(598) Enlightenment - Part 3

The penultimate episode of this story manages to make up for the lack of development that there was. At the end of the previous episode, Turlough decided to go overboard and what I was surprised with how much better it seemed. There seemed to be a bit more drama in it this time. The few moments when he is overboard is quite good but sadly the effects of Turlough being rescued don’t work entirely well. In fact it’s fair to say that Turlough doesn’t have the best of times in this episode. You could say that his chickens had come home to roost and so the predicament he finds himself in is of his own doing.

Lynda Baron finally makes an appearance as Wrack. She is the captain of the Buccaneer and her ship is the most interesting because Baron makes it seem the more fun. I like how Baron plays Wrack totally straight. Wrack is easily the best thing in the episode and I wish she had been in the story from the beginning. Wrack has been pulling the strings in the story without even being on screen. She is the one that has been handing out red gems like they are smarties and she does the same when she puts a gemstone in Tegan’s tiara.

Marriner has gone from being a bit creepy to being someone quite useful. He is helping the Doctor to locate Turlough and what he’s feeling and I thought that Christopher Brown’s performance has been somewhat underrated over the past three episodes. Even in his brief appearance Valentine Dyall’s performance is great. I haven’t spoken too much about Peter Davison and that is simply because it doesn’t really stand out that much. It’s not terrible but with everything else going on he does tend to blend into the background. Janet Fielding is slightly better but when she gets hypnotised by Wrack then it does feel like the character is back to the norm for a classic companions.

The cliffhanger is great but not because its dramatic or anything like that but simply because I adore Lynda Baron and she makes the ending of the episode work. I love how she is looking at the screen by Baron which ends with her cackling at the screen as the camera focuses on the jewel that is in Tegan’s tiara. So its fair to say that I have enjoyed this episode but not necessarily because of the narrative but because of the performances. The next episode has an awful lot to live up to and ties up a lot of loose ends. Only time will tell if this is done but this story is doing a good job of telling a story.