Delta and the Bannermen: Part One

Review of all 3 parts:

Oh dear! This is the worst story in the worst (by FAR) season of Doctor Who ever and is therefore, for me, clearly the lowest point the series has ever reached. The whole of this season is badly written, cheaply produced, badly directed etc. It is the only season of the show across its over 55 year history (at time of writing) that I think it was genuinely bad and not at the level of average TV shows let alone average Doctor Who. Season 22 and 23 had been my least favourite seasons and I disliked the characterisation given to the 6th Doctor. The 7th Doctor is much more likable and in keeping with the Doctor's usual characteristics but sadly the material and the whole production was so bad that Season 24 even made the Colin Baker era look great by comparison! Thankfully Season 25 was to be a big step forward back to respectability and Season 26 would be really excellent so Sylvester McCoy was deservedly not left with this very disappointing standard to represent his whole era. Very sadly I think it was this season which spelled the end for the show's original run. The damage done to the show's reputation at this time are I think what lead to its cancellation.

This story gets a fair amount of criticism but many feel other stories are even worse. I think this is because some people see this as a case of 'so bad its good' bit of 'camp fun'. I strongly disagree with that attitude. Yes we want fun and humour in Doctor Who but we should be laughing with intentional comedy not laughing AT how bad it is. It is possible for the show to have some camp fun but this story is not fun or funny, it is boring and embarrassing.

The production values are as bad as it gets. The costumes are cheap and over the top, the make up is VERY amateurish, the 50s music is fine but is not used well and the other incidental music is awful, the special effects such as the satellite and so on are not good and the whole thing is totally cheap and cheesy.

There are comments I have heard before from critics about the guest appearance of comedian Ken Dodd in part 1 of this story as an example of its cheesy lack of quality. In fact, I think, Ken Dodd is one of the highlights of the story! He just basically plays a version of his usual comedy stage persona which should not be a highlight of a Doctor Who story but his role as Tollmaster is small, comedic and well performed within the limits of the material given. Welsh stalwarts Richard Davies (camp boss Burton) and Brian Hibbard (as a mercenary) also perform as well as they can in the circumstances and along with Sylvester MCCoy these efforts are pretty much the only things lifting this above a 1/10 total debacle. Bonnie Langford as Mel is sadly her usual mixture of pantomime style dialogue delivery and high pitched screaming and the rest of the cast are just plain poor. Stubby Kaye and Morgan Deare appear in totally pointless and illogical roles as Americans weirdly searching for the satellite in Wales before it is even brought to Earth. Deare is particularly awful in his role. The beekeeper just spouts supposed wisdom about bees and butterflies that is heavy handedly and stupidly supposed to coincidentally tell us about the aliens situation. Billy and Delta are badly woodenly acted and their instant romance and devotion is ludicrous. Sara Griffiths does her best as Ray but is amateur dramatics level. Don Henderson is a panto villain and all other parts are all of zero quality with the dire Bannermen and minor holiday camp staff members delivering embarrassing performances.

The script is awful with no intelligence, nothing interesting and nothing sensible being said and the plot is both dull and nonsensical. A scene where the Bannermen barge into a farmhouse barn and get covered in honey then stung by bees is possibly the worst scene ever in Doctor Who. How anyone can criticise any post 2005 episode as "the worst ever" while calling Delta and the Bannermen an OK bit of camp fun is on a different planet to me! This is the lowest of the low. Worst TV story of all time. 2/10.