The Caves of Androzani

You have the mouth of an itinerant jackanapes, but your eyes...

The Caves of Androzani won the #1 spot in the 2009 Doctor Who Magazine poll and finished #2 to The Day of the Doctor in the 2014 poll. By many it is easily considered to be the best story of the classic era. That's a rather high bar to clear and it does set expectations rather high. That it also has Peri, who is my least favorite companion, also gives me that feeling of a story's expectations being set too high. I have seen this once before but I was very distracted while watching it and didn't give it my full attention. We'll see if it holds me better a second time around.

Plot Summary

The Doctor and Peri land on the planet of Androzani Minor where the Doctor is surprised to find evidence of mechanical activity given that the planet is supposed to be uninhabited. He and Peri venture into a cave system where Peri stumbles into a nest of fungus. The Doctor helps her out, getting some of the fungus on him as well. They continue down the caves where they find a stash of weapons and are immediately arrested by soldiers believing them to be arms smugglers.

Taken to General Chellak, the Doctor learns that they are mining a substance called Spectrox which extends human life, but are fighting a guerrilla war against Sharaz Jek, a rebel with a talent for building androids. Summarily convicted by Chellak, he puts them in a holding cell while calling back to Androzani Major to report in.

Chellak contacts Morgus, the head of the company that owns the Spetrox mines and is a close confidant of the President. Morgus congratulates Chellak on his capture and orders the summary execution of Peri and the Doctor. Shortly after the call, the President informs Morgus that the government is considering parleying with Sharaz Jek as the price of Spectrox has gone up so much that the people are revolting.

At the same time, the real arms smugglers, led by a man named Stotz, lead a raid and kill one of Chellak's patrols. The patrols are working extra as several miners have been killed due to an attack by a creature living in the caves known as the Magma Beast. All of these instances are monitored by Sharaz Jek who uses them to create further destabilization in the mines.

The Doctor and Peri are brought out for execution by firing squad, although Chellak is starting to doubt that they are gun runners. They are draped in red cloaks, lined up and shot. After the soldiers are dismissed, Chellak looks at them and realizes they are actually android duplicates. The real Doctor and Peri were spirited away by Sharaz Jek.

In his lair, Jek informs them that he intends to keep them as company, Peri for her physical beauty and the Doctor for his stimulating mind. He also reveals that he has captured Chellak's aide Salateen and replaced him with an android as well as his plan to restrict the supply of Spectrox until Androzani Major agrees to give him Morgus, whom he blames for his mutilated state.

While imprisoned with Salateen, Salateen recognizes their symptoms and informs them that they will die of Spectrox Toxemia in a couple of days. The only antidote is the milk of a queen bat that lives deep in the minds where there is no oxygen. Motivated by the deadline, the Doctor elects to escape quickly.

Stotz, determined to get paid even though he lost the arms to Chellak's men, signals Sharaz Jek and Jek agrees to meet with him in person in the caves. Knowing that the androids are programed to kill any human without a special modulator on their body, the Doctor exits the cell, hoping his non-human physiology will allow him to pass. He gets past the android guard and deactivates it, beckoning Peri and Salateen to follow. They are spotted by another guard who attacks them. Salateen destroys it with the gun taken from the deactivated android but the Doctor is knocked out by a stray bullet glancing off his head. Salateen pulls Peri along the passage, leaving the Doctor behind.

Jek meets with Stotz and his men and negotiates to pay them just under half of the original agreement. Jek leaves to get it but Stotz orders his men to follow Jek and steal the whole supply of Spectrox. As they enter, they are attacked by the Magma Beast who seems to be immune to their bullets. The Doctor wakes just as this beast attacks and takes cover behind a rock. The beast is driven off and the Doctor is captured by Stotz who takes him back to their ship on the surface after getting the Spectrox as negotiated.

Salateen brings Peri back to Chellak and fills him in on everything. Chellak decides to use the android Salateen to try and trick Jek into a trap. However, when briefing the android Salateen, it picks up the real Salateen and Peri's heat signatures and then reports this back to Jek. Jek orders Salateen to lead Chellak's men into a counter trap while he breaks into Chellak's base and re-kidnaps Peri.

Stotz flies the Doctor back to Androzani Major and communicates with Morgus on their next move. Morgus orders them to stay in orbit while he decides their next move. Morgus becomes convinced that the Doctor is a government plant and that the President is on to him. He kills the President, making it seems as though it was an accident and then flies in his own shuttle to Androzani Minor to take Jek's supplies of Spectrox.

While in holding orbit, the Doctor manages to take control of the ship and reroutes it to Androzani Minor. He crashes the ship and runs to the caves to try and rescue Peri. Stotz and his men give chase but they are forced off when a superheated mud burst occurs, forcing them to take shelter. The Doctor continues in to the caves.

Jek's androids, reprogrammed with information from Peri, attack Chellak's men, killing a number of them but they are overrun by sheer numbers. Chellak himself fights his way into Jek's hideout where he engages Jek. Jek fights him off but he loses his mask in the process. Chellak is thrown out of the bunker just as a mud burst occurs in the passage, killing Chellak. Peri herself sees Jek without his mask and her horrified reaction breaks him.

With the rest of Chellak's men dead or running to escape the mud bursts, the Doctor enters Jek's bunker unimpeded. He finds Jek with his mask back on but fretting about the dying Peri. He gives the Doctor an oxygen cylinder to help him as the Doctor heads deeper into the caves to get the milk of a queen bat. On the way he finds the Magma Beast which was also caught in the mud burst.

Morgus lands on Androzani Minor but upon contacting Major, he finds that his secretary, Timmin, has turned over evidence against him, getting him charged with treason and taking over as head of the corporation. With his assets seized, Morgus agrees to work with Stotz and split the Spectrox 50-50. Stotz's men refuse to help and Stotz kills them, leaving him and Morgus.

The two of them make their way into the caves and follow the trail of bodies to Jek's bunker. Seeing Morgus, Jek rips his mask off and attacks Morgus. Stotz, briefly thrown aside, shoots Jek but is in turn shot by the Salateen android. Jek kills Morgus by shoving him into an engine and then dies in Salateen's arms, who goes inactive with Jek's death.

The Doctor manages to make his way to a queen bat and gets two vials of milk from her. He makes his way back to Jek's base and grabs Peri. He carries her back to the TARDIS but as he reaches for the TARDIS key he drops one of the vials. He pulls Peri into the TARDIS and gives her the remaining vial. Peri recovers but with no cure, the Doctor feels the poison take effect. He sees a vision of his five previous companions as well as the Master who urges him to die. With that, he regenerates into the Sixth Doctor, shocking Peri.

Analysis

I will certainly not quibble with any fan who says that The Caves of Androzani is the best Fifth Doctor story. I think and argument could be made regarding Kinda or Earthshock, but The Caves of Androzani is unquestionably a top notch story. However, is it worthy of the #1 ranking in all the classic era? I would say no. I liked it a great deal, but the answer is still no.

As good as the writing and most of the acting is, the thing that truly sells this story is the direction. Graeme Harper went full stop and gave some wonderful scenes using unique angles, proper lighting and strong, intense performances from the actors. In lesser hands this story could easily have been middle of the road as it does not tread any new ground for Robert Holmes, but Harper is able to infuse it with a pathos that is lacking in many other stories.

Now, I must detract Harper as well because one of the few quibbles I had with this story is also due to Harper's direction. I hate it when the actors stare down camera and it happens multiple times. There's the big obvious one with the Sixth Doctor directly addressing the audience at the end and that was not good but I could have gotten past it. What I really didn't like was how it was used by Morgus. He looks directly down shortly after being introduced in Episode One but in Episode Three, he constantly looks away and down the camera while talking with Stotz. This is the sort of thing that I would expect in a Moliere play which is always tongue-in-cheek about it's own existence. This is trying to be serious and the constant asides to the audience, with a character offering commentary, takes you right out of the experience.

But since we're here, let's talk about Morgus. Morgus is probably the weakest performance of any of the main cast but it's still not bad. I mentioned before his asides and how off-putting they were, but he also had a rather flat delivery. I believe the intent was to make him colder, very much in the mold of an 80's industrialist but by sapping all his emotion, he became boring. He needed a bit more color, not enough to make him mustache twirl-y, but enough to show that he had depth. Smugness during his conversations with the President, anger at Stotz or a bit more open fear when he thinks the Doctor is a government agent would have fleshed him out and made Jek's revenge feel that much more satisfying. I still liked him but more would have been better.

Keeping with the villains, I liked Stotz a lot more. He was emotional but not stupid. He was a thug but one who could think and plan on his own and that made him so much more enjoyable than Morgus. When he's cutting through the bridge door and threatening to murder the Doctor at the end of Episode Three, you really believe him and it ups the peril you feel for the Doctor in the cliffhanger. It also feels that much more satisfying when the android Salateen shoots Stotz in the back. My only quibble with Stotz is that they gave him and his fellow gun runners Stormtrooper aim when the Doctor is running away. It makes the villain seem less potent when they have ample opportunity to kill the hero but don't because they can't shoot straight.

Going to the Doctor, this is an interesting performance because he is such a secondary character in the story. Had the Doctor not intervened, things would have remained in the status quo with Jek slowly infiltrating Chellak's men and eventually driving him to the point of parley. Instead, the Doctor galvanizes things by exposing Jek's mole and forcing a full confrontation between Chellak's and Jek's forces. He also draws in Morgus which brings everything to a head there. In it all, the Doctor mostly just stands by, offering a snappy comeback here and there. His only moments of actual action are in the escape attempt with Peri and Salateen and his rush back to rescue Peri. Everything else just swirls around him.

In a way, that seems rather fitting for the Fifth Doctor. More than any other iteration, he seemed to be always on his back foot and reacting as things unfolded around him. He tries to help but either comes up short or drives things to a conclusion that was probably going to happen anyway. The situation around him is interesting and I like the Doctor's wit in both dealing with what he can and also in still maintaining some level of humor about things. But he is truly not the central focus of this story, despite his name in the title.

If the Doctor didn't have much to do, Peri had even less. She does have a nice interchange with the Doctor before everything goes to pot and she seems to pair well with the Fifth Doctor. I also like how stoic she was in this story. In later stories with the Sixth Doctor, Peri would get snippy and rude in as much as the Doctor would. Here she just gives it the full "stiff upper lip" and accepts what she can. My personal favorite moment is at the end of Episode One when facing the firing squad. Even though she's an android double at that point, you believe it's Peri when she tells Chellak to just get on with it. That's the reaction and attitude that I enjoyed her having and she would have been a much better companion if that attitude had stayed a permanent part of her character. Some of her whininess does come through but you feel she has earned it a bit more given that she is dying and feels she has been abandoned by the Doctor at one point. So Peri works much better here than in other stories.

