(647) The Trial of a Timelord (Part 8): Mindwarp - Part 4

Is Peri dead? Is the question that the Doctor asks and the Valeyard responds with no which shows that he is willing to use shock tactics to go overboard. It seems to be a sign of things to come which was a clever bit of writing on the part of Philip Martin. There is a nice scene between Peri and Yrcanos in which Peri decides she wants to be at home and talks to Yrcanos about life and love. This is where the relationship between the two begins. Now what I find interesting is that when Leela departs the show, I found the lack of a long term build up to be a reason why her departure is rather disappointing. In the case of this story it seems far more plausible and I think that it’s due to the performances of Nicola Bryant and Brian Blessed.

The confusion about what the Doctor’s true mental state is something that is confusing still. He starts off seemingly willing to help Crozier, then decides he would prefer if Peri weren’t experiment and then seems to be totally his normal self. Colin Baker does his best to try and clarify the situation but he can’t completely answer the question. It might be easy to understand on Thoros Beta but in the courtroom it seems that it’s not as clear cut as it might seem.

This is the beginning of the end for Peri because she gets used in the experiment to transplant Kiv’s brain to a suitable host. It’s is quite a grim process that she goes through in this episode. She doesn’t really get much to do apart from her nice chat with Yrcanos and then she is operated on. The sight of her with a bald cap on is quite a shocking. When Peri/Kiv starts talking then it adds to the shock. Yrcanos does the only thing that he could do and that is kill Peri (or her body anyway).

The Doctor is on his way to help Peri but is lured into a suddenly appearing TARDIS which leads to the events seen in episode one. His reaction when he sees that Yrcanos has killed Peri is a totally mesmerising one. This has to be one of his finest performances since Attack of the Cybermen.

He is very determined at the end of this episode and he is determined to find out why he was taken out of time. Whilst this has another close-up/zoom in that you all know I love, it’s the way that Colin Baker delivers the line that makes this one of the best cliffhangers of the season so far. It’s been a cracking episode. Partly because I know what was going to happen but for the first time in this season I have been more impressed with the performances than the story itself.

This episode is the final one for Nicola Bryant and in terms of endings it is perhaps one of the most shocking since Adric died in Earthshock (1982). It’s fair to say that Bryant hasn’t had the most enjoyable time ever in the show but she has been surprisingly upbeat even when things weren’t going her way. I would be surprised if she missed the show in terms of what she was required to do. The Peri that we now get in the Big Finish adventures is a stronger one than we get on TV.

As a four part adventure in its own right, Mindwarp has been a very enjoyable story with the right mixture of comedy and darkness. It has been written with the same enthusiasm as Philip Martin wrote in Vengeance on Varos and Ron Jones has really impressed me with the pace and the sets that he used helped add to the effectiveness of the story. It’s not very often that I have written this but Robert Holmes has written the weakest story of the season so far. Eight episodes in and I think that it is progressing well know that there are various elements that going forward have the potential to be very good. Unfortunately, coming up in the next episode is one of most controversial companions in Doctor Who history. But considering how I have re-evaluated Bonnie Langford’s character in the Big Finish plays, it is possible that this might mean a change but I suppose time will tell.

(646) The Trial of a Timelord (Part 7): Mindswap - Part 3

The small matter of what is causing the Doctor to act the way he is on Thoros Beta is something that continues to be the problem with this story. Despite all the hard work that Philip Martin and Ron Jones have done to make this story sound and look like a great adventure. Like the previous episode, this one doesn’t feature a courtroom scene for several minutes. It’s good that the series arc story isn’t thrown in our faces so soon.

This is the episode where Kiv’s mind is swapped and considering how important it seems to be there is little sense of drama apart from Sil over reacting. Sil is rather amusing apart from this brief moment. He decides he wants to be the first face the Kiv sees in his new body and the look on his face causes Kiv to think he’s died. There is very little room for humour in this section of the story so its good to see Nabil Shaban doing the honours.

Yrcanos is basically leading a revolution in this episode and becomes leader purely by the fact that he shouts the loudest. This involves dragging Peri from one tunnel to another and they don’t actually achieve anything. It was slightly disappointing that Brian Blessed has been left to do and also Nicola Bryant seems to have drawn the short straw in trying to calm him down.

There is very little from the courtroom but what we do see is rather good. Michael Jayston is the strongest part of the courtroom part. It did feel like Lynda Bellingham and Colin Baker were spare parts but to be fair Colin Baker makes up for that in other areas of this episode. There is more about what the Doctor can and cannot remember which s fun because it just seems to give the Valeyard more ammunition to use against the Doctor. It’s good to see the Doctor in a rare situation where he doesn’t know whats going on. This is something that usually happens to the companions so you could say that the Doctor is getting a dose of his own medicine.

