So this is the episode that stands out for two reasons.
Firstly the episode is building up to the execution of the Doctor (more of that
in a bit) but most importantly, its sees Tegan ‘return’ after being left at
Heathrow Airport. The thing that is surprising is just how understated Tegan’s
first appearance in this episode is. This is the theme really because this is a
new and understated Tegan. Not only is she out of that terrible purple dress
and also she has less hair than before. Janet Fielding’s whole performance was very
enjoyable and it just shows how far the companion has come since the early days
of her time with Tom Baker’s Doctor. There does seem to be some of the old
Tegan in the performance but generally it’s a more toned down Tegan. Tegan doesn’t
seem too concerned about the disappearance of her cousin. I know that she has
seen a lot since she joined the show but if I had been told that my cousin had
disappeared in mysterious circumstances then I would be a bit more hysterical
than Tegan is.
Whilst Tegan is running around Amsterdam trying to find her
cousin, the Doctor and Nyssa are tring to deal with the goings on with the High
Council. They really do act before they think because within a few minutes of
the Doctor chatting to the high council they are ordering his execution.
Between that decision and the actual execution there is a lot of toeing and
froing to find out who is the traitor. When Nyssa is held captive in the
TARDIS, it would have been reasonable to assume that she was going to spend the
entire episode in there but thankfully she wasn’t in it for too long. It’s fun
to see Colin Baker interact with Peter Davison’s Doctor in this episode. It’s
weird to think that Colin Baker will the tenant of the TARDIS.
The identity of the traitor is something that wasn’t going
to be revealed in todays episode. There seemed to be a concerted effort to make
us think that the Castelan was the one but its too obvious and the true culprit
manages to stand out but not enough for people to suspect. This comes when he
is the only person to vote against having the Doctor executed.
The ‘execution’ of the Doctor is made better with the
addition of the CGI effects option on the DVD. Due to this it makes the ending
quite good and Nyssa ends it by saying that she hopes they are happy. This
cliffhanger is quite good but I didn’t enjoy in terms seeing a future Doctor
shoot the current one. I am still enjoying this story and think that there is
still some good stuff yet to come.
No comments:
Post a Comment