(606) Warriors of the Deep - Part 4

This is the fourth and final episode which does do what I hoped it would do at the end of the previous review and that is to save the story and boy does it do it in style. It’s hard for me to imagine just how bad the story started off and one reason why things picked up is that the Myrka doesn’t feature and that is a blessed relief because it means that my focus can move onto the important stuff. After spending an awfully long time getting ready, the Silurians are ready to put their plan into operation. The sad thing about what happens with the Silurians is that it is made less effective by the voice.

The Silurians want to use the base to launch a war so that the countries go to war with each other. Considering that they are suppose to be peace loving creature, its quite a change in character although they have been through quite a lot so maybe its not that surprising. I think as a design, the Silurians are a moderate success. I like the headlight that indicates which one of them were speaking but sadly the speech was something the just didn’t work. I think they could have turned it down a bit which would have helped. The Sea Devils didn’t need to come back because they lost any of the menace that they had during their debut story 12 years earlier.

The Doctor does try and find a peaceful way of ending things. When told he should kill the Silurians and sea devils he gets quite angry and it harks back to the days of Jon Pertwee which I thought was nice. It’s hard to be the Doctor in this episode because with time running out he is being nagged at by Tegan, Turlough and the others. The sadness that the Doctor shows on the last shot of the episode shows something that I don’t think I have seen during the Peter Davison era which is surprising considering that this is his 15^th story as Doctor. This is one of the strongest performances from Peter Davison for sometime. Janet Fielding and Mark Strickson haven’t been mentioned a great deal during this story but to be honest they haven’t really done anything of any note.

The gooey death that a Sea Devil goes through is quite grim and is in keeping with how deaths were done during this period of the show. What makes their death (along with the Silurians) is that they were warned to leave but refused to and so it could be argued that they only had themselves to blame so it’s a slightly confusing ending for them. It’s a shame that after over a decade away that things didn’t come together to make this story work. I know that there were circumstances that meant the show was never going to work as well as it should but the second half of this story helps salvage this and at the moment I have given this story a rating that places it above Four to Doomsday, The Kings Demons, Snakedance and Time-Flight. This is probably a fair position.

The show has quite a grim ending with all the Silurians, sea devils and the human dead. Only the regulars are alive which is the first time this has happened since Horror of Fang Rock. The opening story of the season doesn’t quite have the impact that maybe Arc of Infinity had and so its fair to say that the twenty-first season of Doctor Who has gotten off to an average start.

(605) Warriors of the Deep - Part 3

The first couple of minutes are excruciatingly bad. As you might have guessed its largely down to the Myrka. There are some laughable moments including a bit where about four of the seabase crew die in a rather OTT manner. Production problems include the door and the green paint that appears on Tegan. There is also the small matter of the Silurians costumes that have come untucked. It’s mentioned in the making of feature on the DVD that due to Margaret Thatcher calling a snap general election, JNT had a choice of either not making this story or making this story earlier than he would have liked. I think that on hindsight he should have postponed this because it would have given time for things to be made properly and the studio sets lit properly.

The entrance of the Sea Devils is quite good as its done in a slow way and not ruined by the incidental music. Also the black coloured Sea Devils against the White floors and walls work quite well. I still think that the Sea Devils should be the leader. This episode features one of the most ludicrous things ever (and I do mean ever) to be seen in a Doctor Who episode. For some reason, Ingrid Pitt decided to do a ninja kick on the Myrka rather than run away. It’s unclear as to whether she knew it would electrify her but it doesn’t get away from it. It’s a shame as well that her character had to die because she was the best thing in it.

The stuff with Maddox has been part of the story since the beginning but to be honest it hadn’t really gripped me. Today it seemed to although I am still a bit lost as to why its happening. Nilson seems to be quite a good villain. Solow was a fun person to watch but not a believable villain. One thing is for sure about Maddox (Martin Neil) is much less annoying when he wasn’t freaking out. The supporting cast on a whole were much better but I think that some of the annoying characters have gone to me their maker, they are an ex-supporting character.

The cliffhanger wasn’t particularly memorable but considering how good the This episode was the best one of the three which isn’t a hard thing to achieve but I think that the final episode might just save the day. It’s a big ask but I think that there is a possibility that this wont be the disaster that I was predicting at the beginning of episode one.

(604) Warriors of the Deep - Part 2

The previous episode ended with the Doctor being pushed over the railing and into the water and it wasn’t perhaps the best way to end the episode but it shows that cliffhangers can be improved when we see what happens next.

