Customer Reviews

Doctor Who: The Faceless Ones (BBC TV Soundtrack)

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The Faceless Ones is a fine, if lesser lauded, story from the Troughton years of Doctor Who. It being Patrick Traoughton's first year in the role, the Faceless Ones reflects a tale in which he and his supporting cast are still searching to hit their stride in working with one another. They seem to have considerable strides here, which is no small feat. This story marks one of those periods (including the first season and a half of the show and much of the Peter Davison era) in which the TARDIS is simply over-crowded. It is challenging to find something engaging and useful for four TARDIS crewmen to do while still providing the spotlight in which the Doctor can maneuver as the natural engine of events and resolutions. It is interesting to note that despite the acting talents surrounding them, Patrick Troughton and Frazer Hines are clearly developing a chemistry together, which foreshadows why the BBC felt that they needed to find more opportunities for their interaction in future stories (thus goodbye Ben and Polly). In the end, the Faceless Ones provides an interesting and dark story for the Doctor and his young companions. It is the sort of macabre fiction and conspiracy plotline that provided Doctor Who of the era with some of its absolute best stories.

I LOVE this story and find it even more unfortunate that only episodes 1 and 3 still exist in the BBC film vault Doctor Who - Lost in Time Collection of Rare Episodes - The William Hartnell Years and the Patrick Troughton Years. The Doctor, Ben, Polly and Jamie arrive at Gatwick Airport and soon are invovled in a plot invovling missing passengers. This story would also mark a farewell for two of The Doctor's companions. Frazer Hines narrarates.

"Faceless Ones" stands second only to the superb "Fury from the Deep" in Patrick Troughton's untouchable canon as the Second Doctor. The story is chillingly riveting from start to finish, even in this narrated sound-only format (or perhaps especially so). As much as I truly admire Tom Baker and Jon Pertwee, Troughton's Doctor was the finest -- brilliant, bumbling, mysterious, thoroughly good, cunning, heroic, Troughton was certainly the most talented actor to tackle the part. (So thoroughly did he throw himself into the role, that he later told an interviewer he had to leave the series to save himself from schizophrenia.) His scripts sometimes let him down, but not this one. What a tragedy that the "bottom-line" goons at BBC trashed the tapes in the early 1970s to make shelf room for "Blue Peter" episodes, the fate of most of Troughton's stories, of which only 6 remain intact in the BBC archives. (Ah, but rumors persist of secret caches hidden away in wealthy collectors' vaults). Buyers of this richly realized audio-only version should make sure they have the two surviving visual episodes close at hand: these are part of the stunning and indispensible "Lost in Time" DVD set. This tale also features the underrated Polly, in her last Who story, in a dual role as herself and as a chameleon-like alien who assumes her identity. Also on hand are the staunch Cockney Ben, and of course Troughton's run-long sidekick, the 18th-century Scots piper Jamie. "Faceless Ones" is really the first story in which Jamie is allowed to shine, as in the hilarious exchanges at Gatwick Airport: guilelessly describing one of the alien villains to a stuffy, disbelieving airport administrator, a big-eyed Jamie offers that "he had a ray gun!" while Troughton tries his best to stifle him. The premise: "faceless" chameleons (who, among other unpleasantries, can't breathe until they can steal a shape that has nostrils) are systematically vanishing youthful "jet" passengers whose identities they assume. Edge-of-the-listening-chair suspense and great surprises throughout, with a particularly strong climax, disturbing and unforgettable. Troughton is in rare form, having a great time of it. Don't miss this one!

"The Faceless Ones" is another BBC installment of reproduced missing episodes of Doctor Who in audio book format. All of these audio reproduction are excellent in terms of the clean-up of the audio track and the linking narration by former cast members. Some of the reproductions, however, fail in terms of actual content. "The Faceless Ones" is one Doctor Who story which does not quite make it.

We find the Doctor and his three companions at London's Gatwick Airport in 1966. After fleeing from the police, Polly witnesses a bizarre murder. After reporting it to the Doctor, the investigation is on! What is happening at Gatwick, and what does it have to do with the strange Chameleon Tours company? This story is simply too long. The plot plods along, moving pretty slowly, and without much enthusiasm. This story might have been decent if the editors had trimmed the fat to make four episodes rather than six. Much of the padding from this tale is made up of running around the airport, trying to convince the authorities of unearthly circumstances, and deviating plot lines that really lead to nowhere special. Most of the supporting characters are "faceless" as well, not enticing much interest. Even the Doctor and his companions lack their usual sparkle and drive that is seen in other stories. I was disappointed, and I wish I had not bought "The Faceless Ones."