The final minute of the episode sees Peri seemingly gunned down. Considering that Nicola Bryant is about to leave the show it is perfectly plausible that she could have left the show an episode early. This leads to a good cliffhanger but unlike previous endings, there isn’t a zoom in but just a static shot of Colin Baker which is at least a minor difference. It’s not been an action packed episode  and is probably the weakest of the three but it’s still been an episode that hasn’t been boring. Compared to the Robert Holmes story, this one has been a huge improvement.
 

(645) The Trial of a Timelord (Part 6): Mindwarp - Part 2

It’s weird to think that I am now six episodes into this and nearly at the half way point of the season. It’s fair to say that this season has taken a while to find its feet. It really doesn’t take long for the Brian Blessed we all know to appear. Within two minutes of the episode starting, he is throwing things around and shouting. If Blessed is shouting then Colin Baker is pretty much the opposite. It’s fun seeing the Doctor act the way that he is because its unlike anything we have seen Baker’s Doctor do and it hasn’t been seen in a Doctor since Tom Baker’s time.

When the story returns to the courtroom it seems that the Doctor’s memory is going to be a big issue for the story. On this matter it starts to become clear that the Matrix is being manipulated and that not everything we see is clear. For the first time I thought that the whole thing flowed perfectly. I didn’t find the going from one place to another to be as disruptive as in previous episodes. Again Michael Jayston and Lynda Bellingham are very good and its great to see Colin Baker having to have two different battles. The argument that the Valeyard has against the Doctor seems to be stronger in this part than in the previous story.

The Doctor appears to have turned against Peri and King Yrcarnos. It’s unclear whether the Doctor is under the control of the machine or whether it didn’t work and the Doctor is just pretending. Something’s tend to suggest the former and sometimes the latter. It makes the whole thing about this section of the trial rather confusing.

One thing I haven’t commented on is the wonderful lighting. The low lighting has been one of the things that I have liked about these two episodes so far. I know that might be damning with faint praise but it just blows the argument that there was about why the lighting always needed to be bright. Ron Jones hasn’t always been a great director in my eyes but to be fair to him, he has directed solidly paced episodes.

I thought that this was another good episode. It’s weird how this story seems to be stronger than the one written by the legendary Robert Holmes. Things are starting to get more interesting in the courtroom and the ‘evidence’ is starting to feel more like normal Doctor Who stuff and less like trial stuff. The cliffhanger was another zoom in but was at least shrouded in darkness so we didn’t get the proper close up that there has been throughout this season. It’s not as amusing as the previous episode but it is perhaps a better ending.

(644) The Trial of a Timelord (Part 5): Mindwarp - Part 1

Philip Martin returns for the second piece of evidence that the Valeyard is using in one the flimsiest cases ever seen on TV. Long before Deidre Barlow got stitched up on Coronation Street in the mid 90’s, The Doctor was still having to argue against evidence which showed that things might not have gone smoothly but it could have been a lot worse. This four part adventure is the one that the Doctor was on before being taken out of time and joining the courtroom at the beginning of episode one. The opening shot of Thoros Beta is stunning. I know that the colours are rather garish but I still like it.

There are a lot more court scenes which is good to see but unlike the previous story. I found this story to be far more interesting. Also the flow of the episode is better than in the previous adventure. The action centres of Kiv getting a new body and all of his hopes lay with Crozier. That is pretty much it but what I like about this is that Martin has managed to keep the action going. The Doctor has a rather unfortunate end to the episode. One that gives the sense that things are going to spiral out of control in the future. There was something that was a bit weird about the performances of Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant.

This is the story of course where Brian Blessed makes a guest appearance. This would have been several years after appearing in Flash Gordon. He quite quiet in this episode which is the only time that the words Brian Blessed and quiet will be used at the same time. It’s fun to have him in this story because he is pretty much perfect for the show. Nabil Shaban returns as the wonderful Sil. Sil seems to be less repulsive than he was in Vengeance on Varos. I still like the Shaban laugh and think that any story with Shaban in will be greatly improved. Despite Sil being in the story, Crozier is the one that is the main villain in the piece only because he is more dangerous than Sil.

Christopher Ryan plays Kiv. Ryan would return to play a Sontaran in the new series. The voice is pretty obvious but I like the character of Kiv. He basically treats Sil the way that Sil treated the Governor in the Varos story. Another person that is familiar is Trevor Laird. Laird plays Frax in this story. He would return to the new series to play Martha’s dad in the 2007 series. It’s a rather small part but its always fun when people show up and I know that they will come up in future Doctor Who.