The unquestioned star of this story is Sharaz Jek. In many ways, he is nothing new. The maimed figure seeking revenge is very common (see most pre-Weber Phantom of the Opera adaptations for example) and Robert Holmes has even used this type of figure before in the full villain Magnus Greel. But, Sharaz Jek is given a number of pretentious and artistic lines that give him a veneer of being a more cultured monster than the rest of them. He is also so expertly performed by Christopher Gable, especially given that only his lips and one eye are available to him. It's almost all done with his voice and body language. Gable also makes sure to express that Jek, while a somewhat sympathetic figure, is still just as dark and malicious a character as Morgus or Stotz. He kills others without thought and shows no mercy or pity when it does not suit him. His ego, even after disfigurement, is almost as large as the Doctor's so he still is a very unpleasant individual.

In fact, it is this devotion to Jek's unpleasantness that exposes another small flaw in Episode Four. Jek is not stupid and you would think that he has seen the effects of Spectrox toxemia before. So why is he so broken up about Peri's impending death when the Doctor arrives? He should have been aware that Peri was dying the moment he recaptured her in Episode Three. I can only think that his exposure by Chellak and Peri's reaction to him broke something in his mind. He could not even delude himself at that point that she would learn to love the façade he presented, much less the real him. With this realization, the only hope he had for beauty was to keep her alive, even if it would be lost to him once again. But that does take a bit of intuition and head cannon. If not paying full attention, you might be lost at Jek's rather sudden tolerance for the Doctor, his desire to preserve Peri and his loss of focus on his revenge.

I enjoyed the writing of this one as I usually do for Robert Holmes. Of course, there is nothing new here. Nearly every aspect of the story has been used by Robert Holmes in a different story. But it doesn't feel recycled and that is the important thing. How much of that is due to Holmes and how much of that is due to the actors or the directing is up for debate, but ultimately the story does feel at least mostly new. Even if it does feel a bit familiar at points, you get peppered with proper Robert Holmes witticisms which are so enjoyable that you stop caring if the characters seem familiar or not.

There is one point of weakness in the writing of the story and I think that is how it was adapted to be the Fifth Doctor's final story. The Doctor retrieves the bat's milk near the end. I assume he cannot drink it himself immediately because he is holding his breath but once he makes it out of that portion of the cave, there is no reason he couldn't. He certainly could have drunk his and even forced Peri to drink hers before running out of Jek's lair. If he was concerned about speed, he still could have carried her while the milk took effect. The waiting and dropping of one vial just seems like a bit of idle chance that was thrown in because it was time for the Fifth Doctor to die. In the non-regeneration version, I'm betting they would have drunk the milk sooner or the Doctor would not have dropped it getting back in the TARDIS. A simple difference between regenerating and not regenerating.

I am relieved to say that I did enjoy this one greatly. Perhaps not quite as much as others but I would still consider it either the #1 or #2 story of the Fifth Doctor era (can't quite decide between this and Earthshock). Even with my concerns and the quibbles I found in it, it is still an excellent story and I'd happily recommend it to anyone curious about it. I will throw in the caveat that I would not place it as the #1 overall classic story. In fact, I doubt I'd even place it in the top 10, but with 159 stories to choose from, that's rather understandable I think.

Overall personal score: 4.5 out of 5

Planet of Fire

The worst place in the universe, English public school on Earth.

I know very little about Planet of Fire going in to it other than it involves the Master, Kamelion returns, Turlough leaves and Peri joins. That's quite a lot for one story to do so I'm not surprised that those parts are well known. What's surprising is that so much of the story is not discussed. Even the location shooting on Lanzarote is better known than most of the plot elements so despite knowing several highlights, I'm going into this one with something of a blank slate.

Plot Summary

On the planet Sarn, two men are climbing a volcano, testing to see if their god Logar is real. Reaching the top, they find nothing, validating their skepticism. They head back down and confront their leader, Timinov, who is a strong adherent to the faith and is guiding Malkon, the Chosen One.

On the TARDIS, the Doctor overhears Kamelion screaming and finds that the TARDIS is picking up a signal that is overwriting his functions. Turlough sets up a wave to block the signal but also sees another signal from the Trions, his own race. He sabotages the circuit picking up the signal, but the TARDIS is redirected to the source, the island of Lanzarote on Earth. The Doctor and Turlough walk around searching for the source of the signal.

On the beach, they meet Howard and Curt, who have been pulling artifacts out of the ocean. Howard is the stepfather to Peri, a young American woman attending school in England. He has also just tricked her into missing a flight to Morocco where she had planned to spend the summer with some English boys she had met and is now stuck on the artifact recovery boat. The Doctor notes the signal coming through and Turlough heads back to the TARDIS so that they can triangulate the signal.

Angry at Howard and determined to make her flight, Peri leaps off the boat and tries to swim to shore. However, she cramps up and begins to drown. Hearing her cries for help, Turlough swims out and pulls her to shore. He takes her into the TARDIS and lays her down on a bed to recover. He also notices that one of the things in her bag is the source of the signal, marked with a double triangle signal, identical to a brand on his own arm (and on Malkon's arm, the symbol of Logar).

Turlough takes the device and tries to destroy it but it signals again and the Doctor follows it back to the TARDIS. The signal takes hold of Kamelion and Kamelion enters new coordinates into the TARDIS, though Turlough stops him before he can fully engage. The Doctor takes the data core from the device but it engages the TARDIS and they take off.

Kamelion reconfigures himself to the appearance of Howard, startling Peri. She follows "Howard" into the TARDIS control room asking what is going on. No one says anything as they land on Sarn. The Doctor and Turlough leave to explore, leaving Peri with Kamelion.

In the temple, the unbelievers confront Timinov who requests a sign from Logar. In response, the flames of the temple burst through the gates. They receive word a few moments later that an Outsider has arrived, seemingly in response to a prophecy. Timinov orders the unbelievers arrested and appeals to Malkon to have the unbelievers thrown to the fire as a sacrifice to Logar, as only the Chosen One has the authority to order such a sacrifice. Malkon demurs, wishing to see to the Outsider before ordering death to anyone.

On the TARDIS, Kamelion, in his Howard form begins to laugh and transforms himself again into the Master. The Master keeps Peri in the TARDIS until her mind begins to override the Master's. Kamelion transforms into a silver-skinned Howard, who gives Peri a computer component of the TARDIS and orders her to run. As she tries to flee, the Master regains control and grabs her. But an earthquake knocks over the Master's TARDIS, which has materialized across the courtyard from the Doctor's, and the Master loses control again, allowing Peri to run.

Peri runs after the Doctor and Turlough, spying them on a ridge ahead of her. She calls out but they are too far ahead. She runs further with the Kamelion Master behind her. She reaches the lookout point from where the TARDIS was spotted by the Sarnians, trapped by a dead end. She threatens to throw the TARDIS component over the edge if the Master approaches. Her strength of will begins to override the Master's control again and Kamelion turns back into the silver Howard allowing her to flee into the waste.

The Doctor and Turlough keep walking until they are spotted by a lookout for the unbelievers. He takes them to a cave in the mountain where Turlough recognizes the equipment as a means of tapping the energy of the mountain by his people, the Trions. The Doctor and Turlough meet Malkon, to whom the Doctor explains the equipment. Turlough listens to Malkon's story of being discovered near the mountain with a double triangle brand, a brand Turlough shares, and Turlough implores Malkon to take him there. The Doctor meanwhile, asks to be taken to the main settlement.

Timinov and the scout stop to rest near the lookout post where they find Kamelion in silver Howard form. As silver skin is a sign of Logar, they assume him to be the Outsider. The Master reestablishes control and resumes that form, requesting they take him to their settlement. Once there, he sees the Doctor and orders him and the unbelievers to be consigned to the flames.

Turlough and Malkon reach the remains of a crashed Trion ship from which Malkon was found. Turlough also finds Peri nearby and takes her along. Peri gives Turlough the piece of the Doctor's TARDIS and tells him that the Master is here. The three then run back to the settlement as the Master is ordering the burning.

Malkon enters, ordering that the burning be stopped. The Master counters the order and one of the guards shoots Malkon, though not killing him. Turlough and Peri run to the unbeliever's cave and reworks the machine to shut off the gas flow, killing the flames in the burn cave. Timinov takes this as a sign that Logar rejects the sacrifice due to the wounding of the Chosen One.

The Doctor tries to take control of Kamelion by asserting his will over the Master's. The Master fights and orders the Doctor and the unbelievers be locked in the extinguished cave. The geology of the cave diminishes the power of the Doctor's thoughts and the Master reasserts control. Seeing this on a screen, Peri runs back and tries to take control, but the Master has taken a firmer hand and her mind is no match for his. The Master then orders the villagers to come to the ruins where he will give them the gifts of Logar, taking Peri with him.

Turlough sneaks back and releases the Doctor and the unbelievers from the cave. They head back to the unbeliever's hideout carrying Malkon with them. Turlough reveals that he believes Malkon may be his brother. Knowing that he has to rescue Peri, the Doctor heads to the ruins with an unbeliever named Amyand as his guide. Turlough gives the Doctor the component that Peri gave him and follows.

At the ruins, the Sarnians uncover and right the Master's TARDIS, disguised as a pillar of stone. The Master pulls Peri into the TARDIS and disappears. The Doctor observes this, but knows that the Master is still on Sarn as their two TARDISes are linked. Turlough reveals his brand and declares himself as the new Chosen One. This permits the Doctor to reenter the TARDIS and reinstall the component. However, he realizes that the Master has also removed a component and they are still stuck.

The Master and Peri rematerialize in the control chamber of the volcano. He threatens Peri with his tissue compression eliminator and reworks the controls. His experimenting causes earthquakes and Turlough orders everyone into the TARDIS for protection. They emerge when the tremors stop and find the volcano spewing blue gas, a sign of great favor from Logar according to Timinov as it has healing powers.

