(694) Survival - Part 2

The Anthony Ainley version of the Master has always suffered a problem. Roger Delgado is always going to be the best Master and I think that the problem that Ainley has had has been the fact he was treated almost in a lighter vein than Delgado. He was never allowed to be as serious but in this story that completely changes. It is almost a completely different delivery of the character from Ainley. One such extreme example is that he has become like the Cheetah people with cat teeth and howling at the moon.

There is a fair bit of humour in this episode. There is the bit where the Doctor has been snared by Ace’s trap and is hanging upside down and then there is the dig that Ace delivers at the Doctor where she asks him if he knows any nice people. The humour in this episode is pitched just right because without it, this episode would be very different and perhaps not as strong.

The Doctor and the Master get a good face to face scene which serves to set up the plot for the rest of the story and that is the planet is breaking up and the Master needs the Doctor’s help. The scenes between the Doctor and the Master in recent serials have been mixed but never have they had the awesomeness that this one had. I would have to go back to Jon Pertwee and Roger Delgado to find that sort of great face to face.

Ace has a nice/weird bonding moment with Karra (played by Lisa Bowerman). This leads to more great scenes from Sophie Aldred. The episode ends with her looking towards the Doctor and her eyes have changed. Sophie Aldred has continued to impress me with her performance not just in this story but since she joined in Dragonfire and its another reason why the decision to rest/axe is frustrating because I think that with a few more stories, Ace could have the same sort of fan reaction as Sarah Jane.

Despite the regulars impressing and Anthony Ainley holding his own, the supporting characters haven’t really made much of an impact in my opinion. The only one of the supporting characters that came even close is Midge. Midge is a character that is quite good in this episode because he becomes possessed by the cat people and the Master uses him to teleport back to Earth. I know what the character of Midge is going to do in the next episode so I find myself more impressed what the Midge in this episode as a result.

This has been another solid episode with an impressive cliffhanger. The penultimate episode of the McCoy era is another example of how good the show has been in the last year and a half. It also shows how for the first time in the 1980’s the show that it’s felt like a drama and not an enjoyable twenty-five minute bit of fantasy.