The cliffhanger is another zooming in but this time I found myself distracted with the weird dance that Colin Baker seemed to be doing which I found partly amusing but partly confusing. Anyway this has been the first time since this trial season has begun that I have felt that it’s like a proper Doctor Who story. It also is the first time that it’s felt like a Colin Baker story.

(630) Vengeance on Varos - Part 2

After three episodes, I am still liking the 45 minute format. It means that the cliffhangers have much more of an impact and instead of three cliffhangers (where maybe just one works), we can appreciate the efforts of just one. The previous cliffhanger was impressive and still maintains that at the start of the episode. If the previous episode was lite on humour then this episode is a black hole of humour.

There are a few moments that happen in this episode that help add to the argument that the show had become too violent. The Acid bath scene is perhaps one of the strongest points. A myth that always existed about this is that the Doctor puts the workers in the bath whereas in fact he surprises one to fall in and he then pulls the other guy in. This could be put down as unfortunate but the quip that the Doctor delivers about being forgiven for not joining them is perhaps the thing that is perhaps misjudged. This episode features a scene where the Doctor is about be hung. Never before had something so n horrific been featured in a Doctor Who. There is a story that there had been an accident on this set and if the ropes had been around Colin Baker and Jason Connery’s heads then they most likely would have died. Thankfully this didn’t happen but the Doctor and Jondar do fall to the ground and for a moment it must seem like the unthinkable had happened. Luckily this was a trick by the Governor. There are two people that appear to be wrestling at the beginning and seem perfectly natural to the surroundings but later on they are revealed to be cannibals which is again something that I didn’t think would feature in a Doctor Who. There are some vines that are quite poisonous which the Doctor uses to kill Quillam, the Chief Officer along with other soldiers. It’s a moment which isn’t the way that the Doctor should behave.

There is a nice conflict that the Governor seems to be going through in this episode. Martin Jarvis performs well throughout and its good when he gets the chance to spoil Sil’s party and as a viewer it’s clear that he is enjoying this moment. Martin Jarvis has been very good in his performances for the show over the 20 years since his debut and he ends his time on the show in style.

The interaction between Arak and Etta continues to be the closes that the story comes to humour. Stephen Yardley (Arak). I still like how Arak is the one that clearly wants something different and Etta would be willing to turn her husband into the authorities.

Peri’s bad luck in this show continues where she undergoes a transformation. I am surprised at how long it takes for her to become like a bird and how quick she went back to normal. But I suppose with time constraints of TV dramas that this had to happen this way.

There have been some interesting supporting performances in these two episodes which I think deserve a quick mention. Geraldine Alexander (Areta) has done well with what has been a rather thankless task. Her ‘highlight’ comes when she joins Peri in the transformation and looks worse than Peri (the downside of not being a companion). Nicolas Chagrin (Quillam) has his mask removed and its quite grotesque. Doctor Who has a trend in this period for shocking disfigurements. The Chief Officer (Forbes Collins) has been in the background for most of the previous episode but in this episode he becomes much more relevant and his ability to backstab the governor really allows him to become quite horrible. Speaking of horrible, I still think that Nabil Shaban steals the story. It’s clear why he returned in the following series. Once he seems to have gained power, its clear that he wasn’t going to have it for long. Finally, Owen Teal plays Maldak. Here is rather ordinary but would go on to give a very memorable performance in Torchwood in the episode Countrycide (2006).

The episode ends with the Governor talking to his citizens and telling them that things are changing and the final shot is of Arak and Etta wondering what they are going to do. Without the torturing they are lost and I think that is a great way to end the episode.

Philip Martin has written a very strong story. Ok so that there were some moments which were not suitable as far as the morals of the Doctor are concerned but I can’t say that I was ever bored during the entire two episode run. Martin returns to the show the following year but it won’t be as good.  Ron Jones hasn’t been a director that I have rated highly. His previous offerings included Black Orchid (1982), Time-Flight (1982), Arc of Infinity (1983) and Frontios (1984). This is by a clear mile the best directed story that he has done. He has managed to translate the grimness of the story well and used low lighting to create a nice atmosphere.

So far it is two good stories out of two. I think that Attack is a better story but the standard hasn’t dropped too much during the course of this two parter. The next story is another story that has always been a popular one in my books and I am impressed that after the less than stellar start to the Colin Baker era, that we have now potentially got three solid stories in a row.