The gas is actually numismaton gas, a rare and powerful restorative agent mined by the Trions on Sarn. With the gas flow established as ready, the Kamelion Master prepares to pull a box from his TARDIS into the flow. Peri manages to get away from him and lock herself in the Master's TARDIS with Kamelion out of it. She opens the box to find the real Master, shrunk to a tiny size, a victim of a failed experiment with his Tissue Compression Eliminator.

The Doctor and the rest of the group return to the settlement where the Doctor orders Malkon brought up and placed in the cave. The flames are reestablished and turn blue as the released gas mixes with the flames. They all step in and feel a great restoration with Malkon being healed of his wounds. However, the Doctor realizes that the mountain will explode from the Master's interference and makes plans to evacuate. Turlough decides to return to the crashed ship and signal his people.

Turlough reveals that the brand is the mark of Trion prisoners. His family was on the losing side of a civil war. His father and brother and other members were sent to the prison planet of Sarn while he was exiled to Earth where Trion had a scout to keep taps on him and others like him. He will summon a Trion ship to rescue the people, who are descendants of the original inhabitants blended with prior Trion exiles. As he leaves, the Doctor and Amyand also leave to find the entrance to the control cave.

In the Master's TARDIS, the Master eludes Peri by diving into the console. He triggers the doors, allowing Peri to escape before the Master can reestablish control over Kamelion. She runs out of the cave and on the slope where she spots the Doctor. She hails him and leads him to the cave entrance.

The Master crawls back into his control box just as the Doctor, Peri and Amyand enter. The Doctor steals the control mechanism from the Master's TARDIS to replace the one stolen from his. He then peers in on the Master. The Master has reestablished control over Kamelion who then forces the three out of his TARDIS. Kamelion then moves the TARDIS into the flame area.

The Doctor gives Amyand the control unit and orders him to give it to Turlough and to bring the TARDIS to the room. He dresses Amyand in a thermal suit to protect him from the volcano fires that are now erupting around them. The Doctor then rigs a mechanism to break the Master's control of Kamelion as well as reconfiguring the flame output of the mountain.

Kamelion emerges from the TARDIS and places the Master's box in the flame. He emerges to stop the Doctor with the Tissue Compression Eliminator but the Doctor triggers the device, causing Kamelion to spasm. As the Master loses control, Kamelion urges the Doctor to kill him as he is in pain and cannot fully break free of the Master. The Doctor uses the Tissue Compression Eliminator to shrink and destroy Kamelion.

Turlough signals Trion and arranges a rescue ship. He then heads back to the settlement to urge everyone to head out there. While there, Amyand arrives, mistaken at first by Timanov for Logar. Amyand reveals himself and gives the circuit to Turlough who races off, followed by most of the people. Amyand appeals to Timanov to come with them but he declines saying that he and the other elders will die with the settlement, subservient to Logar to the end.

As the rescue ship arrives, Turlough reinstalls the circuit and send the TARDIS to the control room on delay while he goes with the others. The TARDIS arrives just as the flames begin to be infuses with the healing gas. Peri goes in the TARDIS as the Master regrows back to his normal size. But the Doctor shuts off the gas flow and the Master is surrounded by flames. They grow and he disappears into the flames. The Doctor follows into the TARDIS and takes it back to the rescue ship where Turlough is waiting.

Turlough is informed that the regime on Trion has changed and political prisoners are no longer subject to exile, meaning that he is allowed to return home. With his brother to see to and with a longing for home, he reluctantly bids goodbye to the Doctor and Peri and leaves in the Trion ship. The Doctor and Peri take off as well with Peri asking if she could travel with the Doctor for a while as she had been hoping to travel before everything got started. The Doctor agrees and officially welcomes her aboard.

Analysis

I rather like this story. I know that Peter Grimwade was predominantly a director rather than a writer but I'd say he did a decent job on this one, though Eric Saward did a fair amount of fill in work. I would also say that there is a lingering presence of Christopher Bidmede in this story as well, though with slightly less derision towards religion than Bidemede usually included.

Before even getting into the story or the acting, much praise must be heaped on to Fiona Cumming and the location shooting. The studio work was pretty good too with some nice angles and viewpoints but the exterior filming on Lanzarote is some of the best I've ever seen on the show. She made an absolutely excellent use of all the available terrain and features to really give you the sense of an alien frontier and doing a lot with probably a very small budget.

The Doctor does well here. There is something about the final season of the Fifth Doctor that gives him a darker edge and it works well. He tries to maintain the lightness of tone, but there is no longer any aloofness about him. He is very direct and what few jokes he does make are very underplayed, mostly in an aside to no one sort of way. This more serious take lends an extra air of seriousness that is sometimes lacking in other stories. Given that there are no rubber monsters to deal with, it gives the overall story some significant gravity.

The companions are a mixed bag here. Turlough was pretty good although I think Mark Strickson still delves a bit too much into the overacting bag. He is more restrained and that helps his performance but you get a bit of the darker Turlough here given his fear to reveal his past to the Doctor. It both helps and hurts because there isn't really any reason that he should be keeping anything from the Doctor at this point. It's not even as if he is a real criminal. His side merely lost a war and he was exiled for it. There is no personal shame in that, nor would the Doctor be angry at Turlough for it. I can understand Turlough's lack of desire to contact Trion for fear of being returned to exile, but that also betrays a lack of trust in the Doctor to keep him free. Still, I think his overall performance was definitely weighted on the positive side.

The introduction of Peri demonstrates to me that there were very little change in her performance in her time on the show. I will give Nicola Bryant one significant benefit of the doubt in that I believe her performances suffered due to shallow writing and her focus on maintaining the "American" accent. It's also unfortunate that most male fans focus on Peri's "attributes" being showcased in Episode One and take that as the whole reason to like her. Looks are fine and I'm not going to complain about things like that, but I would rather have had a companion with a bit more substance and a lot less of the whiney-wibble in her voice. But for that, I blame JNT who clearly told her to focus on the accent. Still, Peri is probably less objectionable in this story than in others, though she does do nothing other than be the damsel in distress the whole time. I would have preferred it if she had actually done something of substance in the story.

Another bout of disappointment in her character is the obvious potential for backstory laid here that was never explored. Her nightmare when recovering from nearly drowning clearly indicates that she was abused (probably sexually) by Howard. Couple this with an obvious desire to accompany men to strange, exotic places for thrills shows a rather damaged young woman. This helps explain why she sticks with the emotionally abusive Sixth Doctor but also makes him to be such a bigger jerk than even originally intended. I would have liked to see some growth and independence in her overall development, such that she was a stronger person towards the end. Admittedly, she was better in The Mysterious Planet, but I still feel that there were some missed opportunities in her overall arc.

There's not much to say about Kamelion. I think this story did a good job of showing the missed opportunities with him and the pitfalls. Kamelion was dropped because they couldn't get the robot puppet to work right and that still shows in the few scenes where you see it. But it also shows how Kamelion could have been portrayed by a random guest actor as the story warranted it. Of course, Kamelion spends so much time as the Master that you genuinely forget that it is Kamelion at points if there weren't several protracted battles for his control. In the end, I'm not sorry they killed him off. It was too confusing and the control issues never really resolved themselves. There is one extra bit of interest as I believe this is the only instance where the Doctor actually killed a companion himself. All the other companions who died, died due to the machinations of the enemy or by their own actions.

Of the guest cast, Timinov was my favorite. It would be very easy in this story to show the believers of Logar as delusional fools and blood-thirsty savages, much as was done in Meglos. However, Timinov gives a great sense of nobility in his faith, going so far as to accept his own death in the destruction of the mountain as a gesture of his faith. A measure of condescension towards this can be seen with the unbelievers, especially Amyand, but I respected Timinov for his choices and beliefs. He remained ignorant of certain truths and that probably resulted in his overall downfall, but his faith was genuine and I could appreciate that.

I continue to maintain that Anthony Ainley is a better Master and certainly better actor than he is given credit for. Yes, he goes mustache twirl-y over-the-top a number of times, but there still a level of menace in his performance and he can pull it back to a more serious tone when necessary. I found him quite enjoyable in this story, although he did have a bad moment when he was posing as Logar's prophet. He went way overboard with the hand and body movements in pronouncing judgment on the non-believers. He looked like he was trying to do something like what Southern revivalist preachers might do, but it was so unnatural and jerky that it just looked incredibly out of place. Other that that, I didn't have a problem with it and actually rather enjoyed the fact that the Master was operating on a rather simple and direct plan. He had had an accident and was trying to fix himself. No grand design, no significant theater. Just a was to fix a problem situation.

On an overall level, I really enjoyed this one. There were a couple of hiccups here and there but the flow of the story worked well and it's well worth watching for the cinematography alone. That it has excellent performances for the most part is just another bonus. Of the all the Fifth Doctor stories I've seen so far, I think I would only place it behind Earthshock and Kinda so I would readily watch this one a second time around.

Overall personal score: 4 out of 5

Revelation of the Daleks

How inconvenient. Do you know how difficult it is to find good secretaries?

I've noticed that Eric Saward has a somewhat negative reputation as a writer among Doctor Who fans as he writes stories that are exceptionally violent and have very high body counts. One could also argue that he doesn't do the relationship between the Doctor and the companion particularly well either. However, Earthshock is highly regarded among the fans as is Resurrection of the Daleks, so perhaps it is only when he sticks his oar into other's work that he garners a bad reputation. I don't hear much about Revelation of the Daleks except about the cutoff joke at the end where the Doctor is going to say "Blackpool" so I went in to this story somewhat blindly.

Plot Summary

The Doctor and Peri land on the planet Necros, where the Doctor has learned that an old friend of his, Arthur Stengos, has been interred in the suspended animation facility of Tranquil Repose. As this is unlike the personality of his friend, the Doctor is suspicious. He lands the TARDIS well away from the facility and he and Peri walk through the snow towards the facility. Along the way they are attacked by a man who has been mutated. He goes for the Doctor and Peri is able to knock him out with a blow to the head with a tree branch. The blow clears his mind and he dies telling them that his condition was brought about by one known as "The Great Healer."

In the facility, the chief embalmer, Mr. Jobel, is finishing the preparations on the President's wife who has just died and is expected shortly. As he dismisses his staff to prepare, two body snatchers, Natasha and Grigory, slip past. Natasha is the daughter of Arthur Stengos and is just as suspicious of his internment in the facility as the Doctor is. The two manage to make it to Arthur's registry but they find his cryogenics chamber empty. They are discovered by guards and they make their way to another chamber where they find brains held in jars. They also find Arthur, suspended in a clear Dalek casing, his head mutating into a Dalek. He appeals to his daughter as the Dalek thought processes begin to take over and she blows him and the casing up.

