The Tenth Planet
(Episode 1)
We've landed in the coldest place in the world!
We see a rocket taking off (stock footage from an Australian launch!) and the story is written by Kitt Pedler. So not only did he invent the Cyberman, and predict the internet, he was in fact also Knight Rider. No end to the man's talents.
The Smugglers
(Episode 1)
Only 8 more Hartnell episodes.
And this is another bloody recon. Bloody as in the episode is bloody missing, not bloody as in "these wonderful people have put together what we've got left through hard work". Thanks, folks. You recon folk are great. It's the episode junkers who get the Paddington Bear stare.
Not helped by this episode being a very visual one, the gory
bits - kept because the Australian censors axed them - look visually
attractive, and the limited location footage left suggests this story was very
visually attractive. Bah and humbug.
The War Machines
(Episode 1)
Doctor Who is required? Yes, he bloody well is.
Ian Stuart Black returns immediately. Now, Black was a
highly regarded bon viveur, acclaimed for witty after dinner speeches well into his early 80s. The Savages showed very little of this spirit, but let's
see what this story does.
Oh, look, its London! Modern London!
Oh, ok, London of 1966, which is now older than subjects taught in actual school history. But its contemporary swinging 60s London and instantly recognisably so.
We start with a bird's eye view of London before the camera swings round to show us Bedford Square, one of the more instantly recognisable bits of posh, conservation protected London. The widow Asquith lived in that long shot. Well, not in 1966, she died in 1945, but you get the drift.
From this long shot from above, we hear and see the TARDIS
materialise at street level.
The Savages
(Episode 1)
So, I am going into this tale with very little memories of my last watch of it, over 20 years ago. I remember Steven leaving clearly, and one of my favourite Doctor moments ever, but that's about it.
The Doctor announces he has landed in a place of peace and prosperity and leaves the TARDIS for a walk. He's in a forest.
A much more relaxed Dodo (who knew Doc Holliday was such a mood fixer) jokes with Steven about the Doctor getting lost, all the while some old men creep up on him.
8. William Grenville
(1806-7)
William Grenville had one year as Prime Minister. He wanted three achievements. Catholic Emancipation. Peace with France. An end to the British slave trade. You already know Catholic Emancipation was blocked time and again, and peace with France was a way off yet. The third seemed unlikely, given the numbers in the Commons and Lords who directly benefitted financially off the slave trade. William Pitt the Younger claimed to be pro-abolition, only, when the chips were down, to send the troops across the ocean to defend the institution of slavery. William Wilberforce demanded abolition from the back benches.
10. Gordon Brown
The latest in a long line of Prime Ministers who were better
Chancellors.
I tell you what, Brown’s National Care System would have
been bloody useful these days…
16. Earl of Shelburne
The Prime Minister who made peace with America. He gave them
considerably more territory than either side expected. This cemented the foundations for the US/UK trading alliance. The Father of the Special
Relationship. You might not like ever closer union; you might regret some of
the decisions made under it. However, it is inarguable that the closeness of the
two nations hasn’t been to the UK’s benefit on multiple occasions. And it all
stemmed from Shelburne.
Welcome to another edition of "Michael explains historical economics". Dear god...
"Popularity isn't everything. In fact, it isn't the most important thing. What matters is doing what you believe to be right, and that's what I've always tried to do, and I shall go on doing."
Ted Heath, Panorama 16 October 1967
"Ted Heath had some of the best ideas of a post-war Prime Minister. He was quite a radical person."
David Owen, to Peter Hennessy, Hennessy, Peter. The Prime Minister: The Office and Its Holders Since 1945. United Kingdom: St. Martin's Publishing Group, 2001.
Have you ever known a Prime Minister who is bloody hard to rank? The man who brought the UK into the EU, yet also the man who, when the Sunningdale Agreement failed, brought internment to Northern Ireland. The man who orchestrated an arms embargo on all combatants in the Yom Kippur War, yet officially acknowledged Pinochet. The man who brought in the eligibility for free school meals yet ended free school milk in the same instance. He increased welfare spending, pensions and index linked benefits to inflation, yet imprisoned striking dockworkers.
A brief Prime Minister, who died very young (he was only
forty-four). He sent troops to America and increased the war budget, but was
almost entirely a figurehead so that William Pitt (the Elder) could govern.
Curious how someone who did nothing of note can still be better than so many
actively bad Prime Ministers.
47. David Cameron
(2010-16)
Here we go, the man who said on TV that he wanted to be Prime Minister because he “thought he’d be good at it”.
Spoiler alert, he was not.
Ranking the Prime Ministers of the UK is an idea which has been conducted surprisingly few times, compared to the number of articles doing the same for US Presidents. The Times, and a few select political journalists (most recently Iain Dale) have given it a shot. But as these things are reliant on personal bias as much as history, it takes a considerable ego to consider putting a list together. So, take that as read.
