DOCTOR WHO, SEASON 24 SERIAL 3:
DELTA AND THE BANNERMEN
Doctor: Seventh (Sylvester McCoy)
Companion: Mel
February 2024
If there is one thing Delta and the Bannermen is not short on, it is ideas.
Seriously, cramming all this into three episodes was a wild and bold move. It works, don’t get me wrong, and it stays pacey throughout—I think it would probably drag with four. But it does peeve me slightly that Time and the Rani got the four-episode treatment instead of this.
Not that this is a perfect story. In fact, I’m torn on whether I can even call it a good story half the time—but it is absolutely a fun story. It is bristling with concepts and comedy, and it rips through them like tissue paper. From the very beginning, where we’re simultaneously introduced to a luxury cruise from space to mid-20th-century Earth, a space war in a quarry of the kind we saw a lot of last season (in fact, it looks remarkably similar to the quarry in Attack of the Cybermen), and two comic relief guys with bad American accents. There is just so much going on here. And, to the episode’s credit, it manages to mostly tie it together into a coherent story!
Mostly. Let’s be clear here: the so called love story is more of a two-line-infatuation story, and it’s in places like these (and the bus sequence in episode 2) where an additional episode could have really helped. That said, the core conceit of brutal space marines invading a 1950s holiday camp is purely brilliant, episode one is damn gorgeous as a whole, I like our supporting cast (even if the two Americans are almost completely unnecessary), and I downright love Ray.
Let’s talk about Ray, actually. She’s very interesting! This episode’s pseudo companion, she’s got a broken heart story in the first episode that really serves as an excuse to humanize her, and that bit makes her stand out a lot, especially considering that in the latter two episodes Delta and especially Billy become...less strongly characterized. The heartbreak plot beat makes her stand out especially because it doesn’t directly come up again. Ray is allowed to stand on her own as a character, help the Doctor and Mel (and everyone else), and is implied to get over Billy by the story’s end (because, to be clear, he is sir of a colossal dickwad). It also lets the Doctor have some real avuncular bonding with someone other than Mel, and that is charming and pays dividends as we continue to see Ray through all three parts.
The explosion of the bus, also, is not only barely felt emotionally but frankly when the bus explodes it’s hard to tell what’s going on? Which really doesn’t help. I don’t usually remark a whole lot on effects in these reviews, because everything in Doctor Who pre-1996 was made out of tin cans and bits of string, but it takes away from the emotional moment quite significantly. It almost looks like they actually successfully leave.
A couple of spoiler thoughts:
I can’t overestimate how the romance between Billy and Delta neither works nor exists at all. There are interesting concepts at play: the idea of someone secretly changing species for a star-crossed love is full of potential, doubly so when that means becoming a parent! None of this is brought up for more than a few words.
The comedy Americans sometimes work for me and sometimes don’t, but they’re never actively offensive, fortunately. I like the holiday camp leader, and Goronwy, too, as charmingly weird as he is out of place: but then again, this is a story where everything is out of place. And if I can segue this into my Overall Thoughts:
Literally nothing about this story fits together! And while it can’t quite escape that completely, it absolutely is more than the sum of its parts, and comes out the other side as a fun, chaotic romp. So yeah, I like it. It’s not as strong as Paradise Towers, but it’s definitely stronger than Time and the Rani. Watch it for a wild and fun ride, and for Ray. Shoutouts to Ray.
Also, I think we can all agree it has one of the best titles of any Doctor Who episode.