Didn't know that Devious had finally dropped their third part. Will have to give it a watch.
Following is old notes/review after watching the first two episodes:
Episode 1-"OBSERVERS":The main worry regarding this tale is whether a fan film with such a tortuous and prolonged production history can be in any way coherent as a story. There is always the danger that the script and storyline has been altered by well meaning individuals with eureka moment ideas ("What if we did this!") as production progresses, instead of sticking with the original script as written so long before. As Terrance Dicks said, two drafts of a script is about right. Any more and your story could be in trouble. So how will this tale fare, being decades in the making?
However, looking up details on the production suggests that it was mostly filmed long ago.....
This first episode starts off nicely, with a black and white prologue that signals the end of 1960's WHO, changing into lovely blue in mid-face-credits.
First off, as a casual viewer, I have no idea who the Bradley and Phillip characters are that bring the Doctor to this planet through a portal. I know that the Doctor has been changed into this Doctor 2B form, so presumably they are both Time Lord agents sent to ensure his safe arrival? Yet they come across more as regular companions - perhaps one from the future and the other from the sword-wielding past? Mention of "Imberhorne's planet" suggests that we have just left an unseen adveture that's nothing to do with THE WAR GAMES. Curious.
Watching the opening scenes unfold, I am already getting echoes of other tales, which is not a criticism, just an observation. Two companions guiding a newly regenerated Doctor through a lush and green countryside reminds me of CASTROVALVA, and their being observed by an unknown someone reminds me of both the opening of THE MYSTERIOUS PLANET and Avon being similarly observed and reported on in the Blake's 7 episode TERMINAL.
If Tony Garner fails to convince that he is the Doctor then the tale might as well be dead in the water. Fortunately he gets one of numerous Doctor-ish moments that he has to deliver when he and the Phillip character take a rest from their quest to stop and observe a flower. To a casual viewer, as an actor, Tony may seem to be falling short, a little too flat, a little too stilted and one might unfairly observe that a non-professional-actor has been uncerimoniously shoved into this iconic role, but - underneath that - he has a certain something. This is someone who "gets" the Doctor character and plays the role with almost a delayed steadiness and clear respect for the part he has been handed. This is an incarnation that is halfway between Troughton and Pertwee, with the regeneration process frozen twixt thee two and there is a quietnesss and gentleness to this Doctor; a thoughtfulness which is a huge welcome change imo from the zany, wacky, runnning off at the mouth Doctors that we have been subjected to over the course of the new series. You also get the sense that Garner, whether he is a fan himself or not, has researched the character unlike a more recent inhabitant of the role! It's a deceptive performance that I think grows on the viewer - and is more multi-layered than it might first appear. (And any actor who throws in a discreet Hartnell "Hmmmph!", complete with lapel-clutching gets my vote.)
The story then takes a leap into flashback and a change in the quality of production. It now comes across imo as one of those historical recreation things, with enthusiasts reenacting some historical battle or other, and the camerawork sadly adds to that impression.
Poor old Amber. We barely knew her.
So it was a flashback and we are back to the flower.
Nice pull up shot from the location and eventually showing the planet - and we find ourselves on a meteor-TARDIS-observatory, watching the goings on via the mysterious observer and her communicator.
Poor old Vardrah. We barely knew him.
Sadly black jumpers are not enough to convince me that these are really Time Lords, but any shortcomings in the performances (uniformly amateur) are compensated for by the ambitious effects.
Back to the planet and a quite nice musical interlude as our three heroes wander through the landscape. A touch of the Peter Howell's about it.
Interesting dome-shaped building. I wonder where that can be?
Am still getting a THE MYSTERIOUS PLANET vibe from this as the Doctor and Bradley descend underground.
Bonus Garner Observation: I think the creators of this have also been lucky in finding an actor who arguably does look, facially, like a midway between Troughton and Pertwee?
Am also noticing that some of the dialogue is very good, such as the "dull" observation by the Doctor.
Nice triple cliffhanger - and I wasn't expecting that last shot when I started watching this.
So this is not a review, just a rambling series of observations while watching.
I enjoyed it and look forward to the second episode.
Episode 2: "GLASS HISTORIES":Not too bad cgi - and I like the imaginative design of whatever that creature is. Slightly nightmarish actually.
The c.g.i. creatures are neutralised and suddenly - and jarringly - we are thrown into flashback into an adventure that was clearly filmed at a different time, judging by the Doctor's haircut.
So Bradley, Phillip and Amber were three travelling companions of the Doctor.
After this memory fades, we are then shown what seems to be a flash-forward of the Doctor and his friends' future.
Then a close-up of the Doctor's eye and we glimpse a different adventure, with Amber taking water samples on an unknown planet, before we zero in on a fantastic glass-sailing ship that is a worthy location for an adventure all of it's own.
I hate to say it, but there are signs that this production is slightly falling prey to choppy storytelling. The flashbacks and flashforwards are starting to dominate the plot as we go along and are disorientating to the viewer imo. I do get the impression that the storyline of DEVIOUS was perhaps constantly revised during the editing process and that footage from previously filmed - and quite separate - tales was incorporated into the current "Doctor, Phillip and Bradley wandering on the planet" tale, simply so as not to waste the footage from previous productions and stories. I may be jumping the gun with this observation though - as mention is made of ripples from the future affecting the here and now. Have to say I thought the water sailing boat. ghostly figure in the sea was visually spectacular though. Just so well done - like ENLIGHTENMENT on acid. :doc5:
Things are looking up, storytelling wise as the Doctor and his friends come face to face with an old enemy - and I wasn't expecting that sudden death, although the Doctor seems strangely unmoved by it, qupping about plumbing a very short time after.
Without wishing to spoil anything for anyone, the main enemy threat is nicely realised and the base our heroes find themselves in is well done too.
Another good clliffhanger too.
Despite any reservations about choppiness I can't deny that this episode nonetheless flew by while I was watching it, which is surely a good sign?
On the whole this tale is rattling along nicely, save for those somewhat jarring flash-backs-and-forwards, but this labour of love, decades in the making, with a likeable Doctor, is definitely worth a watch - and I am looking forward to episode three.