After enjoying Attack
of the Cybermen, I knew that it wasn’t going to be two top stories in a
row. Vengeance on Varos has a rather
infamous reputation as the one that is used to attack the show’s track record
on violence. The whole subject of violence on TV is dealt with in this story
and it seems that this story was about 15 years ahead of its time. It certainly
has a Big Brother theme to it. The story takes place on Varos and we are rather
interestingly seeing the story effectively through the eyes of two people from
Varos by the name of Etta and Arak. Stephen Yardley plays Arak and he seems the
one that is rather disillusioned with life. Sheila Reid plays Etta and will
return to play a relative of Clara’s in the new series but she is perhaps more
famous for being in the ITV sitcom Benidorm. She is the one that is more
obedient to the government and is willing to turn in her own husband and I
think that is something that makes their relationship interesting. Another interesting
thing is that they don’t interact with anyone else.
The next person we are introduced to is Jason Connery. Connery
appears as Jondar and is the son of former James Bond star Sean Connery. The
thing about the character is that we are supposed to like him because he seems
to be unfairly treated. However there is something that doesn’t quite work for
me and I can’t put my finger on it. There are other people that I think have a
better time in this episode. Nabil Shaban plays Sil and steals this story.
There is just something wonderful about the performance. Every time he is on
screen, I find myself totally mesmerised with him. I think that apart from
Shaban’s performance, the design of the creature is wonderful and shows that
some thought and money went into it. However a good costume isn’t worth
anything if the actor wearing the costume isn’t any good and we can be quite
grateful that Shaban was cast because no one would have made this character as
loathsome and unlikeable as he does. Martin Jarvis plays the Governor. The role
of the Governor who has to seek the public’s vote as to whether he should stay
in power. I don’t envy the Governor very much because he is pretty much
pressured into things and has to undergo rather harsh treatment. Jarvis has
previous appeared in The Web Planet
(1965) and Invasion of the Dinosaurs
(1974) and I think that this is perhaps the most intense performance of the
three.
The Doctor and Peri spend an awful long time in the TARDIS
and are forced to land on Varos. Once they soon land on Varos then they get
into a world of trouble and encounter Jondar. I think that the performances
from Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant aren’t particularly on fire in this episode.
If memory serves me correctly I think that the next episode is the one that
will stand out for them but Baker has the better time in the latter stages of
the episode.
Normally tunnels provide very little in the way of drama or
entertainment but credit to Philip Martin for managing to make something of
these rather primitive sets. They are used to try and put off the Doctor and
others and they are quite entertaining. My particular favourite one is sand
dunes one which forces the Doctor to believe he is unbelievably hot and this
leads up to the cliffhanger. The final second is the close up of the Doctor unconscious
and the TV monitor being turned off. This is a very dramatic ending and I don’t
normally like cliffhangers that include the Doctor or the companion but when
its done like this then I don’t really mind. This is another episode where
humour is rather thin on the ground. The Arak and Etta stuff is perhaps the
closes that we really get to humour and I think that if there was a problem
with this story it is that it is too dark in my opinion. I like this story don’t
get me wrong but I think that Attack of the Cybermen is a better in terms of
finding the right balance.
No comments:
Post a Comment