The
lowdown: 'Do You Have A Licence To Save This Planet?' is a BBV
production that spoofs both 'Doctor Who'
and the unlicensed nature
of BBV's Who-related productions. It stars Sylvester McCoy as The Chiropodist
(aka.
The Foot Doctor). When a
new evil threatens the universe, Rassilon calls on the greatest Time Lord
of all time to
intervene, but Zoe and Jamie,
the companions of the greatest Time Lord, have got in a spot of trouble,
so Rassilon
reluctantly calls in The
Foot Doctor, a Chrono Duke who travels through time and space in a washing
machine.
The Foot Doctor encounters
a number of familiar and vaguely familiar foes, including the Autons, the
Sontarans and
the Cyberons (who are constantly
bemoaning their lack of ears, being unlicensed and all, and vow that when
they
become licensed they will
get ears and say "Excellent" a lot). The Krynoid also makes a cameo appearance,
while
a Cyberon and Auton begin
an intimate relationship (now there's a story idea for Russell T Davies
to use in Season 4!).
The Foot Doctor is joined
by a new companion, known only as The Salesman (played by Mark Donovan),
and together
they must battle a range
of foes using wit, cunning and Janus spoons. The climactic conclusion sees
The Foot
Doctor confront one of his
greatest foes, the Licensor (from the Licensed Reality Corporation), who
is evil, dresses
in black and has a beard
(no prize for guessing who this is spoofing).
As usual, good triumphs over
evil, but not before the Foot Doctor is forced to regenerate (in a parody
of the transition
from Colin Baker to McCoy,
in which McCoy had to don a blond wig). The show ends with a spoof of the
final scene
from 'Survival', with the
Foot Doctor and the Salesman walking arm in arm into the distance, with
the Foot Doctor
muttering about tea getting
cold (plus a nice Star Trek joke).
The
Verdict: There are much worse 'Doctor
Who' spoofs that have been made, and BBV's effort is quite entertaining
in
places (and some of the special effects are much more impressive
than in the original series, and shows just what
you
can do with a computer these days). The Cyberons are well-designed and
sound remarkably like the inhabitants
of
Mondas and Telos, especially when they say "Excellent"), while the Autons
look very much like their 'Doctor Who'
counterparts.
There are of course many in-jokes for the more dedicated Who fans, although
'Do You Have A Licence
To
Save This Planet?' would probably have little appeal anyone who is not
a hard-core Who fan. In short, a good effort
by
BBV but not the sort of thing that warrants repeat viewings.
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