(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.