Review of all 6 episodes:
Frontier in Space succeeds where The Space Pirates failed, it is a very good adventure in 'space opera' epic style. There is decent model work in both stories but unlike its predecessor the model work is more than matched by almost all other aspects in this story being of a very high standard.
Proceedings begin with The Doctor finding himself in the middle of a very tense situation between two powerful empires in the galaxy on the brink of war. Earth's empire and the Draconian empire both believe the other is attacking them but The Doctor and Jo find there is another power orchestrating events to bring about a huge war. The Ogrons, under orders from an unknown superior, are in fact carrying out the attacks with hypnotic signals causing them to be wrongly identified.
Spoiler alert - There are a couple of wonderful surprises as the story develops as first The Master is revealed to be behind the scheme to provoke war and finally it is also revealed that he is working with The Daleks. These revelations and the excitement of seeing two of The Doctor's greatest enemies working together provide huge enjoyment.
The Draconians are famous for being Jon Pertwee's favourite aliens and are well thought of by most reviewers ever since. This is well deserved as they are truly excellent alien creations. The make up and costuming is brilliant and convincing and their acting lives up to the excellent presentation on screen. The writing of them as a sympathetic alien race with some depth just adds even further and makes them one of the best created races in the series history.
The plot meanders a bit too much with too many captures and imprisonments but that is the only real flaw until a slightly dodgy space walk in episode 4 which drops that otherwise excellent episode down a little in my ratings and then a tragically chaotic final scene for The Master which detracts a little from episode 6. Chaotic because it is badly edited and shambolic leaving you wondering why the Ogrons and The Master disappear in such a rapid and unconvincingly feeble way. Tragic because this is the last scene ever with Roger Delgado as The Master. Delgado was very sadly killed in a car accident meaning that when The Master eventually returns to face the 4th Doctor he is played by another actor.
Although his final few seconds on screen are somewhat ruined this is a fitting story for Delgado to finish on. It is an excellent, well written by the great Malcolm Hulke and excitingly presented adventure with good twists and great aliens.
My ratings: Part 1 - 9/10, Part 2 - 9.5/10, Part 3 - 9/10, Part 4 - 8/10, Part 5 - 9.5/10, Part 6 - 9/10.
Frontier in Space succeeds where The Space Pirates failed, it is a very good adventure in 'space opera' epic style. There is decent model work in both stories but unlike its predecessor the model work is more than matched by almost all other aspects in this story being of a very high standard.
Proceedings begin with The Doctor finding himself in the middle of a very tense situation between two powerful empires in the galaxy on the brink of war. Earth's empire and the Draconian empire both believe the other is attacking them but The Doctor and Jo find there is another power orchestrating events to bring about a huge war. The Ogrons, under orders from an unknown superior, are in fact carrying out the attacks with hypnotic signals causing them to be wrongly identified.
Spoiler alert - There are a couple of wonderful surprises as the story develops as first The Master is revealed to be behind the scheme to provoke war and finally it is also revealed that he is working with The Daleks. These revelations and the excitement of seeing two of The Doctor's greatest enemies working together provide huge enjoyment.
The Draconians are famous for being Jon Pertwee's favourite aliens and are well thought of by most reviewers ever since. This is well deserved as they are truly excellent alien creations. The make up and costuming is brilliant and convincing and their acting lives up to the excellent presentation on screen. The writing of them as a sympathetic alien race with some depth just adds even further and makes them one of the best created races in the series history.
The plot meanders a bit too much with too many captures and imprisonments but that is the only real flaw until a slightly dodgy space walk in episode 4 which drops that otherwise excellent episode down a little in my ratings and then a tragically chaotic final scene for The Master which detracts a little from episode 6. Chaotic because it is badly edited and shambolic leaving you wondering why the Ogrons and The Master disappear in such a rapid and unconvincingly feeble way. Tragic because this is the last scene ever with Roger Delgado as The Master. Delgado was very sadly killed in a car accident meaning that when The Master eventually returns to face the 4th Doctor he is played by another actor.
Although his final few seconds on screen are somewhat ruined this is a fitting story for Delgado to finish on. It is an excellent, well written by the great Malcolm Hulke and excitingly presented adventure with good twists and great aliens.
My ratings: Part 1 - 9/10, Part 2 - 9.5/10, Part 3 - 9/10, Part 4 - 8/10, Part 5 - 9.5/10, Part 6 - 9/10.
