story looks great thanks to Douglas Camfield, one of the finest classic Who directors. I also like how these first six 4th Doctor stories tie together with the Doctor and companions leaving UNIT HQ at the end of Robot and ending up on the ark, then leaving the ark without the TARDIS and each subsequent story leading straight into the next, and then coming full circle with them ending up back on the ark at an earlier point in time and finding the TARDIS at the end of Revenge of the Cybermen, leading straight into Zygons. It's neat. The Zygons are a terrific creation, coupled with the interior of their spaceship, they're easily one of the most convincing alien races in classic Who because clearly there's been some thought put into them. Their creepy, sibilant voices and disgustingly organic design makes them truly memorable. It's no surprise they were so fondly remembered by fans despite only appearing in this one story during the whole of classic Who. David Tennant, who would've been watching the show at this point, has stated the Zygons are his favourite monsters and regretted never facing them during his own era. Obviously the main reason Moffat brought the Zygons back during the 50th is because they're a very fondly remembered monster that everyone wanted to see back one day, but part of it was also just a gift to Tennant. I also love how this story is a gentle parody of the alien invasion stories that were so common during the Pertwee era. It's really funny how the Doctor pokes holes in Broton's plans, it shows that he's heard it all before and is almost bored of the entire thing. I like how this works as both a celebration of a story format that worked so well during the Pertwee years, but also explains why Hinchcliffe and Holmes wanted to move away from it and try to take the show in a weirder, more experimental direction. Now with Harry gone, Sarah and the Doctor are alone, free to travel the universe. This marks the beginning of perhaps the greatest Doctor/companion duo run in the show's history.
Azmat Mahmood
2025-03-18 00:28:05 +0000 UTC
