Dr Who-Ambassadors of Death [VHS]

This seven-parter has very few special effects, which is a _good thing_ because SF special effects tend to lose their charm when viewed in retrospect. Instead, the growing horror is done primarily by inference - a trademark of the Pertwee years. The fight scenes are much bloodier than would have been allowed in the later years, and this also adds to the gritty authenticity. And, of course, set in its own time the military and scientific hardware is done just right.

The plot?
Ok then. Mars Probe 7 returns to orbit, but the crew fail to make contact with mission control (which is in England -- a nice touch). The recovery probe loses contact with Earth when it docks with the original probe. Meanwhile, a strange broadcast from the ship is picked up all over the world, while an equally strange broadcast is sent back in reply from somewhere in England. Both UNIT and the Doctor decide to take a hand, but the cooperation they receive from Mission Control is less than 100%. When the Mars Probe finally does land, it is stolen by a band of criminals (or, at least, we think they are criminals) only to be recaptured by the Doctor. However, when it is opened, the capsule is empty...

Any more and I will be giving the story away. This series sees a convincing gun battle, a desperate fight between Liz Shaw and a band of assailants on a bridge, a man murdered with an isotope, and a growing mystery which is not solved until the Doctor risks himself going into space on a faulty rocket.

There's just one caveat - this series was originally shot in colour but subsequently discarded by the BBC. Only the first episode remains of the colour version, the rest was found in black and white in the hands of an independent collector. If you've never seen Doctor Who in black and white, this may come as a shock. To many of us old timers, though, it just reminds us of what it was really like.