(629) Vengeance on Varos - Part 1

After enjoying Attack of the Cybermen, I knew that it wasn’t going to be two top stories in a row. Vengeance on Varos has a rather infamous reputation as the one that is used to attack the show’s track record on violence. The whole subject of violence on TV is dealt with in this story and it seems that this story was about 15 years ahead of its time. It certainly has a Big Brother theme to it. The story takes place on Varos and we are rather interestingly seeing the story effectively through the eyes of two people from Varos by the name of Etta and Arak. Stephen Yardley plays Arak and he seems the one that is rather disillusioned with life. Sheila Reid plays Etta and will return to play a relative of Clara’s in the new series but she is perhaps more famous for being in the ITV sitcom Benidorm. She is the one that is more obedient to the government and is willing to turn in her own husband and I think that is something that makes their relationship interesting. Another interesting thing is that they don’t interact with anyone else.

The next person we are introduced to is Jason Connery. Connery appears as Jondar and is the son of former James Bond star Sean Connery. The thing about the character is that we are supposed to like him because he seems to be unfairly treated. However there is something that doesn’t quite work for me and I can’t put my finger on it. There are other people that I think have a better time in this episode. Nabil Shaban plays Sil and steals this story. There is just something wonderful about the performance. Every time he is on screen, I find myself totally mesmerised with him. I think that apart from Shaban’s performance, the design of the creature is wonderful and shows that some thought and money went into it. However a good costume isn’t worth anything if the actor wearing the costume isn’t any good and we can be quite grateful that Shaban was cast because no one would have made this character as loathsome and unlikeable as he does. Martin Jarvis plays the Governor. The role of the Governor who has to seek the public’s vote as to whether he should stay in power. I don’t envy the Governor very much because he is pretty much pressured into things and has to undergo rather harsh treatment. Jarvis has previous appeared in The Web Planet (1965) and Invasion of the Dinosaurs (1974) and I think that this is perhaps the most intense performance of the three.

The Doctor and Peri spend an awful long time in the TARDIS and are forced to land on Varos. Once they soon land on Varos then they get into a world of trouble and encounter Jondar. I think that the performances from Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant aren’t particularly on fire in this episode. If memory serves me correctly I think that the next episode is the one that will stand out for them but Baker has the better time in the latter stages of the episode.

Normally tunnels provide very little in the way of drama or entertainment but credit to Philip Martin for managing to make something of these rather primitive sets. They are used to try and put off the Doctor and others and they are quite entertaining. My particular favourite one is sand dunes one which forces the Doctor to believe he is unbelievably hot and this leads up to the cliffhanger. The final second is the close up of the Doctor unconscious and the TV monitor being turned off. This is a very dramatic ending and I don’t normally like cliffhangers that include the Doctor or the companion but when its done like this then I don’t really mind. This is another episode where humour is rather thin on the ground. The Arak and Etta stuff is perhaps the closes that we really get to humour and I think that if there was a problem with this story it is that it is too dark in my opinion. I like this story don’t get me wrong but I think that Attack of the Cybermen is a better in terms of finding the right balance.

(612) Frontios - Part 4

I was hoping that the episode would do its job of ending this episode in the way that it should. However despite it working, one thing I can say is that it didn’t have the feel that this was quite the epic finale that it should have been. Don’t get me wrong, there was plenty to like about this episode but there was just something missing that I was hoping would be there. Something that is there in this episode is a bit of meat about the story of the tractators. We learn that the tractators basically lured them into a false sense of security by letting them settle for a decade before bombarding the planet with asteroids. This shows a sense that they are quite clever and are also very patient.

Bits of the TARDIS start popping up which shows that the show is starting to build to a finale. It seems like the next couple of minute are a bit of a rush job because the Doctor tries to lure the Gravis away. I actually like inside the TARDIS with bits of rock appearing all over. It adds something to the console room and it’s a shame that we return to the bright white layout. There is one shot where the Gravis appears to be nibbling on the side of the TARDIS console which I thought was quite amusing. The fact that the tractators are basically harmless when the Gravis is separated from them is quite a good idea and one that lends itself very well to the story. Sadly we don’t see the Doctor dumping it on a random world but I suppose its not really relevant to the story. The cliffhanger of the episode is suppose to lead into the Daleks’ return and so it’s a very intriguing way to end the episode and the story.

Frontios has really impressed me with just how good the performances and also the story has surprised me. I think that at the moment this may go down as one of the strongest Peter Davison stories and its definelty one of those which has changed in my opinion. After a rocky start to the twenty-first season, its fair to say that Frontios has been the first good story of the season and I genuinely didn’t think I would be writing that before I started this.