The diving sequence is quite impressive and not something that has been seen before in Doctor Who. In fact the first couple of minutes is quite interesting. I was genuinely thinking that this episode might change my opinion of this story because even after the first scene with the Sea Devils and the Silurians I thought things were picking up. Sadly things with the crew of the sea base start to take any fun that there was out of the story.

It was interesting to see that the Sea Devils would obey the Silurians. It would have been nice though to see a bit of conflict or tension leading up to them bowing to the Silurians. I still cant take the Silurians serious when they have huge smiles on their faces. It does slightly seriously ruin any chance they could have of coming across as a serious threat. The Sea Devils on the other hand are dressed in black and sound like they did in 1972 and so would have been the better choice.

Just after the midway point of the episode there is another mention of the Myrka. This is one of those instances where I wish I could go back in time and change the decision to include it in this story because its at this point of the story that the production problems start to appear on screen. When the Myrka breaks through the doors are really rubbish and look like plastic or rubber. The door ‘falls’ on Tegan and in the real world that door would have broken or shattered her leg into thousands of pieces yet she shows little to no real pain. The doors bend with tremendous ease and the problems are just starting but more of that in the next episode.

So far the story isn’t terrible but the things that are wrong are going to cause more problems. It’s a shame that Johnny Byrne’s story is being let down by some poor decision in the production. Any potential that this story had seems to disappeared in just this one episode. Well at least there are just two more episodes but its going to feel like twenty.

(603) Warriors of the Deep - Part 1

This is the first story of the 21^st season and it sees the return of the Silurians and the Sea Devils. After enjoying the 20^th Anniversary story, it was always going to be difficult to keep up the excitement. This is a story that has a lot of problems which I will come to later. Johnny Byrne is the writer of this story and I like Johnny as a writer because he wrote The Keeper of Traken and Arc of Infinity which are sound stories. The Silurians make their first appearance just under two minutes into the episode. It’s surprising that the Silurians are introduced so quickly. Normally when a familiar monster returns it doesn’t happen until the end. Sadly they don’t look as good as they did in Doctor Who and the Silurians. I like the light flashing on their head when they speak but the voice is rather poor.

The Doctor, Tegan and Turlough spend the first half of the episode trying not to be blown up but once they manage to avoid that they land in the under-sea base. The base itself is one that lends itself to feelings of its time in that there was the threat of war. This is a good idea and its one that Johnny Byrne has used well. Sadly the problem is that it has been filled with people who aren’t particularly believable as under sea personnel. The only person that has any value to them is the late Ingrid Pitt who makes the best of her role by pretending that she’s in some sort of 1970’s Hammer Horror film with that odd accent.

The Sea Devils’ make-over has been more successful because they appear to be a samurai-style costume but I like how they are kneeling on the floor. Whereas the Silurians appeared at the beginning, the Sea Devil’s don’t appear until the end which felt more like a Doctor Who story. It’s clear that the Silurians are the leaders of the story which I cant quite make my mind up  whether this is a good thing or not but I suppose time will tell on that one.

The thing about this episode is that large chunks of it are quite interesting but I feel like there are other things which don’t quite work such as the rather clunky 1980’s style computer graphics and also I think that such people as Maddox just make the sea base seem like its not that important. This might me being too harsh but when Ingrid Pitt isn’t on screen then I don’t really care about the rest of them.

The cliffhanger is rather impressive and one of the better ones for sometime. He is pushed over the railings and Turlough immediately thinks he has drowned. It’s quite a dramatic and unexpected way to end the episode considering it started off quite quiet for the Doctor, Tegan and Turlough. As opening episodes go its not the worst but its not the cracking opener it should be. It seems to me that this will be an average story at best. Maybe when the Silurians and Sea Devils get involved then my opinion of this story might improve but I still think that after The Five Doctors that anything was going to struggle to match it.

(583) Arc of Infinity - Part 4

This is the episode which features a large amount of location footage, and considering this is filmed in another country then my excitement goes up even more. I’m sure that I have commented that I love it when there is location filming in real places because it shows us here in 2014 what places looked like in the past. Ok so it wont be a million miles different but its still nice to see this sort of thing and we get a lot of it so it does in a way make me want to go to Amsterdam, although not in mid-December. The episode sees the Lord President help the Doctor and Nyssa escape from Gallifrey to find Omega. This is quite good because its not an easy thing and also there aren’t many instances where the Timelords are good to the Doctor.