Monitoring events from a secret chamber is Davros as a head suspended in a jar, attached to a machine. He orders Daleks on patrol. He also orders the snatchers caught as well as one of the junior embalmers, Tasambeker, brought to him. Davros also contacts Kara, the owner of a protein processing factory that has been working with Davros. He supplies her with raw protein material and she in turn funnels money back to him for his research. He requests additional funds and she agrees. However, she is determined to be rid of Davros and shortly after finishing the call with Davros welcomes Orcini, a disgraced knight and highly skilled assassin, and his squire Bostock and hires them to kill Davros. Orcini readily accepts, forgoing payment as he sees killing Davros as a badge of honor.

Natasha and Grigory are apprehended by two workers, Takis and Lilt. They are locked into a dungeon and Lilt tortures Grigory, attempting to get the truth of who sent them and what their mission is out of him. Meanwhile, Tasambeker is brought to Davros where he has her observe Jobel, with whom she loves, though he despises her. Davros has notices a strong streak of anger in her and hopes to turn her love into a vein of hate and make her into a Dalek.

The Doctor and Peri arrive at the facility, having been forced to climb a wall to get in. The Doctor is unnerved when he observes a monument garden with his picture on it as he believes that it means that he will die there. The monument of him suddenly falls on him and he appears to be crushed. Peri rushes over but she is stopped by Jobel, who observed the event and has developed a lust for Peri. But the Doctor emerges, the monument not being made of stone after all. They dismiss Jobel and enter the facility.

Inside, the Doctor and Peri are greeted by Tasambeker and the Doctor inquires her about their facilities. Unable to get the full answers from her, he asks to see the Great Healer. He dissuades Peri from going with him and she instead goes to see the DJ who plays music and observes the facility. The DJ is flattered by Peri's appreciation of his aping 20th century Earth DJs and shows her around his studio. The Doctor meanwhile is captured by two Daleks and taken to the same dungeon as Natasha and Grigory. Davros, pleased with the Doctor's capture, dispatches a group of Daleks to the protein plant to arrest Kara. They also kill her secretary and accomplice, Vogel.

While the Daleks are gone, Orcini and Bostock sneak further into the facility. They release the three prisoners to create a diversion while the two of them enter Davros' lab. The Doctor radios Peri and orders her to get back to the TARDIS and radio the President's ship to leave off as the facility is under control of the Daleks. Davros is alerted to this and sends more Daleks to stop her. Unable to get out, Peri uses the DJ's radio to signal the ship. The President's ship breaks off it's approach and they also observe another ship heading towards Necros.

Tasameker, ordered by Davros to kill Jobel, instead tries to warn him of Davros' plan. He mocks her and laughs her off. Enraged at his condescension, she stabs him with a syringe of embalming fluid, killing him. She runs off and runs into the Daleks heading toward the DJ studio and they kill her.

The Doctor sends Natasha and Grigory to destroy the lab they found earlier while he tries to get to Davros. Natasha and Grigory succeed in getting to the lab but find their weapons depleted. They set the controls to overload but before they can get out, a new Dalek teleports in and kills them. It is destroyed with the lab when the controls explode.

Orcini and Bostock reach Davros' lab and succeed in destroying Davros' head at the control panel. However, this was just a mock up and the real Davros, in his chair, emerges. Both Orcini and Bostock are wounded by Dalek guards, though Bostock appears dead. Orcini is propped in a chair and Kara is brought in, confronted with her failed plan. She is forced to admit that she also supplied Orcini with a hidden bomb, intending for all parties to be destroyed by it. Orcini stabs her with his hidden knife for her treachery, killing her.

Peri and the DJ manage to hold off and destroy several Daleks before they break through and the DJ is killed. Peri is brought to Davros' lab where she is reunited with the Doctor, who was also captured by several patrolling Daleks. Davros expounds on his new facilities to create Daleks, even going so far to tell him about how unused parts are turned into raw protein which are then shipped throughout the galaxy as a food source. Davros prepares to activate his other facilities, replacing the one that was destroyed when Bostock rises and shoots off Davros' hand. He is then gunned down by a Dalek.

While distracted, the unidentified freighter lands, revealing a faction of Imperial Daleks, invited by Takis and Lilt. They take them through the corridors where they destroy the Daleks loyal to Davros. They enter the lab and arrest Davros and escort him out, preparing to take him to Skaro for trial. The Doctor, Takis and Lilt create a distraction and Orcini destroys the Dalek guard. Orcini, wounded, is unable to go with them and volunteers to stay behind and detonate the bomb given him by Kara, which will destroy all of Davros' facilities. The group runs out and reaches the ground level as Orcini detonates the bomb. This destroys the facilities but the Imperial Daleks and Davros lift off in their ship.

With the facility destroyed the Doctor offers to show them how they can process the native weed flower plant, which is similar to the soybean on Earth, to continue to meet their protein deliveries. He then promises to take Peri to a fun location, though the scene ends before he can reveal where.

Analysis

On one hand, I can understand why this story is looked down on and why Eric Saward is not highly regarded as a writer. But on the other hand, I can't help but admit that I really enjoyed this one. Looking at it squarely, I believe that this might actually be the Sixth Doctor story I enjoyed the most. The fact that it goes for several long stretches in Episode One without the Doctor might say something about my overall attitude towards the Sixth Doctor.

In his limited capacity, I did enjoy the Sixth Doctor. He was a bit less pompous in this story than in other stories and I thought there was a more introspective air about him. He also was a lot less condescending towards Peri in this story. There were still moments where he was rude and negative towards her, but there were also moments of compassion. He actually comforted her in a limited way after the mutant died that she did it in self defense. He also went so far as to show trust and care for her welfare in suggesting she go visit the DJ and then signalling to her to return to the TARDIS to radio the President's ship. That is a lot more confidence than he has ever shown her before and he did it without any form of backhanded insults.

Peri herself also wasn't too bad. She didn't have the wibbly whimper that she often has, even if she did spend a lot of time suggesting they run back to the TARDIS. But she did show herself useful in a couple of instances and there were even some moments where she showed compassion for the Doctor, even if she then spent just as much time whining about how she would be left on Necros.

The real assets of this story though were the secondary characters. Davros was entertaining in his megalomaniacal way and although you can miss the quieter and more cunning Davros, he still got the drop on just about everyone. Indeed, his only real flaw in this story is that he went James Bond villain and had to explain his plans to the Doctor, giving Bostock more time to recover and the Imperial Daleks time to arrive. I did enjoy the couple second fake out where you actually think Davros has been killed by Orcini. Of course, having seen later episodes, I knew that Davros would survive but I was at a moment of genuine curiosity when I saw the control panel blow up and Davros' head cave in as to how they would bring him back.

Unquestionably, the character I enjoyed the most was Orcini. There was a quiet confidence in both the character and in the actor portraying him. He had an excellent rapport with Bostock and a genuine quiet menace about him. There was no bluster or talk. He was deadly and you could feel that deadliness as he walked around. It was also nice to see the two of them actually take out Daleks and not just be overwhelmed and pray for a Deus Ex Machina at the end. They went in and they meant to see the job done and I appreciated that.

For the most part, I liked Kara as well. She was better in Episode One where she was more subtle in her motivations. You could tell that she was conspiring against Davros and she was a bit oily with Orcini and the transponder/bomb, but there was room in her interpretation that she wasn't as conniving as you might expect. However, she gave way to tropes in Episode Two, especially with the standard villain exposition of the plan to the henchman for the audience benefit. I actually liked the fact that Orcini straight up murders her for her betrayal of him and that Davros is completely unphased by his having a hidden dagger. She is a minor villain but done fairly well and dispatched readily when her part is over.

I thought the sets and camera work was pretty good for the 1980's. It is just an unfortunate by-product of the 80's that the sets generally look worse than the ones in the 70's, but I thought these were fairly well done. I did like the outdoor filmed scenes quite a bit, especially with the snow on the ground. It gave a harsher look to the environment and helped set the mood properly. Of course, most things look better on film so that's always an improvement.

There were a few things I didn't care for. Some of the secondary acting wasn't great. Tasambeker stood out for me particularly. She wasn't bad when doing the demur mouse, but her appeals to Jobel weren't done well and her jilted lover bit where she stabs Jobel was particularly poorly done. Jobel himself was also not the best. He was alright when doing the overbearing administrator or the plotter, but his attempts to be creepy infatuated were overdone and a bit too rape-y for my taste.

I also thought the DJ was way over the top and didn't really understand his commentary of things through the story. He didn't make much sense to have in the story to begin with other than as a place to keep Peri until the last bit. His fight was decent but his death was somewhat dumb as he just stood up to be shot rather than staying hunkered down. It was odd and felt rather pointless in a fairly dense story.

The Daleks were fairly well done but there were small problem with them as well. I liked that they were somewhat vulnerable to the weapons but in doing so, the models were revealed to be a bit cheap. When the Doctor shoots off the eyestalk of the guard Dalek near the end, you can see the top wobble as it spins. It's also a bit disappointing that the Imperial Daleks provide a Dalek Ex Machina ending rather than the Doctor figuring a way out of the dilemma.

This story is definitely not for everyone given that it is uber-violent and delves in some pretty dark humor for a family show. It also has some odd cutaways that border on silly at times. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the story and would probably pick it over nearly every other Sixth Doctor story to watch. I think only Vengeance on Varos or Mysterious Planet would compete with it. So for me, this is quite a good one.

Overall personal score: 4 out of 5

Timelash

Do you have a fat, female Morlox with slinky legs?

I had originally planned for my next viewing to be Enlightenment so I could finish off the Black Guardian trilogy. But the version available to me was missing Episode Four so I had to put that one on the back burner until I can get a full and proper version. Instead, I'll tackle another story near the bottom of everyone's list. I don't recall why this one is supposed to be so bad. I only recall that it involves H. G. Wells, which seems like it would be a decent premise. But good premises often fail due to poor execution, so on we go.

Plot Summary

The Doctor is planning a trip to the Andromeda galaxy when Peri walks in and asks if they could take a trip to someplace fun. The Doctor attempts to suggest the Eye of Orion but Peri shoots him down as he has brought that location up a few times too often. He decides to continue on with his planned visit to Andromeda.

On the planet Karfel, a trio of rebels are attempting to escape as they have been exposed. Their planet is ruled by a dictator referred to as the Borad. All three are captured with the leader being executed by the Borad himself and the other two exiled by being pushed through a time vortex called the timelash.

