The Androids of Tara - Episode 4

As I watch this episode I wonder whether the story would have worked if they had gone with my original suggestion and have the coronation in this episode because it would have been the perfect end to the story. I think that as good as that suggestion might be (ok I am biased) but I think that the ending that they use in this episode is ok. This story should really have been called two weddings and two funerals because of all the shenanigans that the Count is coming up with. Like most plans in Doctor Who, the plan he has come up with is very convoluted. Surely there would have been an easier way. That said the plan never seems to be come close to working. Before the first wedding between the Prince and Romana happens, the Doctor gets involved and the wedding is stopped.

The Doctor embarks on a sword fight for the first time (I think) since ‘The Sea Devils’. The lack of music is something that I think makes the fight less interesting that it could have otherwise should have been. When the incidental music does arrive it doesn’t really save things. The end of this fight is the end of the Count’s involvement in the episode. The fight goes on for a few moments and I can’t help but compare this to the Sea Devils story. The Count jumping off the bridge into the river is a bit of a cop out. It would have been better I think for the Count to have had some sort of closure because this ending implies that he could return but obviously this isn’t the case so it just seems like a bit of a weird way for a character to be written out of a story.

The scene where Romana encounters the Princess Strella is a funny moment and one that I think is the perfect way to end this adventure. The scene with the Doctor and Romana and the segment is a good one because it reminds us properly for the first time since the first episode that they are on a mission.

I think that this episode was a perfectly fine episode but it wasn’t quite the finale that it should have been. It’s a story that has a lot to like about it and it starts with the story and ends with the characters which all been very well realised by David Fisher and credit should be going to Michael Hayes because he has directed this story beautifully and has done a really good job. It doesn’t happen very often in Doctor Who where both the writing and the directing work so well together but it happens here and this is the second best story of the season which might sound like a bit of a back handed compliment but considering that the best story of the season is ‘The Stones of Blood’ then you know how good this had to be. I think that now I am 2/3 of the way through the season, I realise that we have just two stories left of the Key to Time and the stories that are left aren’t quite as good as the previous two that I have enjoyed. The Androids of Tara has remained as good as I have previously thought of in previous years and think that David Fisher has shown himself to be one of the best writers of recent years. His freshness is something that the more established writers could learn a thing or two from.