(653) The Trial of a Timelord (Part 14): The Ultimate Foe (Part 2)

So we come to the end of this Trial series and also the end of the Colin Baker era. It is also the time that the current title sequence will be used. It has been used in pretty much the same style since the first episode of The Leisure Hive. I think that it’s about time that the titles were changed and the theme tune is thankfully going as well. This episode was supposed to be written by Robert Holmes but he was ill and Eric Saward had fallen out with JNT well and truly so it fell to Pip and Jane Baker to deal with the fall out and try and write a script that a) makes sense, b) finishes this portion of the season satisfactorily and c) wrap up the entire season in a way that doesn’t disappoint.

The effect of Colin Baker being lifter out of the sinking pit it a little bit dodgy because its clear that the image is being manipulated. The Valeyard keeps jumping around and this was a good effect and made even better by the reactions of Colin Baker and Tony Selby.

I like the Master’s TARDIS because it very much suits the Master’s persona. I forget that the Doctor and Glitz stumble across it and this leads to a nice end scene where the Doctor is hypnotised and is left to be taken out by the Valeyard. This then of course doesn’t happen but moments later the Doctor is taken by Mel and it leads to the courtroom to finish the trial. I like how it comes across as a proper trial and the viewer is led to believe that the Doctor is prepared to accept the guilty verdict that is given. It doesn’t take long for the viewer to be told the truth. What I like is that the Doctor appears to accept this but in truth is just going along with the lie.

I do like the scene where the Doctor and Mel are in the machinery room. I love going to that sort of thing so this bit amused me. What also amused me is a bomb that the Valeyard has created and Mel uses word like Megabyte and Modem which sound quite futuristic in 1986 but 2015 that is nothing.

The Doctor is successful in stopping the Valeyard’s bomb and that appears to be the end of it. The Doctor is found not guilty but during the scene with the Doctor and the Inquisitor the Doctor is informed that Peri didn’t die but is shacked up with King Yrcanos. I personally think that this wasn’t the best thing to do because it completely devalues the ending of episode eight.

This was the best episode for Michael Jayston because after spending the previous thirteen episodes popping up every so often with great lines and now he gets to show us what he is really made of. Jayston really enjoys himself from the very beginning.

Final lines are quite important aren’t they. William Hartnell’s were “It’s far from being all over”, Tom Baker was “It’s the end, but the moment has been prepared for” and Peter Davison left the show with “Is this death”. Colin Baker sadly wasn’t afforded the same luxury as due to Colin Baker not wanting to return for just one story refused to return and so his final words were “Carrot Juice, Carrot Juice, Carrot Juice”. It wasn’t the best way to end the Sixth Doctor’s tenure on the show. The final shot is also slightly frustrating because shows that the Valeyard has now taken the body of the Keeper of the Matrix. Sadly we never get another TV adventure with Jayston.

Pip and Jane Baker did a very good job considering the time constraints and other constraints that they couldn’t deal with. If you didn’t know about the problems then you wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference. Chris Clough also directed this episode rather well.

I think that the season has been better than I (and many) have given it credit. The Mysterious Planet was a bit of a let-down but the rest of it worked quite well and Colin Baker gave it a good go in this season and seemed to have toned down the madness that seemed to be rampant in the previous season. Nicola Bryant and Bonnie Langford did good jobs as the companions and I have commented on my new appreciation for Bonnie Langford now. Lynda Bellingham and Michael Jayston were superb supporting cast members. Trial is never going to be very popular with fans but I have learnt to love the season.

Now I am about to enter the final portion of the classic original run and if I had concerns with the trial season before I started watching it. I have even greater concerns about the upcoming season which I have always thought of as the weakest season ever. Maybe things will change.

One thing that I have come to a conclusion about is just how badly I have judge Colin Baker’s time as the Doctor. Ok so his first story was a complete car wreck and the less said about Timelash and The Mysterious Planet the better but apart from those stories Colin Baker really hasn’t put a foot wrong as the leading man. The stories have been largely good and as far as ratings are concerned, only three stories out of the eleven did were outside the top 60 that works out at just 27.3% of his stories. Here is the full list so far.

Colin Baker (27.3%)
Tom Baker (48.8%)
Jon Pertwee (50.0%)
Peter Davison (63.2%)
Patrick Troughton (71.4%)
William Hartnell (82.8%)

When it comes to the bottom 50 stories its still good for Sixie.

Jon Pertwee (12.5%)
Tom Baker (26.8%)
Colin Baker (27.3%)
Peter Davison (31.6%)
Patrick Troughton (42.9%)
William Hartnell (62.1%)

I had always thought that Big Finish had been the ones that re-invented the Sixth Doctor but in truth they have just woken everyone up to how good Colin Baker was a the Doctor and how much better his time on the show had been than previously thought. I have enjoyed the last month a lot more than I ever thought I would and I will genuinely miss watching the Sixth Doctor because after over 20 years of not rating this Doctor very highly, I have the opportunity to say I was wrong. Badly wrong.