The first big scene comes when Omega has finished his transformation and reveals that he now looks like the Doctor. It’s a great effect with two versions of the Doctor and it starts the weirdest chase that there has been on British television. I say weird because it seems to go on for such a long time. The Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan are running around Amsterdam, running into people and trying t catch up with an Omega who is about to turn into anti-matter. There is one moment where Omega is standing in a crowd and a blonde boy barges past him. For one moment it looks like Omega is punch the little brat before there is a weird smile that goes across his face.

There is a rare moment that occurs in this episode which comes when Nyssa screams. It’s the only time that I recall that she screams during her time on the show and I think that it’s a shame because the character has always been a strong character in that respect and it just seems like something that the character wouldn’t do. Anyway that is perhaps the worst thing about this episode. The rest of it works rather well and Omega is defeated by the Doctor. Actually defeated by the hands of the Doctor. The Doctor is the one that fires a gun which in itself is something that rarely gets commented on when people talking about the Doctor’s reluctance to be violent.

The final scene is funny because the Doctor and Nyssa are on the verge on leaving and the Doctor is desperately trying to leave but Tegan has been fired from her job and her cousin is going to go back to Brisbane. The look of the Doctor’s face when he realises that he’s stuck with Tegan is priceless. This has been a great story that has some flaws to it but a lot of positives and I think that the location filming helped a great deal but also the return of Omega was done very well and despite not being totally impressed with Gallifrey I thought that this opening story to Doctor Who’s 20^th Anniversary gets the season long party off in style.

(582) Arc of Infinity - Part 3

The penultimate episode of the serial is the one where things start to progress. I know that this is where the plot starts to open up but it’s a relief when it finally happens. The brilliant thing about having the CGI is that it covers up a lot of the problems but the thing is that it doesn’t cover up everything. The Matrix is one of those things that has seemed like an amazing place and that impression was created in ‘The Deadly Assassin’. Fast forward to 1983 and the Matrix is less impressive. In fact it’s rather disappointing because it seems similar to the weird web like thing tht Adric was held in during ‘Castrovalva’. The wibly effect wasn’t great and the way that the Doctor and later on Tegan were positioned because it just didn’t look natural.

Colin Baker makes his last appearance for now and the enxt time we see him it will be as the new Doctor. His performance as Maxil isn’t that different from the initial episodes of his time as the Doctor.

Colin’s face at one point is amazing because its so weird. It seems like he was instructed to pull the stupidest face he could and he managed to do this. At least he is back to normal by the end of the episode. Tegan is still rather calm compared to the previous season. Tegan and Robin get zapped by the Ergon thing and that isn’t done very well because the reaction that they give isn’t the most convincing.

Omega (or the Renegade in the credits) is trying to get enough power to get a new body which is a perfectly valid reason to bring the character back. It’s revealed (finally) in this episode that Hedin is the traitor. I must admit that its not the best result because I just don’t think that Michael Gough’s portrayal in this story doesn’t make me think he’s the evil mastermind. I also thought that Leonard Sachs wasn’t the most believable President that the Timelords have ever had. His death was a bit bizarre and I wasn’t sad that the character was written out.  

Nyssa continues to be trigger happy in this episode but its fun to see but its not very often that Sarah Sutton gets to anything exciting. She has teamed up with Damon in this story and it’s a partnership that seems to work quite well. It’s almost like this could have been a good opportunity for Nyssa to depart. It’s a more likely relationship than Leela and whatever his name is.

It’s not until the 22^nd minute before the Doctor discovers that Hedin is helping Omega. Two big things to learn at the same time is something that doesn’t quite get the response it deserves and this is the first time I have noticed a problem with Davison’s Doctor and that it is he doenst respond in the way that I think Tom Baker or Jon Pertwee would have responded and don’t get me wrong, Peter Davison is a great actor and on the whole he does very well but I think he lacks that final burst of anger that the Doctor should have.

The story is building to a thrilling conclusion and the opening story of the 20^th season is turning out to be a great one.

(581) Arc of Infinity - Part 2

So this is the episode that stands out for two reasons. Firstly the episode is building up to the execution of the Doctor (more of that in a bit) but most importantly, its sees Tegan ‘return’ after being left at Heathrow Airport. The thing that is surprising is just how understated Tegan’s first appearance in this episode is. This is the theme really because this is a new and understated Tegan. Not only is she out of that terrible purple dress and also she has less hair than before. Janet Fielding’s whole performance was very enjoyable and it just shows how far the companion has come since the early days of her time with Tom Baker’s Doctor. There does seem to be some of the old Tegan in the performance but generally it’s a more toned down Tegan. Tegan doesn’t seem too concerned about the disappearance of her cousin. I know that she has seen a lot since she joined the show but if I had been told that my cousin had disappeared in mysterious circumstances then I would be a bit more hysterical than Tegan is.

