The
series: 'P.R.O.B.E.' is one of the Doctor Who spin-offs
produced by BBV Productions during the long absence
of our favourite show from
television. Four direct-to-video films were produced from 1994 to 1996,
featuring the work of
the Preternatural Research
Bureau. Caroline John reprises her role as Dr Liz Shaw, who heads a team
that looks into
unusual and paranormal
phenomena on behalf of P.R.O.B.E., which bears some similarities to UNIT.
Louise Jameson
features in all four stories
as Liz's friend and colleague, Patricia Haggard, while many other Doctor
Who actors were
also in the series (but
not as Who characters, due to licensing restrictions), including Jon Pertwee,
Colin Baker, Peter
Davison and Sylvester McCoy.
The four stories were written by new-Who writer and actor Mark Gatiss,
who also had
minor roles in all but one
episode.
The
episode: The series was launched with a bang in 1994,
with 'The Zero Imperative', which features four past doctors
(although Peter Davison
only appears briefly at the end), plus three former companions. Dr Dove
(Sylvester
McCoy) is the
director of a psychiatric
hospital that was scheduled to be closed, until a wealthy industrialist
Peter Russell (Colin
Baker)
steps in and provides funding
to keep it open for another year, although his motives are unclear. The
previous director, Dr
Jeremiah O'Kane (Jon
Pertwee) was Russell's guardian when he was orphaned at a young age.
For some reason Russell
has been compelled to return
to the hospital, where he had been raised by O'Kane. Meanwhile, Liz
Shaw investigates a
series of mysterious deaths
that have occured near the hospital and believes that there is a connection.
It all seems to be
linked to Patient Zero (so
named because he is in the room numbered 0 in the hospital's secure wing).
Patient Zero is a
conduit for an ancient evil
that wants to "come through" to our universe at perihelion, the point in
the Earth's orbit when it
come closest to the sun.
Patient Zero is in fact Dr O'Kane's brother, Daniel (and Russell's father),
who murdered most of
his family over four decades
ago. Russell discovers the reason why he has been drawn back to the hospital
- he is also a
conduit for the evil force,
which needs both himself and Daniel in order to come through to our universe.
The evil is thwarted
and Patient Zero dies rather
than let a possessed Russell kill Liz. In the final scene the alien seems
to have made contact
with the patient in Room
One (Peter Davison in an uncredited role). Sophie Aldred appears briefly
as Dr Dove's assistant,
and Mark Gatiss features
as Dr Bruffin.
The
verdict: 'The Zero Imperative'
has quite good production values and the script keeps the viewer interested
until the end
(if only to try and figure
out what exactly it is all about). There are a few nods to Doctor Who,
with Liz referring to a military
organisation that she once
worked for (and she has a photo of the Brigadier on the wall). But Liz
Shaw never smoked a pipe
during her UNIT days! The
main attraction of this film of course is the chance to see three past
doctors appearing together.
Video
clip: Patient One
2.3mb |
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