(611) Frontios - Part 3

The good form that this story seems to be going through continues with this episode. I haven’t been this surprised with a story since Kinda. The thing I didn’t mention was that the pink effect used in the cliffhanger and in this reprise does look rather dated. It’s one of the few (maybe only) dud effect that the show has had. It’s good that Tegan gets to save the day when freeing the Doctor and Norna. The supporting characters continue to impress with Brazen being the standout performance. Norna is also a good character that could easily have become a companion after this story, that is how good Lesley Dunlop has been during this story. I also quite liked William Lucas as Range, his character has been consistently good.

The tractators don’t really shine in the early stages of this episode but once they start speaking then they seem to improve greatly. I like the voice used as it seems to mix well with the design. It would have been nice for them to be involved in the story before now because there is clearly a story behind them and it could have worked out quite well into the story. It makes the threat that they pose over the humans even greater and something to look forward to in the final episode.

We learn a bit more about Turlough’s madness. He has experienced them before on his home planet. At first I was quite unsure with how the tractators managed to cause any problems. Despite this its fair to say that this is definitely Turlough’s episode as he gives another superb performance. Even though she’s not on the same level as Turlough, Tegan has one of her better episodes but I don’t think that she is given a great deal to do so it shows how hard Janet Fielding is working to make something out of nothing.

The appearance of Captain Revere is the cliffhanger which is lacking on drama but I like the visual and that is the main thing about this episode is that it lacks something dramatic there is still something great to watch. I do think that there is a lot for the final episode to achieve and I hope that it doesn’t disappoint because so far the work that has been done has been really impressive and I am perhaps more impressed that it’s a Christopher H Bidmead script more than anything.

(610) Frontios - Part 2

I like the idea that the Doctor, Tegan and Turlough are basically forced to live on an alien world. The idea also that they cant just get up a leave is also something that works well for me. The episode starts off well enough but seems to take an unexpected shift in tone (for about a minute). Turlough threatens the people with the coat stand because they believe that the coat stand is the thing that’s causing the trouble. Who says that Christopher H Bidmead can’t do comedy and is obsessed with being 100% scientific? Clearly the years have mellowed him.

The whole business of Plantagenet about to die is something that works quite well. It ends with the Doctor saving his life and Plantagenet starting to believe that the Doctor is there for good. I like how Plantagenet starts to act a bit strange just moments later when he involuntary rolls onto the ground. His falling into the ground which is similar to what was seen at the beginning of the previous episode is a bit of surprising thing. Plantagenet’s change in attitude would normally happen in a later episode so it’s a bit of a relief that it happened when it did I have also grown to like Brazen in this story. Peter Gilmore has a bit of a odd position in this story because he is clearly the strongest character in the serial but has to try and not outshine Plantagenet.

Norna and Turlough spend the episode together and go on a bit of an adventure where we are introduced to some slug looking creatures which Turlough names Tractators. For some reason this causes Turlough to have a bit of a nervous breakdown. This is perhaps the first time since the Guardian Trilogy ended that Turlough has shown any character development and its great to see Strickson get to do something other than just be in the background.  Even Janet Fielding seems to be a bit more active in this story. She is actually trying to piece things together.

The tractators don’t have the greatest start to a story. All they seem to do is wander around and then put some pick ray over the Doctor and forcing him to move next to Lorna. It’s not a particularly good cliffhanger by any means but I still enjoyed the episode and think that after two episodes there is still plenty to like. Christopher H Bidmead has managed to see that the show has moved in the short time that he has been away from the show and has developed his story telling skills. Two episodes in and I think that this is still a strong story and easily the best story of the season (so far).

(609) Frontios - Part 1

Back to four parters and the return of Christopher H Bidmead who was the script editor for about 10 minutes in Tom Baker’s final season and wrote Castrovalva. I have never really had much fondness for this story but if there has been one repeating pattern over the period that I have been doing this marathon is that there is the possibility that my opinion might change. I have to confess that the omens for this story are very good. The opening scene is quite good and ends with a body disappearing. The first scene that sees the Doctor, Turlough and Tegan (thankfully no Kamelion) is a strange one because it doesn’t have any drama to it. Even when things seem to be going wrong then the Doctor didn’t show it. The Doctor doesn’t want to land but this is a clear sign that they are about to do this. It’s the standard TV thing of doing the opposite of what people say or do.

The Doctor goes from telling Range that he couldn’t get involved to basically offering his assistance. All in the space of one scene. He does make his stance more clear when he says to Plantagenet that he is going to leave as soon as possible. Plantagenet is played (brilliantly) by Jeff Rawle. Plantagenet seems to be enjoying his dictatorship but there is a part of this performance which suggests that there is an internal struggle. He doesn’t trust the Doctor and this that the stuff his father did for the colony is very important. Lesley Dunlop appears in this story, she would go on to appear in May to December (1989-1994) and has appeared in Emmerdale since 2008. In this she plays Lorna who is quite a nice character and nice characters are few a far between.

