(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.