Terror of the Zygons - Episode 3

The penultimate episode of this story is one where thing need to be introduced to keep the interest going because after the initial reaction to the Zygons has past, the story needs to have something else to keep the interest going. The reprise was of the Doctor being chased by the Loch Ness monster which as we all know is being controlled by the Zygon. Whereas the shots with the Doctor and the Loch Ness looked good the thing is that they never actually mix. In the reprise it does and it’s a shame to say that they don’t work quite so well.

The action moves to Forgill Castle which despite the rather lacklustre model/photo, the castle set looks very impressive. Every scene that takes place in the castle set is interesting and I wished that there were more because you could spend ages looking at various bits of it.

The effect of changing Sister Lamont to the Zygon is another good effect. I still think that Sister Lamont is one of the funniest characters in the serial. Not funny because it’s a poor character but funny because it seems like she’s escaped from an insane asylum or maybe she’s auditioning for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. The final good effect is that of the Zygon ship rising from the bottom of the sea. It’s a good model shot and works well. Even when it’s coming out of the sea, it still is an impressive sight.

The sister waking the rock on the back of the head on a soldier is quite a shocking for family viewing. This is definelty not something that Barry Letts would have done and that’s not me saying it was something wrong but it’s clear that the show is being run differently. On the downside the bit where Sarah walking into the secret lair of the Zygons was a tad bit predictable and typical of what the female companion would be doing in future Doctor Who stories. It was redeemed slightly a few moments later though. I love the scene where Sarah is trying to tell if Harry is the real Harry and it’s only by him saying “old girl” that she decides that he is the real one.

The cliffhanger is rather disappointing considering how good the effect of the ship rising is. I think that it certainly lacks the drama of the first episode cliffhanger. Despite this rather damp squib to the episode, I think that the story is still a strong one with a very good creature and some very good pieces of casting. I am enjoying the fact that this feels like a different era of the show and not a Pertwee story with a different actor playing the role.