The story of the colonists is a nice one explained by Range. It turns out that they didn’t start the problems but a mystery force is wreaking havoc. The planet is being bombarded by meteors and something that isn’t referred to is that there isn’t any wood around. It’s all metal and I think that the whole planet is rather grim which probably plays into what Bidmead is trying to do with this story. Ron Jones returns to the directing chair after his previous attempt in the form of Arc of Infinity and he directs this episode in a solid way and its pace works quite well.

The cliffhanger is rather good because if you were watching this for the first time in 1984 then you genuinely wouldn’t see it coming. The TARDIS has been destroyed and all that survives in a white handstand that was given more screentime than would have been the norm. I like it as a visual symbol and what it represents. It’s a sound opening episode and I am really surprised that I have liked this episode as much as I have. After being somewhat bored with The Awakening, its nice that something of note has happened.

(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.

(579) Time-Flight - Part 4

The final episode of this story is the one where things improve greatly. This reprise where the Doctor says that the Master has defeated him still doesn’t work for me. The first couple of minutes is a bit confusing because it doesn’t seem like it was clear what was going on. Then suddenly something happened and it started to pick up and the whole episode became about trying to stop the Master escaping and getting concorde ready to try and the Doctor trying to get back to Heathrow before the Master. This was when I felt like for the first time I was starting to enjoy things.

There is a moment when it’s revealed that concorde was inside the Master’s TARDIS and I liked this moment very much. The vast size of Concorde isn’t the thing that most people would expect to find in a TARDIS so it would have been great to see that had the effects been around to make it happen. Sadly the problems with this story are on show again in this episode because as it’s the final story of the season, it means that there is pretty much no money to spend and it shows badly during these four episodes.

There is a moment where Tegan actually gets to be a stewardess. This is a role that Angela would have done but she disappeared in the previous episode and so as a result this means that Tegan shows us what sort of air stewardess she would have made. This is the episode where Tegan is ‘written out’ of the show because at the end of this episode she is left at Heathrow whereas the Doctor and Nyssa are off in time and space into a series of adventures for Big Finish. This was designed to be a season cliffhanger with the viewers. I think that this is quite a good idea and something that is done in the new series to give us a reason to watch the Christmas special. It’s great to think that the show started off with four people in the TARDIS and its 50% lighter just thirteen weeks later.

This story has been a disappointment largely due to the effects. Some of the performances have been entertaining but probably not for the right reasons but this shows that Peter Grimwade IS  a better director than writer. I think that this is a story that could have been made easier to understand if some changes had been made. The 20^th Season is about to begin and there are more changes to come but if memory serves me correctly then it will be largely good. Time-Flight is one that is an underwhelming story at the very least.

(578) Time-flight - Part 3

I usually find that after being quite down after watching an episode, the next one tends to leave me feeling a bit more positive which is the case for this episode. The Master enters this story properly now after pretending to be Kalid and this is where things start to pick up (not by much but enough). The explanation as to why he’s there and why he’s doing what he’s doing is explained and its explained well. The Master pops up every now and then but despite his brief moments in this episode he still manages to be the best thing in the episode. He was trying to get some energy to help him get away from the planet.

The problem that I still have with this episode is that despite some interesting stuff, I just cant muster any real enthusiasm with what I am seeing. There was something that annoyed me really bad and it came when the Captain and the other guy (presumably his deputy) start messing around with the TARDIS controls. Now its one thing when the companions are fiddling around with it but its completely different when anybody off the street can have a go. I think that this does support the argument that the mystery of the TARDIS was starting to be undermined.

The Professor was a delight in the previous episode and he continued this in todays episode. There was one line when he was talking about the other having to work and he says “it will be the first honest days work they have ever done!”. That’s a great line and it’s a shame when he is killed and I think that it was a mistake to ditch one of the few decent characters (perhaps the decent character) in the story.

There is a bit of development with the race called the Xeraphins. Design wise, they are really quite good and the effect used to bring them to screen works well. I also like the idea that there is a good and bad version but with everything going on, I couldn’t really follow what was being said. I think that the performances from the regulars in this scene with the two Xeraphins is bordering on pantomime. The cliffhanger is the Doctor saying the line “The Master has finally defeated me!” This should be a big moment but unfortunately due to the quality of the story, it just doesn’t have the impact that it should have done.

As an episode, it wasn’t as bad as part two but I think that the sooner this story is over with the better because knowing what is coming up it just makes me want to get through this story even more. You may have noticed that I haven’t commented too much of the performances and that is because despite their best efforts they haven’t really been able to do anything of any worth. Maybe this might change in tomorrow’s episode but for some reason I am doubtful.

