Arc of Infinity is a story that I have always had a soft
spot for. It’s the opening story of Doctor Who’s 20th 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.
No comments:
Post a Comment