Whilst Tegan is running around Amsterdam trying to find her cousin, the Doctor and Nyssa are tring to deal with the goings on with the High Council. They really do act before they think because within a few minutes of the Doctor chatting to the high council they are ordering his execution. Between that decision and the actual execution there is a lot of toeing and froing to find out who is the traitor. When Nyssa is held captive in the TARDIS, it would have been reasonable to assume that she was going to spend the entire episode in there but thankfully she wasn’t in it for too long. It’s fun to see Colin Baker interact with Peter Davison’s Doctor in this episode. It’s weird to think that Colin Baker will the tenant of the TARDIS.

The identity of the traitor is something that wasn’t going to be revealed in todays episode. There seemed to be a concerted effort to make us think that the Castelan was the one but its too obvious and the true culprit manages to stand out but not enough for people to suspect. This comes when he is the only person to vote against having the Doctor executed.

The ‘execution’ of the Doctor is made better with the addition of the CGI effects option on the DVD. Due to this it makes the ending quite good and Nyssa ends it by saying that she hopes they are happy. This cliffhanger is quite good but I didn’t enjoy in terms seeing a future Doctor shoot the current one. I am still enjoying this story and think that there is still some good stuff yet to come.

 

(580) Arc of Infinity - Part 1

Arc of Infinity is a story that I have always had a soft spot for. It’s the opening story of Doctor Who’s 20^th anniversary and Peter Davison’s second season as the Doctor. This is a story that has a lot of interesting things about it. Firstly the location filming took place in Amsterdam, another is that it sees the return of Omega who last appeared in ‘The Three Doctors’ 10 years before and perhaps more amusingly, it sees Colin Baker debut in the show as Maxil.

There is no Tegan at all in this episode which is a real surprise and the episode does seem a lot quieter without her shrieking all the time. This means that the Doctor and Nyssa get to do what I think people (including me) have wanted since the start of the previous season and that’s just the two of them because they work really well together. It also means that Nyssa gets more of the action which she wouldn’t normally. They do share some of the story with two backpackers named Colin and Robin. Colin has an Australian accent but its unclear whether we are suppose to think he is related to Tegan. Colin is the scaredy cat and Robin seems the more gung-ho of the duo. They decide to sleep in the crypt yet Robin seems to have a room booked at a Youth hostel which does raise the question why they spent the night elsewhere. Anyway its clear from the very beginning that their story wasn’t going to go well and pretty soon Colin was the victim of a weird bird looking creature which really looks a bit silly but that’s the only thing really wrong with the episode.

On a narrative note, its quite interesting because there is a question as to which Timelord is committing treason by working with/for Omega. The identity isn’t revealed (not that you would expect that) but its quite obvious who it is. The fact that Gallifrey features in the story is a welcome but sadly its not the Gallifrey that we saw in ‘The Deadly Assassin’ but it’s the 1980’s Gallifrey where things are lit very brightly and there is no mood or atmosphere anywhere.

The appearance of Colin Baker is quite funny because obviously in a couple of years he will become the next Doctor and its weird to think that I am just a couple of months away from experiencing his stories. He is quite stern and serious in this episode and his best moment comes when he features in the cliffhanger. At the time it would have just been a normal cliffhanger where the Doctor is shot by Maxil. Post 1984, this takes on a completely less serious feel as it just appears that Colin Baker is trying to get the job earlier than he does.

It’s a solid opening episode and its nice to get back to some decent storytelling after not being a huge fan of the previous story. The peace and quiet is about end though as Tegan is about to enter the story. Oh it was nice while it lasted.

(549) The Keeper of Traken - Episode 4

The final episode is another episode of two halves but they aren’t that different to each other. The first half is the aftermath of the Melkur becoming the Keeper. It’s safe to say that it was never going to be the most popular appointment in history. Knowing what happens in this episode, I just want it to happen and I surprised to find out that the big scene between the Doctor and the Master doesn’t happen until seven minutes before the end. That’s pretty much what this whole episode and story have been about to be honest but before I finish this entry, I will talk about other aspects of the episode like I normally would.