(577) Time-Flight - Part 2

I’ve come to the conclusion (already) that I am not going to like this story. Probably because at the end of the 25 minute episode, I fail to really see any positives to what I have just seen. The episode does feature a cameo from Matthew Waterhouse, this is only so that people flicking through the Radio Times wouldn’t panic when they didn’t see his name in the credits. The scene is a nice one because the reactions of Nyssa and Tegan are different and yet rational. It’s Nyssa that comes to the realisation that he’s not real when she notices that his star is on him when it was destroyed in the previous story. There is a cameo of the Melkur from ‘The Keeper of Traken’ which is dealt with in the same way. This is perhaps the most exciting thing in the whole episode. That’s a pretty sad thing to say considering that this story features the return of the Master.

It’s good that the Master is bought back but it’s a shame that Anthony Ainley spends most of the episode under the mask of Kalid. I do like Kalid because its still impressive that you wouldn’t be able to tell that it was Anthony Ainley. The only slight issue with this is that when Kalid starts talking it does sound a little bit like Ainley. The death of Kalid does seem to be a bit less simple that it probably would have been with a different writer but its done and the death is quite grim which follows in the traits of other deaths that occur during this season.

I really have trouble coming up with anything in terms of talking about the narrative and that’s because there is simply nothing there. The characters from the two concords are just chewing up the scene and its hard to take anything serious about them. The Professor is perhaps the best of the supporting characters in this episode.

I think the word that comes to mind when thinking about the next two episodes is ‘endurance’. I don’t think that this story is as bad as ‘Four to Doomsday’ but its quite close. The problem is that a) there is no concorde and b) the story is slow and boring and doesn’t grab me in the way that a Doctor Who story should and even with the arrival of the Master, I cant see how this story is going to improve in the next two episodes.

(576) Time-flight - Part 1

So this is the first episode since Adric was killed and what better way to get over this and celebrate the end of season that having a story involve Concorde, which was in use from March 1969 until November 2003 (3 days after Doctor Who’s 40^th Anniversary). The thing about what happened in the previous story is that I would have thought that they would have started with that. Instead the first shot is of concorde and its rather drab if I am being honest. As nice as it is to see concorde in my favourite show, I do have to question the logic of having this in a Doctor Who story. Anyway when the story does get back the TARDIS, there is a few moments given to them trying to get over the grief about the loss of Adric with Tegan wanting the Doctor to go back and the Doctor wont do it. I thought that this was a nice part and they spend just enough time to show some respect to the character before their attention is turned to the current story and the running joke in this season has been to try and get Tegan back to 1981 and finally this is managed.

The sight of the TARDIS at Heathrow is a strange one but I like it. I also like the crew of the concorde because they are as camp as a row of tents. I think that they are fun and compared to the crews that we saw in ‘Earthshock’ this crew is a blast of fresh air. The shots of concorde are impressive but sadly if the production values aren’t as good then it doesn’t really matter whether concorde is there or not. Towards the end when they land in what they think is 1982 Heaththrow the CSO effect that is used to transform the background is pretty poor and that is when the production problems of this story really start. But there will be more time to talk about that in future episodes.

Peter Grimwade directed the previous story and has written this one and its fair to say that he is a better director than writer because if there wasn’t concorde in this story then there would be nothing of merit in this story. I think that the episode starts ok but soon loses steam and the only good thing about what happens in the latter stages of the episode is the inclusion of a figure which will turn out to be the Master but I think that the attempt to disguise the fact that its Anthony Ainley is done much better than in ‘Castrovalva’.

I have never been a big fan of this story and so far nothing has happened to make me think anything will change. Maybe this might change but I am worried that this season will end of a downbeat note.

(571) Black Orchid - Part 2

The bonus of having a two parter adventure is that there is very little time for padding so its easy to enjoy it more. If I look back at previous two-parters, they have all rated quite highly. I commented on the previous episode that this was already a better story for Terence Dudley than ‘Four to Doomsday’ and that’s definelty the case by the end of this episode. This is the 38^th episode for Matthew Waterhouse which ties him with Roger Delgado and Maureen O’Brien. If your interested Janet Fielding is on 22 episodes (3 behind Caroline John) and Sarah Sutton is on 23.

The first that tis dealt with the discovery that the Doctor made of the dead servant that was stuffed in the cupboard. The Doctor comes also comes across Lady Cranleigh who appears to be determined to hide things and the first chance she gets she achieves this. The fun thing at the beginning of the episode is that Adric is still eating although that quickly stops when the Doctor finds himself in trouble. This is the main bit of the episode because the Doctor is accused of the murder of the servant that the masked figure killed at the end of the previous episode.

