Yesterday was a miserable day. I mean, not nearly as miserable as the time a year ago that I had a severe bout of diverticulitis and ended up in the hospital, but still pretty miserable. I spent most of the day with a roaring headache, which I am sure that my (admittedly lethargic) workout did not help. Although I succeeded in what ching the first half of Terror of the Zygons it was mostly at a stumbling stroll and I barely walked 2 1/2 miles. Today was much better, though, I was back up to just one notch below my top speed and clocked in at just over four miles while finishing the story.

Let's talk about that.

Terror of the Zygons - Parts 3 & 4

(TARDIS Data Core recap)

I mentioned the other day while watching Revenge of the Cybermen that I had initially read and enjoyed the novelization long before the tv show made it to my area. The same is true for Terror of the Zygons, although the book was titled Doctor Who and the Loch Ness Monster. I loved that book a lot, and it's cover image with the sinister Zygon and a snarling Nessie both made a huge impression on eleven-year-old me.

I wish I still owned this

When I finally saw the actual story, the Zygons absolutely lived up to my imagination. They are, in my opinion, perhaps the greatest costume job for any monster in the classic series. They are compact, terrifying, sinister, all covered in suckers and snarling with needle-like teeth. They truly haunted my dreams for many years.

I am a little bit amazed that they only appeared the one time in the classic series, they were such a great foe. As soon as the show came back in 2005 I immediately began hoping for a return of the Zygons. They were teased and name-checked in 2012's The Power of Three, but it took until the 50th anniversary special the next year to finally make their glorious return. But I guess I'll get to that sometime early next year.

Tragically, Nessie's big appearance did not fare quite so well. That's not surprising given the technology and budget available at the time, and they truly did the best they could, but it was impossible to miss that Nessie was just a rubber model. She looked somewhat better than the dinos in Invasion of the Dinosaurs, but not by much.

Even with the budgetary constraints and the dodgy monster effect, this is still just a fantastic story. Primarily set in Scotland, it is fun and scary and just everything you could possibly want from a classic Doctor Who yarn. The organic interior of the Zygon spaceship is delightfully tactile and slimy, with mushroom-like controls that squish and twist and make your skin crawl. The ability of the Zygons to shape-shift makes for some great "is that the real you" moments, but that same ability is nicely limited in a way that prevents it from being overused. 

As I have said before, this specific era really is the sweet spot for me. The run of these three stories (Genesis of the Daleks, Revenge of the Cybermen, and Terror of the Zygons) were the first ones I experienced, and as such are the ones that just viscerally feel right to me in a way that is hard to define. Absolutely everything that I love about Doctor Who I have gotten to re-experience in this last week of viewing, and it has truly been a delight. Yesterday's migraine excepted.

Tomorrow I begin Planet of Evil and I truly don't remember a darn thing about it. I am sure I must have seen it before at some point, but I don't recall anything about the plot or setting. Tomorrow morning should be interesting, I am curious if it will come back to me as I am watching it?

STATS:

Doctor(s): Fourth
Companion(s): Sarah Jane Smith, Harry Sullivan, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart
Episode(s): Terror of the Zygons - Parts 3 & 4
Steps Walked: 7,492 today, 1,387,927 total
Distance Walked: 4.03 miles today, 689.02 miles total
Weight: 259.76 lbs (five day moving average), net change -47.54 lbs