(619) The Caves of Androzani - Part 1

The Caves of Androzani is one of those stories that has everything right go for it. Some people regard it as one of the best stories of Doctor Who ever and its not hard to see why. I think that there are some better stories but this is probably one of the best Davison stories. This is the 20^th and final story of Peter Davison’s tenure. It’s fair to say that the current season has been a rather mixed batch with some great stories and yet some terrible stories. Thankfully Davisnon’s era ends on a high note. The opening scene is rather grim and sets the tone for the episode.

Peri becomes entangled in some sort of web fungus which isn’t treated with any importance but becomes vital later on. The Doctor and Peri don’t have the best time in this episode because they are accused of doing something they didn’t do and the cliffhanger is them being shot by a firing squad with red cloths over their heads. The purpose of the celery that has been part of the fifth Doctor’s costume is finally explained and it was never going to be a fantastic explanation but at least an effort has ben made.

The set designs are of the same quality as those seen in Earthshock. It shows how badly wrong they got sets like Four to Doomsday and Warriors of the Deep.

John Normington is brilliant as Morgus. He does a lot of looking at the camera which is something that had never been seen in the show before. Beside that every time he is on screen he just goes for it. The character isn’t the president but acts like it. He is a very unlikeable character yet there is something to like about him. Barbara Kinghorn is the only other female performer in the story apart from Nicola Bryant and she is also works brilliantly. She is a rather on the sidelines in this episode yet she there is still a bit of magic in her performance.

Martin Cochrane plays Chellak and his role is rather standard. That might sound like a critiscm but in a weird way by being standard he manages to come across as someone that still manages to hold his own in the scenes that he was in. Christopher Gable plays the great character Sharaz Jek but thanks to Graeme Harper’s superb directing, we don’t see him properly until the end when he turns to the camera and laughs just as the Doctor and Peri are about to be executed. Jek is mentioned a lot in the episode and so he becomes this mystifcal figure even though he doesn’t actually do anything.

Graeme Harper directs his first episode of Doctor Who brilliantly. Pretty much every second on screen is superbly set up. Somethings that have never been seen in the show before showed what could be achieved in the show. Robert Holmes is an old hand at writing Doctor Who stories and he hasn’t lost any of his magic. In fact this might be his best story ever because he has written a strong story with strong characters and this opening episode pretty much sets the tone for the rest of the serial. Peter Davison’s final story isn’t going to be a joy finale but what it looks like its going to be is a classic classic.