In the TARDIS, the Doctor observes a time vortex opening in front and pulling the TARDIS in. He tries to avoid it but cannot escape it. He and Peri secure themselves to the console and hold on as the TARDIS is rocked about.

One member of the Karfel high council, Mykros, is frustrated by the Borad's rule and follows his soon to be father-in-law, Renis, into a power room. Renis is the Maylin, the head of the high council. He reveals to Mykros how he channels power for the Borad's experiments and a perceived weakness of the Borad. However, they are overheard by a hidden microphone and arrested.

Renis is brought before the Borad and executed. A new man, Tekker, is appointed Maylin and sentences Mykros to exile through the Timelash. Renis' daughter Vena pleads for mercy but when it is denied, she steals the amulet that controls the power supply but accidently falls into the timelash. She passes through the TARDIS as an apparition and materializes in the living room of a young man named Herbert. He believes her to be a spirit but she passes out and he lays her on a couch to recuperate.

The TARDIS materializes in the central hall and the Doctor and Peri emerge. They are welcomed by Maylin Tekker who knows of the Doctor as he had visited fifty years ago with Jo Grant as the Third Doctor. They are shown around and Peri is offered a private tour just after being handed a mysterious note. As Peri goes on her tour, the guards attempt to kill her but she is able to open a door where she finds herself in a system of caves.

Tekker is summoned away by the ambassador of the Bandrils, the people of the neighboring planet. Karfel has violated a peace treaty and has stopped grain shipments to the planet. With famine growing, the Bandrils threaten war unless the shipments start again. Tekker refuses, believing that the Borad will protect them.

Unaware of Peri's escape, Tekker threatens to kill Peri unless the Doctor retrieves the amulet stolen by Vena. The Doctor reluctantly agress and plots the TARDIS along the time corridor created by the timelash. He materializes outside Herbert's cottage and finds Vena inside. She agrees to go along with the Doctor's plan of giving back the amulet but insists on going to, although the Doctor tries to get her to stay with Herbert. Herbert wants to go along as well but the Doctor refuses. However, he manages to sneak aboard while the Doctor is still talking with Vena.

In the caves, Peri is attacked by a snake-like creature called a Morlox. It is beaten off by a cadre of rebels who then take Peri. She convinces them she is with the Doctor and the debate what to do next. However, Tekker's men discovered the note given to Peri, which she accidentally dropped, and come and arrest all of them.

The Doctor arrives back on Karfel and gives up the amulet. However, Tekker reneges on the agreement. Peri is taken away and Tekker instructs an android to push the Doctor into the timelash. The Doctor manages to pull out a mirror he took from Herbert's house which causes the android to malfunction. The rebels use the distraction to turn on and overpower the guards. Tekker and his lackey retreat and the rebels seal the door.

The Doctor finds a coil of strong rope and has the rebels lower him into the timelash. Inside, the cavern is a set of crystals that, when harmonized, produce the time vortex. The Doctor takes several crystals but slips and nearly falls in. Herbert and Mykros enter the timelash along the rope to help pull him out. With the crystals, the Doctor builds a device that pushes him forward ten seconds in time, but leaves an image of what happened in real time. He also develops a weapon to redirect energy from the weapons to transport the source away. The rebels recall seeing a burning android appear shortly before they were captured in the caves and realize that it was the Doctor's weapon.

The guards blow their way through. The rebels manage to take most down with the weapons stolen initially, but the android fights them back, killing one rebel. The Doctor uses his weapon, causing the android to short circuit and then disappear an hour into the past. With the guards beaten back, the Doctor orders the rebels to hide themselves while he goes to see the Borad. Herbert goes with him although the Doctor tries to dissuade him.

Meanwhile Peri has been taken by the guards to a holding cell, where she is equipped with a mechanical device. She is then taken into the caves and secured to a pole to await the Morlox.

The Doctor enters the Borad's quarters while Herbert climbs a ladder and finds a ledge overlooking the area. The Doctor is held at gunpoint by Tekker and the Borad reveals his true form. He is a scientist who was repudiated by the Doctor on his last visit. He was caught in an experiment gone wrong and fused his tissue with that of the Morlox he was experimenting on. He now plans to have the Bandrils destroy the population of Karfel, after which he will destroy the Bandrils. Tekker is appalled at this and tries to stand up to the Borad but the Borad kills him.

The Borad reveals to the Doctor that he plans to repopulate the devastated planet with other humanoid/Morlox hybrids. He has placed Peri in the caves with a lure for the Morlox and the same batch of chemicals that created him. When attacked, the Morlox will rupture the chemicals and create a female version for him to breed with. The Doctor activates his time device and eludes the Borad's attempts to kill him. He reemerges with the device pointed at the Borad who fires at him again. It absorbs the energy and redirects it at the Borad, killing him. The Doctor sends Herbert out to collect Peri while he finds the release mechanism. He releases Peri and Herbert pulls her back into the citadel away from the Morlox.

The group returns to the main chamber where they find that the Bandrils have launched a missile that will devastate the planet. The Doctor is able to contact the Bandrils but they refuse to call off the attack without conformation of the Borad's death. Lacking time, the Doctor heads out to the TARDIS to intercept the missile. Peri tries to go with him but the Doctor forces her to wait on planet. He is unaware that Herbert has snuck aboard until after taking off. He moves the TARDIS in the path of the missile and destroys it before it can hit the planet.

The Bandrils, believing the Doctor has sacrificed himself, call off the attack and prepare to land and negotiate with Mykros, who is the new Maylin. The Doctor arrives, unwilling to disclose how the TARDIS survived the missile impact and the group prepares to depart. However, a clone of the Borad appears and grabs Peri. He threatens to kill her unless the Doctor surrenders and destroys the Bandrils. The Doctor refuses and knocks down an old picture of his Third iteration to reveal a mirror. Unable to look upon himself, the Borad shields his eyes and releases Peri. The Doctor then pushes the Borad into the timelash, where he believes he will land in 12th century Scotland.

The Doctor and Peri prepare to depart, Herbert coming along reluctantly. While he is saying his goodbyes, the Doctor reveals that Herbert is actually H. G. Wells and will be drawing off these experiences for his stories.

Analysis

I really tried to keep an open mind about this one but every time I found something that was good, it was immediately followed by something bad and it just dragged me down. This story has a lot of sins but the worst of them is the fact that it is padded and boring. There were some individual performances that were good, but the story as a whole, both in writing and direction were quite subpar.

There were three characters I rather enjoyed: the Borad, Tekker and Herbert. Herbert had youthful naiveté that was understandable and made him more interesting. Tekker was hammy but it worked both in his toadying villain role and in contrast to the Doctor's own hammy arrogance. The Borad was the best for him. His makeup wasn't bad and he had a restrained performance that actually made him more menacing. His primary flaw was to go into Blofeld mode with the Doctor and explain all his plans before actually killing him. He was more decisive in killing Tekker than he was in killing the Doctor, but it was still enjoyable to watch. Even with the ludicrousness of the clone Borad, there was still a nice rapport between him and the Borad that it made the scene more interesting.

The Doctor was decent in this story. He was still arrogant but I felt he wasn't trying to be overly insulting. It was also nice that he was legitimately thinking his way out of problems rather than letting others do it for him. Peri, on the other hand, was dreadful. She started off wrong in the beginning as the Doctor actually attempts to be civil with her and she acts like a wet blanket about any holiday destination. Once on Karfel, she is separated from him for most of the story and serves only to scream and act the damsel in distress. Then, when the Doctor is racing against time to try and stop the Bandril missile, she refuses to listen to the Doctor and argues until he literally throws her out of the TARDIS. Neither comes across as good but if time is an issue, why are you pressing when you know you are just going to stand there and not be useful? It made Peri so aggravating at that moment.

So that covered the few positives. The negatives are more broad. First the story. Pulling on the works of H. G. Wells seems like it would be a phenomenal idea. However, the works of H. G. Wells are only used on the barest cursory level. It's almost like someone read a paragraph summary of four Wells novels and pulled only one of the ideas mentioned in that summary: the Doctor being invisible during his time jump (The Invisible Man), the Morlox and the TARDIS itself (The Time Machine), animal-human splicing (The Island of Dr. Moreau), and a battle between planets (War of the Worlds).
With all the ideas available and the richness of Wells' text to draw on, the story is boring through nearly all of Episode One. It picks up in Episode Two but once the original Borad dies, the story just drags out, trying to figure out how to fill the last fifteen minutes. It then takes the extremely lazy way out by first not bothering to figure out how the Doctor survived the Bandril missile but also to bring back the Borad for the equivalent of a final jump scare in a horror movie.

There are a lot of logical flaws in the plot as well. I understand why the Borad would hate to look on himself and ban mirrors, but why does a mirror have any effect on an android? Why do most people sent through the timelash end up in 12th century Scotland but Vena manages to land 800 years further in the future? Why would the Borad become the Loch Ness Monster when he still has legs that would allow him to walk out of the lake? Are the tales of his existence in the lake strong enough to last until the Zygons build the mechanical monster several hundred years later? Why don't the Bandrils even acknowledge Myros' attempt to talk with them and call off their attack? They might not believe him, but they should at least be willing to talk with him and maintain a holding pattern to see if the Borad has been overthrown, especially if they are familiar with the Doctor and can wait for his appearance. All of these things pile up and punch huge holes in the story.

The direction of this story is also very flat. Understand the idea that they didn't want the set glossy per the request of the Borad. But to compensate, the people should have been made to pop more. Color could have been used to more effect as could have a different type of shooting style or tape when doing different areas like the timelash itself. Instead it maintains this dull finish throughout. There is also nothing particularly good about the style of direction used. It's a very point one way and shoot rather than using any extra angles or framing to make the shots more interesting.

In the same vein, you have the contrast where the Borad looks very good as does the effects of aging people in his ray but the Morlox themselves look awful. I understand you are limited by budget and time effects, but if a mechanical puppet is the best you can do, light the cave differently so that it takes on a touch more menace. The Morlox looked like an animatronic dinosaur that you would see at any kid's museum and that is something that pulls you right out of the story. When you have that compared to how well other things were realized, it just makes the first thing look worse.

About the only saving grace I can give this story is that due to the quality of acting of a couple of the characters, it is not a story that I would necessarily plop into the bottom five as it typically seems to among fans. But it is not a good story and unless you were working on being a completionist and wanting to watch every story, it could easily be passed over without a second thought.

