"Doctor Who" The Wheel in Space: Episode 6 (TV Episode 1968) Poster

User Reviews

Review this title
3 Reviews
Sort by:
Filter by Rating:
6/10
I imagine you have orders to destroy me.
Sleepin_Dragon27 February 2021
The Cybermen learn who it is that's been working against them on The Wheel, they set about taking on The Doctor.

It's a pretty flat final episode, particularly when you consider that it's the end of the series, and how high the quality has been throughout series five. The conclusion feels so basic, so simple, it really is the most anticlimactic ending to any Cyber story.

A nice reference back to the first ever Dalek story, the fluid link has again caused mayhem, but he's pocketed some mercury.

The Guys playing The Cybermen are huge, very big men. This particular design of Cybermen looks really good, so primitive. They would change a lot when we would next see them in The Invasion.

Lots of technical bits and bobs for The Doctor to fiddle about with. The scene where Zoe sees the thought patterns is great, a shame she'd never meet The Daleks.

Overall it's been a real disappointment, it's not bad, it's just incredibly underwhelming from start to finish, the major night though, is that Zoe had joined the team.

Disappointing, 6/10.
2 out of 2 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
8/10
Fun but not entirely Wheel-istic!
A_Kind_Of_CineMagic17 September 2014
Review of all 6 episodes:

This is a fun and mostly decent standard production providing tense and exciting Cybermen attacks and the arrival of a good new companion Zoe. (Previous companion Victoria having just left and featuring only in a clip at the start of Episode 1)

This story is written by David Whitaker from a story by Kit Pedler. Whitaker's script provides good dialogue and tense scenes but Pedler's plot is unremarkable and does not all make sense sadly. Some of the science is not as realistic as it could be (the meteorite sequences etc) and the Cybermen's plan is not entirely sensible or believable. It is not as awful as some would have you believe and the issues certainly do not make it a totally unsuccessful story but they do take the silver sheen off of some of this adventure as it lacks a bit of credibility and originality. It still is mostly solid, entertaining stuff. Part 5 is the least good featuring more of the silly aspects.

The Wheel in Space is largely an enjoyable romp with some excellent elements but it is unexceptional and looks weak by comparison to the truly brilliant stories preceding it in season 5. The Cybermen voices are, in my opinion, far inferior to their original voices from The Tenth Planet or from some of their later incarnations.

My Ratings: Episodes 1, 2, 3 & 6 - 7.5/10, Episode 4 - 8/10, Episode 5 - 6/10

Overall: 7.33/10

The rest of Season 5 was far better than this rather anticlimactic final story. Easily one of my top 5 Doctor Who Seasons of all time, truly fantastic quality.

Season 5 Average Rating: 9.26/10
0 out of 0 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
5/10
"You know our ways... you must be destroyed." Low key final part.
poolandrews5 November 2007
Warning: Spoilers
Doctor Who: The Wheel in Space: Episode 6 starts as the remaining crew aboard the Wheel manage to destroy the meteorite storm with it's laser beams, Zoe (Wendy Padbury) & Jamie (Fraser Hines) make it to the Siver Carrier in an attempt to find the TARDIS's vector generator rod. Back on the Wheel & the Doctor (Patrick Troughton) has freed the crew from the hypnotic control of the Cybermen but will Zoe & Jamie make it back in time so the advancing Cyberships who intend to invade Earth can be stopped?

Episode 40 from season 5 this Doctor Who adventure originally aired here in the UK during June 1968 & was the final story from Patrick Troughton's second season playing the Doctor. One of the casualties of the mass junking's & wiping's at the BBC during the 70's only episodes 3 & 6 from this six part story are now thought to exist although one short four second clip from episode 1 & an even shorter three seconds worth of clips from episode 4 that were originally cut by the Australian censors & for some reason retained by them exist. It's hard to judge an isolated episode on it's own merits when it's part of a larger serial but I will anyway. Directed by Tristan de Vere Cole this final episode seems to wrap things up rather quickly, there's no great excitement or action & there has only been two Cybermen in the whole story both of whom are disposed of rather easily. There were too many shots of people walking around corridors as well. If I had tuned into The Wheel in Space: Episode 6 & saw it on TV right now I don't think I would have been that disappointed I had missed the previous five episodes, I just don't think it's anything special. The end of this episode sees the Doctor prepare to tell the story of The Evil of the Daleks (1967) to Zoe specifically to lead into that stories repeat transmission which started the following week with some added narration over the first episode to maintain some continuity, the one & only time it has ever happened in Doctor Who.

The Wheel in Space has been a rather bland production actually, the sets are dull & look very dated. The special effects aren't great, the Cybership blowing up looks really wimpy for instance. The meteorites at the start of this episode look like spinning globes used to teach geography in school! Zoe's spacesuit looks about four sizes too big for her & production wise it just doesn't distinguish itself, at least not across the two surviving episodes that I have seen anyway.

The Wheel in Space: Episode 6 is an episode for the die hard Doctor Who fans who have to see every single second that still exists, as for more casual viewers taken & judged on it's own it's not much to get excited about. Like The Wheel in Space: Episode 3 this can be found on the Lost in Time DVD set currently available along with a number of other isolated episodes & clips from incomplete stories.
1 out of 3 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

See also

Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews


Recently Viewed