Todays episode is the final episode of 2014 and also the
final episode for Sarah Sutton. The thing that strikes me about this episode is
how long it takes to get going. There seems to be an awful lot of not much
happening. It takes about ten minutes before the episode seems to have a
purpose and it also coincides with the first appearance of Nyssa. This is done
when Nyssa comes to the realisation that there is no real system in place for
treating people. In the course of a couple of minutes she discovers her purpose
in life. She’s done more in a couple of minutes in this episode than she did in
the previous three. Nyssa is about to create the green stuff that Valgard and
his guys need and with that able to create a cure for Lazars disease. It feels
like at this point that she has started to say her goodbyes.
It seems that Valgard has undergone a character
transformation in such a short amount of time. He went from being a rather
brash individual to someone who was quite willing to work with other people. It’s
a shame that it came so late in the episode but it was still fun to see. The
thing I liked about how this episode ended is that it didn’t end with Lazars
being cured but the idea that things were going to be better and after all the
grimness that there had been for the last few episodes, it was nice that a bit
of optimism was allowed into the episode.
The goodbye between the Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan is quite
emotional. It’s made sad because Janet Fielding and Sarah Sutton really do make
it feel genuine. Peter Davison’s reaction is funny because the Doctor doesn’t
want to lose Nyssa and is perhaps still gutted that he had to take Tegan back.
The episode ends with a strange cliffhanger. Its strange
because we don’t normally get proper cliffhanger and yet this episode ends with
the Black Guardian ordering Turlough to kill the Doctor. What a great way to
end 2014. At least it does attempt to try and bring the purpose of the story
arc back to the centre of people’s mind. I do think that the idea of Turlough
trying to kill the Doctor is falling apart and it is something that is going to
get in the way of the next story.
The past 365 episodes have been a wide selection and it’s
weird to think that by this time next year the marathon will be over. The first
episode of 2014 was the final part of ‘The Krotons’ which I think we can all
agree is a bit of a rubbish episode and at least the year ended on a high note.
It’s sad to say goodbye to Nyssa because I have really liked the character and
she has been one of the best companions in Doctor Who. It has been frustrating sometimes
with the way that the character has been treated because she has been put to
one side because she is smarter than other people. Thankfully such problems don’t
occur in the Big Finish plays that she does but that’s it for Nyssa and the
TARDIS crew is back to just being a trio. 
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