Overall personal score: 1 out of 5

The Twin Dilemma

I am the Doctor, whether you like it or not.

In just about every episode list that Doctor Who fans put together, three stories consistently sit at the bottom: Time-Flight, The Twin Dilemma and Time and the Rani. The Twin Dilemma is additionally exacerbated given that it is the immediate follow up to The Caves of Androzani, a story that is usually put near the top of most lists. So, taking that all into account, is this story as bad as it's reputation suggests?

Plot Summary

The Doctor, having just regenerated, prepares for a new adventure. Peri, unfamiliar with regeneration is skeptical and is wary of the new version of the Doctor. As he decides on a new outfit, the Doctor begins to go through crisis. He has mental lapses where wild emotion takes control. This blows up in a fit of paranoia where, believing that she is an evil fairy, the Doctor attacks and tries to strangle Peri. She manages to throw him off and when he wakes up to what he has done, decides that he must live as a hermit for a while, setting course for the asteroid Titan 3.

Meanwhile two mathematically gifted twins, Romulus and Remus Sylveste, are attending to their lessons, having been left alone for the evening by their parents. They are visited by an old man named Professor Edgeworth who uses a patch to hypnotize them and transports them to an alien spacecraft. Edgeworth has the boys locked in a room and contacts his employer, Mestor a giant slug, who orders them to head to the base on Titan 3.

The boy's father, Professor Sylveste, returns early and finds the boys gone. He also discovers a trace element in the floor and alerts the authorities that the boys have been kidnapped. The authorities launch an immediate search and one patrol ship discovers the freighter the boys are on. They are immediately alerted as the freighter was reported destroyed earlier that year and then jumps into warp drive, despite not being equipped with that capability.

The fighter squadron follows the freighter. When the freighter lands on Titan 3, the boys are taken the base. Mestor contacts Edgeworth and orders the boys to work. He also orders Edgeworth to destroy the pursuing fighters. Edgeworth does so though the squad leader, Lt. Lang, survives the crash. Disturbed by the loss of the squadron, the ministry on Earth orders any further pursuit called off.

The Doctor and Peri find Lang and bring him into the TARDIS. The Doctor chastises Peri for wanting to leave before they found him. Peri angrily rebuffs the Doctor for his own posturing. The noise of the argument brings Lang to his senses and he pulls a gun on the Doctor, believing him to be reason his squadron was destroyed. Peri pleads with Lang, who then collapses again. The Doctor takes away his gun and orders Peri to hide the power cell. At her urging, he reluctantly begins to tend to the man to save his life.

Professor Edgeworth sets the twins to a new set of calculations while he also sets his crew about to inspect the ship and the base. He updates Mestor on their progress as well and is ordered to come back to Jocanda once the ship is repaired. The twins balk at their assignments, but Mestor, who is telepathic, enters their minds and threatens their lives if they do not work.

Having tended to Lt. Lang's life, the Doctor and Peri leave the TARDIS and proceed to the hidden base. They discover a service passage and enter. In the corridors, the Doctor has a regeneration fit and the noise and his subsequent inaction attracts the attention of the Jacondans sent to make repairs. They take the Doctor and Peri back to Edgeworth in the main control room, where Edgeworth has just finished a cycle of cellular reconstruction in a side machine.

The Doctor recognizes Edgeworth as Azmael, the former ruler of Jocanda whom he befriended as the Fourth Doctor. Edgeworth does not recognize the Doctor but believes him and elects to merely leave him prisoner on Titan 3. This angers Noma, Edgeworth's second-in-command and he silently triggers the self destruct system for the base. Edgeworth, the twins and the Jocandans teleport to their ship, having locked the Doctor in and scrambled the teleporter.

The Doctor begins to try and figure the combination for the lock when Peri discovers the self destruct mechanism. The Doctor then changes plans and reconfigures the cellular reconstructor to act as a time teleporter which will carry them back to the TARDIS. He sends Peri first and then attempts to time his own jump to arrive at the same time as her.

On the TARDIS, Lt. Lang wakes and finds his gun. He realizes the power pack is missing and goes to find it. He enters the wardrobe and selects a new shirt to replace his damaged one. In the pocket of this new shirt, he finds the power pack. Fully armed, he attempts to figure out how to leave the TARDIS when Peri materializes near the console. She ignores him and turns on the scanner to see the base explode. The Doctor materializes moments later, telling her that he mistimed his jump due to the watch he was using being broken.

The two finally notice Lt. Lang and they bring him up to speed on the situation. He reluctantly agrees to work with them to rescue the twins. The Doctor then takes the TARDIS to Jaconda and is shocked to find the once green world a wasteland. Seeing petrified slime trails, the Doctor realizes that the planet has been taken over by a race of humanoid slugs that were thought to only be part of Jacondan legend.

Reverting into a fit, the Doctor argues against going to the palace to rescue the twins but Lt. Lang forces the Doctor to go. He lands in the basement and the group begins to sneak about, the Doctor pointing out carvings that relay the legend of the slug invasion. The Doctor figures that one of the slug eggs must have survived the great purge many years ago and the slugs grew in force until they could take over. Confirming this theory, two slugs pass by. The group manages to avoid being seen but Lang accidently steps in the slime trail and is stuck, forcing him to try and cut himself out.

Edgeworth and his group land on Jaconda where he sets the twins to work on his plan to bring two outer planets into orbit around Jaconda to act as greenhouses to continuously supply food to Jaconda. Mestor comes down to check on them and attempt to show that his aims are benevolent. Mestor reluctantly agrees to give the twins a full day to work and will refrain from telepathically monitoring Edgeworth. Edgeworth is left alone with the boys and a Jacondan named Drak who is sympathetic to Edgeworth.

Lang manages to cut himself free, but the Doctor goes on ahead of them, still in his regeneration fit. Lang and Peri are discovered by Jacondan guards. Lang is knocked out but Peri is taken to Mestor. Meanwhile the Doctor discovers Edgeworth's lab and attacks him. Drak manages to pull him off and the fit passes. Edgeworth tells the Doctor his plan for moving the planets when a revived Lang burst in, telling the Doctor of Peri's capture. The Doctor, moves to go rescue her but is restrained by Lang and Edgeworth so as to not expose them.

Mestor elects not to kill Peri but does probe her mind and sends his guards to Edgeworth's lab. The guards arrest the Doctor and take him to Mestor, although they miss Lang. In the throne room, the Doctor offers his services to help move the planets based on his experience. Mestor is suspicious but agrees, sending the Doctor and Peri back to the lab.

In the lab, the twins finish their calculations but the Doctor points out a flaw in the plan. As the planets are of lower mass, moving them closer to the sun will eventually cause their orbits to degrade and plunge into the sun. Edgeworth agrees, kicking himself for not seeing this flaw. The Doctor asks to see the hatchery to try and determine what Mestor's real plan is. The eggs seem odd to him and they only respond when heat is applied. He realizes that Mestor's plan is to have the two outer planets plunge into the sun with the resulting plasma explosion destroying Jaconda and sending the now heat bathed eggs across the universe to hatch and infect other worlds.

The Doctor orders the twins to erase their calculations, keeping the knowledge in their heads alone. He orders Lang to take the twins and Peri back to the TARDIS while he and Edgeworth take on Mestor. The Doctor tells Drak to go with Lang but finds Drak dead, Mestor having burned out his mind using him to monitor them. The two groups head out in separate directions, the Doctor taking two vials of chemicals with him.

Lang's group wanders the tunnels looking for the TARDIS. As they approach, the run into Noma and two other guards, sent by Mestor. The twins jump in front, knowing that Mestor needs them alive. The Jacondan hesitation allows Lang to shoot the two guards. Noma gets a shot off and wounds Lang, but he is able to return fire and shoot the gun from Noma's hand. Peri and the twins pick up the dropped guns and hold Noma prisoner.

The Doctor and Edgeworth head to the throne room and the Doctor throws one of his vials at Mestor. Mestor activates a force field to protect himself. He then threatens to take over the Doctor's mind but the Doctor mocks him and invites him. However, instead of the Doctor, Mestor transfers his mind to Edgeworth. Edgeworth fights him and tells the Doctor to destroy Mestor's original body. The Doctor throws his second vial of chemicals, melting Mestor's body. Mestor and Edgeworth continue to fight mentally but the strain is too much and Edgeworth collapses. Unable to retreat to his own body, Mestor's consciousness is ejected from Edgeworth's body and he dissipates, causing all the controlled Jacondans to be released to their normal selves. Edgeworth dies in the Doctor's arms, having used all his regenerations prior to this body.

The Doctor returns to the TARDIS and offers to take the twins back to Earth. Lang elects to stay and become the new Master of Jaconda. Peri wishes him well but the Doctor dismisses him. As they leave in the TARDIS, Peri asks if the Doctor is having another fit to be so rude. The Doctor states that his mind has stabilized and that she is going to have to accept his new brusquer, alien personality.

Analysis

While The Twin Dilemma is not the horrible dreck it is occasionally made out to be, it is not by any means good. The story itself isn't too bad, and there is some potential both in the overall plan and the introduction of the Doctor, but it falls apart in so many other ways that those overwhelm the good aspects of the story.

The limited amount of good things in this story are pretty much the story concept, some of the language structure of the script and the performance of Edgeworth. I did enjoy him throughout the story as he begins with a quiet sinisterness; someone who does not want to harm but will if the situation is necessary. He evolves into a more sympathetic character, having compassion but also still understanding that hard choices must be made. I did enjoy his performance, although his death scene was a bit hokey.

That hokey-ness is just one of the myriad of flaws this story has. You would think that a story that has the Doctor attempting to strangle a companion could only improve from that point, but the story actually gets worse in later episodes. I thought the Doctor's fits were over the top acting but that he was somewhat restrained when operating in his "normal" mode in the beginning. His pomposity was actually somewhat amusing as you adjusted to it. But even his non-fit moments started to take on a silly over-the-top-ness as the story progressed. It then all came to a crashing end in the final scene.

