Doctor Who: Dragonfire: Part 3 starts as the evil Kane (Edward Peel) sends a whole two guards after the essential Dragonfire that he needs to power his ship, they kill the Dragon (Leslie Meadows) & the Dragonfire is now within Kane's grasp unless the Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) can stop him...
Episode 14 from season 24 this Doctor Who adventure originally aired here in the UK during November 1987, directed by Chris Clough this really has been pretty painful to sit through. This three part story was written by Ian Briggs & has been downright poor with virtually no structure or sensible narrative, why did Kane wait 3,000 years to devise a plan to get the Dragonfire? Why did Kane send his mercenaries out to kill everyone on the spaceship? Why didn't they kill that little girl or her mother? Mel says that all the mercenaries were dead but how did they die? Why did Kane's jailers banish him with the power source he needed to destroy them? There are so many things wrong with Dragonfire both conceptually & technically it's embarrassing, I know it's for kids but even they won't be convinced by this story. Usually with Doctor Who there's some good to paper over the cracks but in the case of Dragonfire the cracks are more like canyons...
The production values have been poor throughout although there's a decent melting face effect at the end of this episode that reminds of the one from Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). This was the first story to feature Ace while it was also the last story to feature Bonnie Langford as Mel who was universally hated by most viewers, I can't say I liked her that much & am not exactly sorry to see her go... Then again look at her replacement, I still can't decide which one I hate more. The special effects have been average at best & awful at worst, the monster wasn't particularly scary neither was this story as a whole & the acting has been pretty bad as well.
Dragonfire: Part 3 has been as rubbish as the previous two & it's as simple & straight forward as that, overall I'll give Dragonfire a lowly 3 stars out of 10 across it's three episodes. Dragonfire also brought season 24 of Doctor Who to an end after just four stories comprising a total of 14 episodes, I think Dragonfire & Delta and the Bannermen are too close to call for the title of the worst story while I thought Time and the Rani was easily the best & featured a disembodied brain which is always a points winner with me.
Episode 14 from season 24 this Doctor Who adventure originally aired here in the UK during November 1987, directed by Chris Clough this really has been pretty painful to sit through. This three part story was written by Ian Briggs & has been downright poor with virtually no structure or sensible narrative, why did Kane wait 3,000 years to devise a plan to get the Dragonfire? Why did Kane send his mercenaries out to kill everyone on the spaceship? Why didn't they kill that little girl or her mother? Mel says that all the mercenaries were dead but how did they die? Why did Kane's jailers banish him with the power source he needed to destroy them? There are so many things wrong with Dragonfire both conceptually & technically it's embarrassing, I know it's for kids but even they won't be convinced by this story. Usually with Doctor Who there's some good to paper over the cracks but in the case of Dragonfire the cracks are more like canyons...
The production values have been poor throughout although there's a decent melting face effect at the end of this episode that reminds of the one from Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). This was the first story to feature Ace while it was also the last story to feature Bonnie Langford as Mel who was universally hated by most viewers, I can't say I liked her that much & am not exactly sorry to see her go... Then again look at her replacement, I still can't decide which one I hate more. The special effects have been average at best & awful at worst, the monster wasn't particularly scary neither was this story as a whole & the acting has been pretty bad as well.
Dragonfire: Part 3 has been as rubbish as the previous two & it's as simple & straight forward as that, overall I'll give Dragonfire a lowly 3 stars out of 10 across it's three episodes. Dragonfire also brought season 24 of Doctor Who to an end after just four stories comprising a total of 14 episodes, I think Dragonfire & Delta and the Bannermen are too close to call for the title of the worst story while I thought Time and the Rani was easily the best & featured a disembodied brain which is always a points winner with me.
