It’s quite fitting that with tonight being Halloween, that
this is the debut episode for Adric. Adric is arguably one of the most disliked
companions ever in Doctor Who. I wonder whether over the course of his run on
the show, that my opinion might change. Part of this change has happened whilst
listening to the recent Fifth Doctor Boxset released via Big Finish but I
wonder what will happen over the course of the next couple of weeks. Full
Circle is the first story of the E-Space Trilogy which sees the Doctor and
Romana enter E-Space which is like normal space but green. Things start off
with the Doctor and Romana about to return to Gallifrey but thanks to K9
meddling things go a bit wonky and they end up somewhere completely different despite
the scanner suggesting they are on Gallifrey. I like the fact that there is a
bit of mystery about this which doesn’t last too long but long enough to be
interesting.
The story takes place on Alzarius and the first thing that
strikes me about this story and episode is the location footage which looks
fantastic and does look like a different world. People are getting ready to go
on the Starliner and I like how it seems to be dividing people because there
are those like the deciders which are leaving Alzarius on the starliner and a
group on people (like Adric) who aren’t interested and they are called Outlers.
Adric’s first scene is perfectly fine but its funny how the scene goes about
two minutes before drawing attention to the star badge for Mathematical
Excellence. The Outlers don’t exactly strike me as the wisest group of people
and if I had to choose then I would have gone with the deciders.
Adric has only been in Doctor Who for one episode and his
actions have led to the death of someone. Due to the fact he was trying to
prove his brother’s friends wrong he tried to steal some fruit and got caught
by Draith. Ok so maybe Draith shouldn’t have run after him but I don’t really
buy that. It’s quite the debut for the character and he can hardly be accused
of being dull and inactive.
The effect of Mistfall is one that is simple but works
really well and the music helps to create a wonderfully atmospheric feel to it.
Peter Grimwade has always been a better director than a writer in my opinion
and this episode is proof of that. He directs the episode with a lot of
enthusiasm and the writing works well and what we have is a pretty solid
opening episode. Even Tom Baker was on good form and the look on the Doctor’s
face when Adric enters the TARIDS is quite fun.
The cliffhanger is brilliant in my mind and one of the
strongest for several episodes. The sight of these disgusting creatures out of
the water and the music again helps with this and after being left slightly
weary with ‘Meglos’ it good to get back to business and start enjoying Tom Baker’s
final season and the next four episodes should work for me in exactly the same
way as today’s episode. Good stuff indeed.
On a side note, this time last year I was watching episode
seven of ‘The Evil of the Daleks’.
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