There are certain stories that have been described by fans as moments where the show was overly arrogant in that fans would just accept anything put out by the producers. The final scene of the Doctor talking to Peri is probably one of the worst moments. The Doctor doesn't look directly at the camera like he does at the end of The Caves of Androzani but his telling of Peri that she has no choice and must just accept him is a jab in the eye at the people who watched the show. Even worse is that there is total tone confusion in the scene. As the Doctor speaks, the music goes full minor, giving a dark edge to the scene, almost like a villain making a threat to a hostage. But then he smiles slightly and Peri responds like she just got the joke and that throws further confusion in to the scene. Is she going Stockholm Syndrome? Is this some sort of private joke between them? The scene just doesn't make any sense in what it is trying to accomplish other than to tell people to shut up and not whine about the new Doctor. It is just highly off-putting.

The acting outside of the Doctor and Edgeworth is a real mixed bag. Mestor, although limited by his costume, does a fairly good job. He comes across as fairly sinister and has a real Jabba the Hut angle going, although I think he seems more competent than Jabba. Lang was okay, although not overly memorable. Noma, likewise, did a decent job as the lackey, although I wouldn't call anything about his performance overly distinguishing. The twins were not good, although I didn't think they were as bad as fans say. They seemed like prototypical child actors, limited in scope and emotion, thus coming across as fairly bland. I wouldn't call their performance bad, just boring. As children, that earns them a bit of a pass in my book where as you would be harder on a similar performance from an adult.

Unquestionably, the worst acting comes from Peri. She never, ever, loses the whiney wibble in her voice and she seems genuinely stunted in her emotional range while trying to maintain the American accent. The script takes her all over the place, going from confused, to defiant, to back to submissive. The worst moment is the cliffhanger to Episode Two where she thinks the Doctor has been blown up. She scrunches up her face like she is about to cry but it comes across as so fake looking. I think I have seen better acting in high school dramas for that emotion. It is just absolutely terrible. Her only good moments come when she is standing up and fighting with the Doctor, calling him out on his crap. But she then either retreats too quickly into diminutive status or presses too hard and maintains the anger when it is not required that the overall effect of that momentary good bit is lost in the overplaying of the whole.

The set design wasn't bad, albeit very 1980's and I actually thought the Jacondans didn't look too bad. They had a more real look that you might expect for painting the face of an actor silver. Not the best alien ever seen on the show but far from the worst. Mestor on the other hand was terrible. The slugs in general weren't very good as there should have been a better attempt at making them look like they are slithering rather than shuffling. But Mestor himself was so limited by the terribleness of his mask. The worst part was the large plastic eyes that never moved. So much acting happens in the eyes and to have a creature that is supposed to be this sinister and cunning just stare half cross-eyed whenever being addressed. The costume would have been better served to eliminate any traces of eyes in the front and pretend that his eyes were on the stalks protruding from his head like slugs actually do. That would have made him slightly more unnerving to look at and emphasized his alien-ness. It also doesn't help that after visiting with the twins in Episode Three, you can see several Jacondan extras helping Mestor up the stairs by grabbing his arms. It either is a breaking of the illusion by the acting needing help just to get off the set, or it weakens Mestor's credibility as a villain as he cannot even leave a room without help.

Overall, I can't say that I enjoyed this story. I was feeling open-minded about this story at first and thought that it might be able to overcome some of it's limitations in the beginning. In the first episode and a half, I thought that maybe that fans were a little harsh on this story and that something could be salvaged by it, perhaps able to shoot for something in the 2 to 2.5 range. But it just continued to decline and by the end, I was just glad to be done with it. A decent story attempt but bad acting, mediocre direction, and inconsistency in production drug it down to the depths. Again, I will say that it is not a total loss or that it is dreck of the caliber of Dimensions in Time, but I can't think of any good reason why someone would want to watch this story for a second time. Definitely a poor start for the Sixth Doctor and an awful chaser to the prior story.

Overall personal score: 0.5 out of 5

Vengeance on Varos

I like that one, the one in the funny coat.

Nearly every science-fiction series does some variant on the Roman bread and circuses routine. Vengeance on Varos is that for Doctor Who, although it seems a bit odd that it took them that long to do one. Also, this one is long on the circuses but a bit short on the bread, giving it a stronger tie-in to the modern reality television market.

Plot Summary

On the planet Varos, a couple are watching a rebel leader named Jondar being tortured. They are awaiting a message and vote from the planetary governor. The Governor is negotiating a contract with the off-planet mining company representative named Sil over the planet's chief export, the mineral Zeiton-7. At a stand-off, the Governor goes before the people to ask for greater rations to expand mining operations. The people vote immediately and directly through their screens and when he loses the vote, the Governor is tortured with a cellular decay field, nearly killing him.

In the TARDIS, the Doctor is attempting to repair the damage done by the Cybermen in the previous adventure. The TARDIS suddenly stops dead and the Doctor begins to mope that they are stuck in the middle of space. Peri grabs the manual and when she notices the time-rotor still moving slightly, the Doctor is reanimated knowing they can make at least one more landing. Investigating, he figures the TARDIS needs an infusion of Zeiton-7 for renewed power and the two decide to head for Varos.

After the failed vote, Sil attempts to gain ground on the Governor in his weakened state. The Governor, needing time to recover, takes the suggestion of one of the guards to execute Jondar in a random fashion as a means of entertainment and driving up the Governor's ratings. Sil concedes the time as he is also fond of watching the executions but sends word to the company that more militant action may be necessary.

As the means is prepared, the Doctor and Peri land. The TARDIS is attacked by a guard and the Doctor disarms him. He then releases Jondar. The act brings the guards in and the trio flee into the tunnels. The Doctor sets up some distractions but the only lose the guards when pulled into an access tunnel by Jondar's wife Areta, aided by a sympathetic guard. The guard is gunned down as they flee but the rest escape deeper into the tunnels.

The Doctor tries to get back to the TARDIS and learns the only way is through a series of tunnels and rooms designed to terrify and torture people for entertainment. The group is unaware that they are still being broadcast and the public is enjoying their attempts at escape. They navigate through two rooms designed to paralyze them with fear but emerge unscathed. However, upon reaching the original room, they find the TARDIS has been taken by the authorities.

Continuing to look for the TARDIS, the group is separated by guards. Peri, Jondar and Areta are captured with Peri being taken to the control room for questioning. The Doctor is trapped in a hallway where hypnotic suggestion impresses on him that he is dying of thirst in the desert. He collapses, apparently dead. However, when the guards take him to the acid bath disposal room, he comes alert and gets up. The shock sends a guard back, knocking his companion into the bath. The remaining guard attacks the Doctor, but he is forced back and then dragged into the acid bath by the first guard trying to get out.

The Doctor leaves but is quickly recaptured. He and Jondar are sentenced to execution by hanging while the women will be cellularly reconstructed into some other creature. After the women are lead away, the Doctor accuses Sil of underpricing the Zeiton-7 ore, detailing how valuable it is and what the demand for it should be. Enraged, Sil sends his men in and one triggers the trap door. However, the nooses were not secured to anything and the Doctor and Jondar fall harmlessly below. The whole thing had been a ruse by the Governor to get the truth out of both the Doctor and Sil.

The Doctor states he will only help if Peri and Areta are released unharmed. Sil encourages the Chief Officer to not comply, allowing the transmogrification to continue. Peri begins to assume the form of a bird while Areta takes a more reptilian appearance. Realizing what has happened, the Doctor grabs a gun and orders them to stop the process. When they refuse, he destroys the equipment. With the process incomplete, Peri and Areta revert back to their normal states.

An alarm is sounded and the group make a run for it, although Peri and Areta are very weak. Seeking to help them, the Doctor and Jondar steal a guard car, but while doing so, Peri wanders off in a semi-delusional state and is captured. She is brought back to the control room and the Chief Controller orders a populace vote as the Governor has outstepped his mandate.

While the stream is being set up, the Governor appeals to guard captain Maldak to help them. He refuses, waiting for the vote results. Both the Chief Officer and the Governor state their cases and the vote goes against the Governor. As the cellular decay beam is activated, he condemns the Varosian society for what is has become. This moves Maldak and he destroys the cellular decay machine. Maldak, the Governor and Peri then flee into the tunnels.

Meanwhile, the Doctor, Jondar and Areta elude death traps in the corridors as they approach the exit of the dome. They enter an area with deadly vines and when a patrol car approaches, the Doctor has Jondar pull a group of the vines away with a string. The Chief Officer and Quilliam the torturer arrive and attempt to gather them for torture display when Jondar releases the vines, running into their pursuers and killing them.

The Doctor's group meets the Governor's group as they emerge from the vines and return to the control room. There they find Sil communicating with his own people about an invasion force. The invasion fleet is called off as another source of Zeiton-7 has been discovered although the immediate need requires them to pay any price. The Governor then creates a new contract that will bring great wealth to Varos.

The Governor gives the Doctor and Peri the Zeiton-7 they need and then addresses the people. As they will now getting greater wealth, he is calling off all rationing and cancelling the broadcast tortures. The couple who had been watching events all this time reflect that although they have now been grated freedom, they are unsure of what to do next.

Analysis

There are a number of stories in Doctor Who that have not aged well, whether due to a change in civic outlook, production values, or just an appreciation of acting performance. Vengeance on Varos seems to be one of those rare productions that actually increases in appreciation the older it gets. The effects and overall production of the story are still mediocre at best and reek of the cheap stylishness of the 1980's, but the story quality itself is so forward looking (while also being rear facing) that it seems to be appreciated more and more as time goes by.

Obviously the first reference is to the gladiatorial contests of ancient Rome and how that kept the people sedated. However, the fact that it extends into the political arena where the Governor himself may be tortured and killed as a means of pacifying the people is very forward thinking. Our own elections of today have become as much a reality television show as anything else on. We shouldn't be surprised that one candidate is effectively a reality show star in and of himself.

Probably one of the most interesting things about this story is that as good at is as a straight narrative, you constantly have quick cuts to the couple of Arak and Etta who offer commentary just as was probably being done to the show at the time and indeed as we do now. Arak takes great relish in being contrary to anything the Governor states and proposes (much like a modern political system) and is almost gleeful when he votes to kill the Governor, stealing Etta's vote in the process. His indignence at having the Governor's death thwarted to the point of double voting a second time is almost like the petulance seen in modern internet reaction where people scream and rage over the pettiest garbage simply because they do not get their way.

I must praise the acting in this as well. The Governor and the Chief Officer are wonderfully deadpan and understated in their performances, giving a nicer contrast to the emotional and reactionary Sil. Sil gets a little mustache twirl-y at times, but it comes across mostly in a comedic fashion, adding a nice bit of levity to the story.

