(695) Survival - Part 3

Today is the final episode of the McCoy era and effectively the final episode of the classic era. I know technically the TV movie is the end of the classic era but this is the end of the original run. The show has changed a lot over the previous 694 episodes but it’s fair to say that its star has dimmed during the last decade despite showing signs of improvement in stories such as this one. There is something final about this episode. Ace being possessed by the cat people is something that wouldn’t have happened in previous stories.

Ace’s development is wonderfully done but its down to Sophie Aldred who continues to impress me and in her final episode she shows how underrated she has been. “This is the only home I know” is a wonderful line from Ace. It’s fair to say that Ace has been through the ringer in this season and it has been one of the successes of the season.

I like how the Master is trying to fight the possession attempt although its clearly only a matter of time. He is playing Midge to do his dirty work and this comes to ahead during a scene where Midge and the Doctor are playing chicken on bikes. Once Midge had failed he was killed pretty much by the Master. The Master seems to start off as the new more likeable Master but there is a moment where he chuckles to himself and it seemed like he was going to return back to his bad old self. When he kills Karra it seems like he is back and continues like this leading up to the big scene with the Doctor. This scene is one of my favourite in the McCoy era. It’s one that I think these two characters should have had years ago. The sword fight between Pertwee’s Doctor and Delgado’s Master in The Sea Devils lacks something compared to this one.

“If we fight like animals, we die like animals” is a wonderful line that Sylvester McCoy delivers brilliantly. It’s frustrating that the show ends just when McCoy is really starting to get into his stride. I have really changed my opinion of the McCoy era and episodes like this shows why.

Midge is rather amusing in this episode and I don’t find him very menacing at all. Things get even worse when he dons a suit and starts to act all macho in front of other guys at the training gym. The use of Midge is one of the things that doesn’t quite work but at least his involvement doesn’t disrupt the flow of the episode.

The final speech from Sylvester McCoy wasn’t how the show was due to end but when it became clear that it may not return this was added on and if the show hadn’t returned in 1996 or 2005 then this would have been a lovely way to end 26 years of superb storytelling.

I like on the production notes on the DVD that it ends with Doctor Who 1963-89, To Be Continued? There is just one more Doctor Who DVD with production titles on it so its going to be something else to get use to when the Christopher Eccleston era comes along in two days. This is a major moment in my marathon and I am really sad that I have left this era of the show. The show has had some really great stories but then again its had some really poor stories. Despite the fact that the budget wasn’t as big as it could have been and the narrow minded bosses at the BBC weren’t keen to spend some money on the show and wanted Doctor Who to achieve Star Wars type things on a miniscule budget, the show has shown that with the right kind of writing, directing and performances that Doctor Who can hold its own. Now comes the era of the show where its clear a bit more money has been spent on it and it’s the era of the big TARDIS. Roll on the one day McGann era.

To end sign off on this portion of the marathon I thought I would end with one of the greatest speeches in Doctor Who.

“There are worlds out there where the sky is burning, and the sea's asleep, and the rivers dream; people made of smoke and cities made of song. Somewhere there's danger, somewhere there's injustice, and somewhere else the tea's getting cold. Come on, Ace. We've got work to do.”