The Time Warrior - Episode 4

The final part of Elisabeth Sladen’s debut story seems to be over far too quickly. I know that I sound like I’m in favour of six part stories which im not, but I think that they could have extended this by an episode or two to give Sladen a bit more time to settle in and there are things in the story that could have been expanded on. We learn that the Sontarans do have a weakness and it’s a probic vent at the back of the neck. This is exploited by quite quickly by Rubeish. Another problem is that their muscles are restricted on earth.

I like the idea of the Doctor pretending to be the robot that has some silly restricted movement. Jon Pertwee gets around in this episode and the Doctor’s best moment is when swings on a chandelier. Obviously its not him but Terry Walsh but it’s an exciting moment in the episode.

There is a slight plot hole. If Linx was awake when Irongron freed him, wouldn’t Linx have heard Rubeish heard him talking and know that his other slaves have been taken out of hypnosis

Its funny how Sarah Jane is trying to introduce feminism some 500 years early. Sarah Jane is very active in this episode as she is the one that poisons Irongrons men. Over the course of the four episodes she has shown that she is very different to Katy Manning’s Jo Grant. This is the most feminist that Sarah would be really and its weird to think what she will become over the course of her time on the show. The supporting cast have been very good with Kevin Lindsay was and is the best actor to play a Sontaran and played the role with a nice amount of menace. David Daker was bordering pantomime from start to finish but never annoying. Jeremy “Bobba Fett” Bulloch was a solid piece of casting however Bulloch suffers from the problem he had when he was cast in ‘The Space Museum’ and that is he’s too nice.

In the first episode, I decided to watch the episode with the new CGI effects but I have decided against it for this episode because it shows up some of director Alan Bromly’s decisions because when the castle blows up instead of a model which would have olooked good, we instead got what appears to be a massive explosion in a quarry. This was rather a poor decision and ruined the effect of what they were trying to achieve. This minor issue doesn’t totally ruin the enjoyment that I have felt about this story over the four episodes. It’s been a solid start to Pertwee’s final season but it didn’t have quite the impact that other opening stories. However one thing is clear and that is the show is going to be very different to how it had been before and Pertwee’s final season is going to be a rollercoaster.