The Doctor was quite good in this story as well. He whiney petulance at the beginning where the TARDIS stalls out was a little annoying but once they landed on Varos, he really picked up, both with wit and enthusiasm. He also began to show a nice report with Peri. His comments to her were more interactive and informative rather than belittling or condescending. He goes so far to actually express great concern for her, something notably lacking in other stories.

Peri, on the other hand, does not really keep up her end. Nothing is wrong with her in the way she is written, but I'm getting the feeling that the desire for Peri to be expressed as an American, really hampered Nicola Bryant's acting ability. She effectively only has two tones: a lower, more conversational tone (like when she is with the Doctor in the TARDIS) and a higher pitched, whinier tone expressed whenever they get into trouble. It reduces her to the damsel in distress role and she is never really seen to do anything of benefit to what the Doctor is doing. Her only contribution here is to get out the TARDIS manual and kick the Doctor in the butt to land on Varos. Once there, it is run, get captured, escape; wash, rinse, repeat. Granted, the Doctor does much the same, but he is interacting and aiding in the formant of rebellion. Peri is a complete tag-a-long, existing solely as something to be rescued.

My only other complaint about this story is the rather cheap look to the story. The story does a decent job of disguising things with dark, moody lighting, but it can't disguise sets like the gallows, which are back-lit like an 80's episode of Lawrence Welk. The vine scene also has a fake look to it that is hard to ignore. Obviously the show was hampered by budget concerns and studio space limitations, but there is something about the way the show was filmed in the 1980's just seems to draw your eye to the limitations where it was more easily ignored in the 1970's.

Overall, this story was quite good. Enjoyable story, enjoyable characters, witty script and very interesting premise. I think I would go so far as to say that this is my favorite Sixth Doctor story to date. I only have three left to see and the reputation of two of them is less than stellar so it'll be interesting to see how that final story stacks up against this one to claim the title of my favorite of the era.

Overall personal score: 4 out of 5

The Mark of the Rani

The Doctor won't look kindly on you interfering with his favorite planet.

The Mark of the Rani introduced Pip and Jane Baker as writers on Doctor Who. They have been looked down on by collective fan wisdom as the years have gone by and I don't think that's fully justified. I liked Terror of the Vervoids and I'm willing to give them a pass on The Ultimate Foe as they were taking over from Robert Holmes blind. I've not yet seen Tme and the Rani but even if it is as terrible as I am anticipating it to be, it was a slapdash rush job and I'm guessing blame will need to be spread everywhere, not just the writers. As for The Mark of the Rani, I rather enjoyed it.

Plot Summary

Three miners leave their shift in a small town in the early 19th century. They enter a bathhouse to clean up but are gassed upon entering. When they wake, they begin attacking any evidence of machinery, heading out of town as they do so.

The Doctor and Peri land outside the town with the Doctor detecting a time distortion from a time machine, suggesting either Time Lords or Daleks are in the area. He and Peri observe the three men attacking a cart with some machinery on it. The Doctor and Peri help drive the attackers off, noting a curious mark on one of the men. The cart driver gives them a lift in to town where he is delivering equipment to the engineer George Stephenson.

The Doctor and Peri are followed by the Master, who had been posing as a scarecrow out in the fields. The Doctor and Peri enter Stephenson's compound to wait for him, growing more concerned when they learn a meeting of the Industrial Revolution greats is going to take place in two days. The Master kills a dog and guard to allow access to the place. He then sends in the three miners who had been gassed earlier to attack the Doctor and Peri, who have left the office and are looking around for Mr. Stephenson.

The Doctor is rescued from being cast down the coal mine chute by Lord Ravensworth, owner of the mine. He takes the Doctor back to his office to determine who is he is. The Doctor convinces him that he is an interested scientist and here to help in the face of the violent Luddite attacks. The Doctor further inquires about the attacks and the men who have disappeared from the mine. Two of the women of the town arrive and mention that their men have disappeared as well. Peri wants to leave but the Doctor stays, knowing that there is something beyond just the Luddites.

The Master sneaks into the wash house where he observes two more miners being gassed and then taken into a secret room where they are hooked up to some equipment by the old woman running the house. The Master confronts her and she reveals herself as the Rani, a fellow Time Lord. He offers his services but the Rani dismisses him. He then kills one of her helpers and threatens to expose her unless she helps him with the Doctor.

The Rani is extracting a chemical from human brains and the violent, anti-technology reactions are side effects of her work, not the purpose. Again, she attempts to dismiss the Master, but he steals her collection of extracted chemicals and blackmails her into helping him.

The Master sneaks off to agitate a group of Luddites to attack the Doctor. The Rani has one of her brainwashed servants try to take him down but when the element of surprise is lost, she calls him off for fear of breaking the vial.

Using the information gleaned from the townsfolk, the Doctor heads to the bath house where he is captured along with two other miners. The Rani recognizes him and wakes him. Peri is also captured by the returning Master. The Doctor deduces what the Rani is doing and tricks the Master into thinking the Rani has double crossed him. He wheels the Doctor outside bound to a stretcher. Once the Doctor is outside, he kicks the Master's weapon away. Peri accidentally pushes him downhill where he is grabbed by the Luddites the Master had agitated earlier. They try to drop him down the mine shaft but he is rescued and the mob dispersed by George Stephenson.

Stephenson takes the Doctor and Peri back to his workshop. The Doctor urges him to cancel the meeting with other famous men but the messenger, Luke, is apprehended by the Master and hypnotized to thinking that he delivered it and to attack anyone who tries to stop the meeting. The Master shows the letter to the Rani and convinces her to help him, allowing her to exploit the planet openly as she desires. She agrees and the two leave to implement a plan.

The Doctor and Peri return to the bath house and after setting off a booby trap, they find the Rani's TARDIS. Whilst inside, the Rani activates a recall device. Peri leaves but the Doctor stays behind and hides in the TARDIS as the Rani and the Master enter and grab equipment they will use against him.

The Doctor reunites with Peri but split up again with the Doctor looking for George Stephenson and Peri going with Luke to find herbs to create a sleeping agent to help the men affected by the Rani's experiments. The Doctor finds Stephenson who was preparing to walk into a trap set by the Master via Luke.

The Doctor talks him out of going and goes himself, walking around the booby traps set by the Master and the Rani. He gets the drop on them and holds the Master's weapon against them. As he does so, Peri and Luke wander into the minefield set by the Rani. Luke step on a mine and is transformed into a tree. He retains enough sentience to stop Peri from also stepping on a mine. The Doctor forces the Rani to lead Peri out. She does but the approach of some Luddites forces them to split up. Peri takes the Master and the Rani back to the mines while the Doctor tries to stop the Luddites.

The Doctor is overpowered and tied to a pole. He is carried to the minefield where his two carriers are also transformed. The explosion frightens off the others. The Doctor slips his bonds and runs to the mine. There he finds Peri who was tricked and knocked out by the Rani. The Rani had tried to flee but the Master forced her to stay. He fires at the Doctor, destroying a support pillar and triggering a cave in. The Master and the Rani flee to her TARDIS while the Doctor and Peri flee to the exit.

The Rani takes off but the Doctor had sabotaged her TARDIS and she and the Master are sent out to the far reaches of the universe. The Doctor had also taken the brain fluid from the Master and he has Peri give it to Lord Ravensworth to give to the men. The Doctor had also asked George Stephenson to haul the TARDIS out of the mine and he finds it in Stephenson's lab. The Doctor and Peri then leave prior to the arrival of the other great minded men.

Analysis

I enjoyed this story and unquestionably the primary reason was the Rani. In many ways, she acted as a voice of the audience, criticizing the Master on his hare-brained schemes as well as dressing down the Doctor occasionally. Her interplay with the Master was entertaining and her deadpan actually helped undercut the Master's cheesy-ness which made him a slightly more credible villain. It was nice to see a villain with both real intelligence and pragmatism. She had no desire to do anything other than exploit what she needed from the humans. She ruled a planet and that was enough for her. It is only the Master's blackmail and his offer of unlimited access to Earth that convince her to aid him. She even calculates that retreat is the better option at the end and does not give in to the bravado the Master does in facing down the Doctor a second time.

The Doctor is enjoyable too, although it's hard to shake the feeling that he is playing second fiddle in this story. His banter with Peri is a bit less mean-spirited and you can see the beginnings of where they will end up in The Trial of a Time Lord: The Mysterious Planet with their much more playful jabs at each other. There are even fun little bits that come out as he is clearly giddy at meeting like scientific minds (a trait continued in the subsequent The Two Doctors) as well as propensity for bad puns. He also demonstrates a clear concern for the people exploited by the Rani, trying to help them, although not overly successfully.

Unfortunately, it is Peri that is hard to deal with here. Lord Ravensworth and George Stephenson act more the companion here, getting involved and working with the Doctor to solve the problem, though neither has a large amount of screen time. Peri spends all her time whining about they should leave and her tone in this whining is especially annoying. She comes across as especially dumb in her ignorance of Luke's fate, missing several similar mines due to dumb luck, and in how she is easily taken in and subdued by the Rani while guarding them in the mine shaft. Her positive contribution in this story is effectively zero as the one or two times she does something positive is easily cancelled out by her overwhelming hindrance.

Back on the plus side, the episode is filmed almost entirely on location and it looks good. There is a real grit to the town's appearance and it's nostalgically nice seeing that grainy film quality throughout rather than bouncing between it and video tape. It's also nice to see a full use of the surrounding area. In a studio shoot, the mine field in the forest would have probably looked very fake. Here though, there is an authenticity, even if they still stayed too tight in their focus of the area.

One thing that did bug me though was the unaddressed mine field. Mine fields were a big political issue in the 80's so I'm not surprised to see it used here. However, no mention is made of clearing it once the Doctor and Peri have delivered the brain fluid to Lord Ravensworth. In fact, the fact that Stephenson only just managed to retrieve the TARDIS makes it seem as though the Doctor and Peri have just come from the collapsed mine, leaving the Rani's mine field untouched to transform others wandering through. I don't need all loose threads resolved, but given the significant nature of this threat, a passing line about neutralizing the Rani's mines would have been a rather important thing. It's a small thing but that really bugs me.

Overall, I'd give this one a decent grade. It would be better if Peri weren't so annoying and there is a little too much running around without much point in the middle, but it still is probably the best of the Season 22 Sixth Doctor that I've seen. I wouldn't mind pulling it out to watch a second time, but I freely admit that it would be for the Rani rather than the Doctor.

Overall personal score: 3.5 out of 5