It is perhaps the rather implausible idea that the Doctor is a victim of mistaken identity and the Doctor decides that he is going to prove that he didn’t commit the murder by showing everybody the TARDIS. It’s quite clear that given time, the truth would have been revealed and the Doctor wouldn’t have needed to show everyone and their dog the TARDIS and its interior. The idea that the Police Box has been transported from the railway station to the police station is one that seems like an odd thing to do because the story doesn’t really benefit from the story moving to the police station.

The episode sees the introduction of the disfigured murderer who is revealed as the person who was going to be engaged to Ann and what I like is that there is a whole wealth of backstory that is explained and in just under a minute its all explained which means that the viewers attention can now be shifted to the new threat of George taking Nyssa thinking that she is Ann. All the shots on top of Cranleigh House is rather exciting and is the most actioned packed part of the episode. It’s seems quite sad that after letting Nyssa go, that George falls to his death. It is perhaps a rather downbeat way to end the story which is a shame really because Lady Cranleigh is the one that should have met a grizzly end.

The final scene takes place after the funeral which is a rare example of the Doctor and company not leaving the story the moment the threat is dealt with. The last shot is of a book that the Doctor is given which was written by George Cranleigh before he became disfigured. It’s a rather downbeat way to end things but as it’s the first pure historical story since ‘The Highlanders’ way back in 1966/67 it was a good two part adventure. The story worked for the length that it was and the performances were as good as they could have been because it seems that something that is quite amusing and listening to the commentary, its clear that the regulars don’t really like this story (Sarah Sutton is perhaps more positive but is then reminded that she might be biased), but I think that this is a much better story that they think it is and compared to the next story, this one is quite upbeat in tone. The ending is coming for one of the regulars, but the moment has been prepared for.

(570) Black Orchid - Part 1

Black Orchid is an interesting story because it’s the 120^th Doctor Who story and also it’s the first two part story since season 12’s ‘The Sontaran Experiment’ and by my reckoning, its only the 4^th two parter story in Doctor Who so far. This is the 37^th episode for Matthew Waterhouse and this means he overtakes Anneke Wills and Michael Craze, its hard to believe he has been in for 37 episodes and sadly he doesn’t do a great deal in this episode because he stands and watches the Doctor play cricket (more of that later), then he tries to dance and then he starts eating. This story was written by Terence Dudley who wrote the less than stellar ‘Four to Doomsday’. There was no way that Dudley could write a worse story in two episodes that his debut story.

The big selling point in this story is that Sarah Sutton plays two characters in this story. Not only is she playing Nyssa as usual but she plays Ann Talbot, she looks and sounds exactly like Nyssa and its great to see the effects that are used to have two Sarah Sutton’s on the screen. I think back to the bit in ‘Enemy of the World’ where the Doctor and Salamander appear on screen and that was 1968 so its interesting to see how well things have progressed in 14 years.

The episode starts off with the Doctor and company at a train station and the Doctor gets taken to be another Doctor and within minutes he is playing cricket which is in keeping with his outfit. The Doctor as it turns out is quite good at Cricket and there is good couple of minutes which is given over to this but its quite entertaining but this would never have happened during the Tom Baker era.

The story is moving towards a ball which is taking place at Cranleigh house and this means that we get to see Tegan dancing which is quite good and its good enough I think to get Janet Fielding on Strictly Come Dancing. Tegan doesn’t do a great deal but then again there isn’t a great deal to do. As an aussie, she appreciates some good cricket and then becoming friends with Sir Robert Muir (Moray Watson). I thought that Watson is very good as Muir because he seems like he’s just come out of Downton Abbey but is better. Lady Cranleigh is another good piece of casting because Barbara Murray also seems to have come out of Downton Abbey. Her disbelief that Nyssa isn’t a Worcestershire Talbot is amusing. Michael Cochrane is great as Lord Cranliegh, I could watch Cochrane is pretty much anything and here he is just fantastic. The Doctor spends the latter part of the episode in a dressing gown (which is an odd thing to see) and goes looking for something after someone pinches his fancy dress costume. After doing such a great job in playing cricket that he deserves the chance to take it easy.

It’s a much better episode for Terence Dudley than ‘Four to Doomsday’ and Ron Jones has done a great job in keeping the story going and its easy to see why the story is a two parter because I don’t think that there is anything that would sustain four episodes. The cliffhanger is rather good because the masked figure (who pinch the Doctor’s costume) has strangled a servant and is about to strangle Ann so the end to the episode is perhaps the most exciting part of the episode but that’s not a critiscm as the whole thing works very well.