I think that the sight of Melkur in the Keeper’s chair is still impressive and I also like the idea that he can pop up pretty much anywhere which perhaps isn’t quite a big thing considering the original keeper popped up in the TARDIS in episode one. The Melkur not having the power for a while does seem like a narrative stalling method which does work. The lead up to the eventual confrontation between the Doctor and the Master is quite good but I was just wishing that it would happen. The scene where the Doctor finds himself inside the Master’s TARDIS is a great little scene and it’s the first time since ‘The Deadly Assassin’ that the Master has appeared in Doctor Who and I think that Geoffrey Beevers is a superb piece of casting not just because Beevers doesn’t wear that odd mask and costume that Peter Pratt wore but instead we get to see Beevers use his whole body to show us why even when he is playing the role for Big Finish he is so damn good at it. On a side note, go to the Big Finish website and purchase from the Main Range page the story ‘Master’ which is one of the finest stories ever made. Anyway back to the story and I just wish that the scene with the Doctor and the Master was longer but that’s my personal opinion.

The final scene is great because it ends with the Master seemingly defeated and that appears to be the end of it. The Doctor and Adric are on board the TARDIS but one of the things I like about this story is that its not the end because we have the ‘regeneration’ moment with the Master taking over Tremas’ body which is a mixed moment because whilst visually it’s a great thing to see, I liked Tremas so much over the course of the four episodes that it’s a shame that he paid the price for just being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The last shot is of Nyssa walking into an empty room and that is a proper cliffhanger for a final episode.

It was a great ending to a great story and my appreciation for this story has gone up even more and I think that Tom Baker’s penultimate story shows just how good Tom Baker has been recently and also how much JNT and Christopher H Bidmead have improved the show in such a short amount of time. However as much as I have enjoyed this story I do feel a bit down because I know what comes next. The moment has been prepared for and things are about to get loud.

(548) The Keeper of Traken - Episode 3

This episode is an episode of two halves because the first half is pretty much like Traken itself. It’s very peaceful and very tranquil with nothing that would shake the skin off a custard. The first noticeable thing that appears at the beginning of this episode is that Melkur is after the power that the Keeper possesses. I don’t know if it was just because I wasn’t paying attention in the previous episodes but this is the first time that I have actually heard the purpose of Melkur in the story. The thing about Traken which is quite baffling is the speed at which things happen there. Kassia has gone from being a new bride to the new Keeper in an extraordinarily quick amount of time. I also cant believe that no one has noticed the change in character that Kassia has undergone in the same short amount of time. I guess that when things are as laid back as they seem on Traken that such changes in personality aren’t taken too seriously.

The second half of the episode is where the action really shows whats good about the story because this is where we learn a bit more about Melkur. It was great how there were more and more shots what the master Melkur sees. It’s not until the very end that the figure turns around and even though he’s not named as the Master in the credit there cant be many people who watched this in 1981 that this was the master. It’s quite fun that just under a week since the Master changed gender that we are getting a new Master in this story. The Melkur design has been on of the highlights of this serial and it gets better in at the end of this episode where it becomes the Keeper after consuming Kassia and the sight of the Melkur sitting in the Keeper’s chair is a great one and it makes for a great cliffhanger. The cliffhangers have been the main weakness of this story and its good that they have managed to rectify the situation a bit here.

The performances have all been quite good with Nyssa being one of the strongest ones. She has been a bit in the background so far so it was good how she seemed to develop quite a lot here. I think that with a bit more work she will show everyone why I think that she’s one of the best companions in Doctor Who. Tom Baker’s performance has been good but I think that it’s a bit tame compared to how it’s been in other stories in the season. The fact that the Doctor and Tremas are friends is still something that tickles me and I like how despite being a little bit of a spare part in the episode, Adric continues to impress me.  

This sets up the final episode brilliantly and I think that this story is even better than I have previously thought of. It’s weird to think that this time next week I will be in the Davison era and a tiny bit of sadness is starting to creep into my enjoyment. If only the show had been like this in the previous season then I could see myself saying that I wish Tom Baker had gone on for a bit longer but I think that he is getting the set of stories that he deserves.

(547) The Keeper of Traken - Episode 2

So the penultimate story of the Tom Baker era is off to a good start due which is perhaps down to nostalgia and I have to try and take that out of my watching and review this story like I would with any other story. I still think that its strange that the Doctor and Tremas are working together and are the best of friends throughout this story. Anthony Ainley is very good as Tremas and I still believe him as a good person even though a few episodes later he will be the exact opposite. Tom Baker and Anthony Ainley work well together and they are not the only good double act that appear on screen in todays episode. I think that Adric and Nyssa are a good fit together and its probably due to the fact that they appear to be the same age so the two sides of the story work quite well.

