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Delta and the Bannermen Format Reviewed: VHS Review Delta and the Bannermen continues Sylvester McCoys first season as Doctor Who. It follows the bizarrely realised Paradise Towers, and continues a trend of having popular figures from British television appearing in cameos. Richard Briers appeared in the previous story, and here we see Ken Dodd. This was a point of derision about this era of Doctor Who, and this is justified to a certain degree as in some places it appears as if parts were written just to include the cameo. The story sees the TARDIS land at a travel company who do tours of certian time periods. The Doctor and Mel are told they have won a free trip as they are the 10 billionth customers with the destination as 1950's Disney land. En-route, a low orbit satellite collides with the ship and they end up at a holiday camp in Wales. They are followed there by the Bannermen, a group of mercenaries led by Gavrok who are trying to kill the last of the Chimeron, the queen who also has a hatchling. They are persued by the the Bannermen and the young princess eventually defeats them by emitting a high pitched scream that is their defensive mechanism against the Bannermen. Delta and the Bannermen suffers from some of the same criticism that I levelled at Paradise Towers, in that the way the story has been realised seems very bizarre. There are some elements of the story that are blatantly played for laughs where there shouldn't be any, and there are characters in there that are completely irrellevant and only serve to act as padding. The Americans introduced are the principal culprits here, although it isn't really their fault as to be honest they shouldn't have been in the story in the first place. The main criticism about the cast is the inclusion of Ken Dodd, who plays the Tollmaster. It's not that Dodd does anything wrong, in fact I like Ken Dodd but it's just the fact that he's there in the first place that's the problem. The other major issue is the inclusion of the Americans Stubby Kaye and Morgan Deare who play Weismuller and Hawk respectively. They just bring the story down, and give slightly bewildered performances. The rest of the guest cast does OK, and deliver solid if unspectacular performances. McCoy does OK again as the Doctor, but is really yet to find his feet in the role. Langford is slightly less annoying thatn usual, but this could largely be because she is less involved in the main story, and only once has to play the screaming girl. Another issue that I will mention again is the incidental music by Keff McCulloch. It is intrusive in the worst way in places, and the electric pop style doesn't really fit the tone of the story. Having been almost universally critical of the story so far though, there are better elements here than some of the surrounding stories. It is an interesting romp through the Welsh countryside, although the holiday camp looked very much like it hadn't seen human habitation in many years. It's fairly pleasant to watch, and can be viewed in isolation to other stories, which is a positive indicator for a Doctor Who tale. Overall, Delta and the Bannermen will probably se seen as a story that isn't as bad as some of the others in this era. That's not really the biggest commendation a story can receive, and Delta and the Bannermen will probably be best consigned to the vault as a mediocre story in a poor run. Rating:  |