The Melkur is still a visually impressive villain and its good that we at least get to see it move in this episode instead of just moving its head. What I like is how we get to see that there is more to Melkur than just a statue walking around. There is someone inside and if you think about it then you would realise that it has to be bigger on the inside than on the outside…..wait a minute!!! The most we see from whoever (wink wink) is inside the Melkur is a hand. Kassia was pretty much singled out as one to watch when we learnt that she tended to Melkur in the gardens and in this episode things got slightly stranger as he gave her a neck thing which means that he can control her and does quite soon after putting it on. There are a few moments when her ‘eyes’ go red and it’s a similar effect to the one used in ‘Planet of Evil’. Somehow despite that story being about six years ago, the effect in this episode seems worse than before.

The problem of today’s cliffhanger is the same as yesterdays. I think that todays is slightly better but it seems that all the efforts have gone into making the rest of the episode work and didn’t have any time in working on a satisfying cliffhanger. It that’s the worst thing that I can say about the episode and story then it’s a pretty good episode and it is just as much fun as I have thought in the past. All the performances are really solid and due to my new appreciation of Adric and there being no K9 it means that there isn’t anything to get me annoyed and that’s a good feeling to have.

 

(546) The Keeper of Traken - Episode 1

Before I start this entry, I am going to start by telling a little story. Many years ago when places like HMV still sold VHS’s, I went into that store and discovered in the clearance section a copy of this story for the bargain price of £6.49 and so took it home and I can remember how much I loved this story immediately after watching it. There aren’t many that have made me feel like this and so ‘The Keeper of Traken’ has always held a special place in my heart. Today is the start of another trilogy of stories however unlike the E-Space trilogy, this isn’t an official trilogy but I think that this is a more important trilogy because of what happens during the course of the next twelve episodes. This is also the first episode to feature Anthony Ainley who will be playing the Master at the end of this story and it also sees the first appearance of Sarah Sutton who plays Nyssa. Nyssa is for me one of the best companions in Doctor Who. Everytime there is a Nyssa story from Big Finish, I look forward to theses stories even more.

The relationship between the Doctor and Adric seems to be a lot better than it was when Romana was around. I think I quite like this combination and had Tom Baker stayed in longer or Adric had come in early and Romana left early then we would have had some good stories with this combination. However as it is we just get an episode where they spend it together and most of it is in the TARDIS. The Keeper pops up during these TARDIS scenes and despite watching this story several times over the years, I didn’t realise that the Keeper was played by Denis Carey who most people now would have seen as Professor Chronotis in ‘Shada’. The purpose of the episode is explained by the Keeper in just one scene and we learn how Traken is a nice place and I just think that this is obviously not going to last once the Doctor and Adric arrive.

The story that the Keeper tells is about the Melkur. I really like the design of Melkur as even if you don’t know the big revelation that’s coming about the Melkur, its hard not be impressed with it and it doesn’t really do a lot but what it does do is very creepy and in particular how it just pops up in the crack of the two doors in the chamber. The Melkur will become even more relevant to the story in future episodes but just based on what has been shown in todays episode there is still plenty to like about what is effectively a statue.

On Traken, it’s a studio bound set yet at no point during the course of the four episode did I find myself being bored with the action and I didn’t really miss the outside filming.  The sets do look rather splendid and I think that a lot of time and energy was put into making what appears on screen looks great. John Black’s first foray into Doctor Who is at the moment a success.

If I had to pick some faults with this episode then there are two and just two. The first is the slightly frustrating matter of the Doctor and Adric trying to convince people that they are there for good reasons. The icing on the cake comes when the Keeper says “Evil” and naturally everyone thinks that he is referring to the Doctor and Adric. The second fault is that the cliffhanger is rather disappointing because it doesn’t really have any drama or tension to it. The point of a cliffhanger is to give the viewer a reason to tune in for the next instalment but on this occasion there isn’t really a reason. The only reason that there would be to tune in it to see what is going on elsewhere in the story.

As an episode it’s a good start to the story and things are set up for the rest of the serial. After being slightly disappointed with the previous story, it was nice to get back to being enthusiastic about what I see on screen. As part of the Master/New Beginnings trilogy it’s a promising start and the countdown to the Davison era really starts now.