This thing makes me feel in such a way I'd be very worried if I felt like that that about somebody else feeling like this about that, do you understand?
If you listen to fans about Season 16, you will usually get a debate on whether The Power of Kroll or The Armageddon Factor is the worst story of the season. Given that I rather liked The Power of Kroll, I'm betting this one will win my vote unless it pulls something miraculous out of a hat and The Pirate Planet ends up in last place. I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt especially since it brings in Lalla Ward for the first time.
Plot Summary
The Doctor and Romana follow the Key detector to the planet Atrios which is currently in the midst of a nuclear war with it's neighbor Zeos. The military leader is known as the Marshal and he runs the war while the planet is ruled by Princess Astra. Astra is having a liaison with the chief surgeon Merak and the two are working together to try and contact Zeos about bringing an end to the war. The Marshal is having none of it and aware of their attempts, traps Astra in an abandoned part of the base flooded with radiation.
The Doctor and Romana arrive in the base, having just avoided being vaporized by nuclear missile, just outside the section where Astra has been trapped. They find a dead guard but fearing a trap from the Black Guardian have K-9 cut a small hole in the door. The use of the weapon alerts the Marshal and he and detachment of guards arrest them, shortly after Astra makes a plea for help through the hole. K-9 drops into the shadows and is not seen by the guards.
The Marshal takes advantage and has Merak brought up as well, accusing all three of them of being Zeon spies. The Doctor tricks the Marshal's second-in-command, Shapp, into summoning K-9 with his dog whistle. K-9 enters and shoots the lights, allowing all three to run back into the tunnel towards the TARDIS. Meanwhile, a cloaked figure has materialized into the room and taken Princess Astra out, transmatting them to some other location.
The three fugitives run back to the TARDIS to find it blocked by debris from the last attack. K-9 returns and informs them that the guards ran down the other passage. Merak figures that Astra was behind the door and the Doctor has K-9 cut through the door. They find it empty except for Astra's tiara. With no alternatives, the Doctor and company return to the control room although he tells K-9 to keep watch on the wall of the radioactive room.
When the Doctor, Romana and Merak reenter the control room, they find the Marshal staring into a mirror "meditating". He welcomes them and decides the Doctor is to be the new strategist to fight the Zeons. He activates the viewscreen to see the space battle, although he is forced to recall their forces when they are beaten badly by the Zeon fleet. Realizing the Marshal is probably mad, the Doctor proposes a psychological force field and asks to speak to a Zeon prisoner to create one. The Marshal replies that they have no prisoners.
Back in the room, K-9 follows a signal into a duct where he becomes trapped in a chute heading towards the incinerator. The Doctor requests K-9 to help him and Shapp informs him of K-9's plight. The Doctor goes in after him and the Marshal begins freaking out that the Doctor might die. As he does, he pulls at his collar and Romana notices a chip on his neck. When the Doctor emerges, she tells him of this and they figure he is being controlled by another source.
The Doctor proposes to head to Zeos to capture a prisoner for the shield and the Marshal informs him of a transmat near the radioactive room. Meanwhile, Romana and Merak sneak around and find a hidden room that looks onto the control room through the Marshal's mirror. They see him being controlled through a skull that transmits through the mirror and rush to warn the Doctor. They arrive too late as the Doctor is grabbed by two masked men and transmatted off planet.
The masked men take the Doctor to a room where the leader, called the Shadow, interrogates the Doctor about the five found segments of the Key to Time. He also produces the TARDIS and demands that the Doctor go in and give them to him. The Doctor insists they are in a state of limbo and points out that if he enters the TARDIS, he could escape at will. The Shadow agrees that it is a stand off and is willing to wait him out. He and the men who grabbed him disappear.
Back on Atrios, Romana has K-9 reconfigure the lock to allow access to the transmat. Merak however grabs the key detector and transmats himself first, locking her out again. She once again has K-9 force the door, this time breaking the mechanism which keeps the door open. She and K-9 also transmat over. The open door is seen by Shapp while investigating the alarms and he too is transmatted to Zeos.
Romana catches up with Merak and takes back the detector although not before discovering a bracelet that belongs to Princess Astra. The Doctor runs into Shapp and figuring that Romana and K-9 have also come, summons K-9 with the dog whistle thus uniting the entire party.
K-9 informs the Doctor that he's been in contact with the Zeon commandant who is also a computer. The Doctor has K-9 take him to it and K-9 gets access to the core room where he introduces the war computer Mentalis. While examining the computer, they also learn that the Marshal is personally flying towards the planet with a load of weapons, intending to destroy Zeos for good.
The Doctor sends Shapp and Merak back to the transmat to try and stop the Marshal. Shapp is shot by a minion of the Shadow but falls into the transmat and makes it back to Atrios. He radios the Marshal to stop but the Marshal ignores him. Merak sees a projection of Astra summoning him but falls into one of the Shadow's traps and is knocked out.
The Doctor and Romana try to deactivate Mentalis' shut down state to allow it to defend itself from the Marshal's attack but it destroys the control mechanism to prevent them. They head back to the TARDIS and assemble the five segments of the key to time. When nothing happens, the Doctor crafts a facsimile of the sixth piece which allows him to create a small time loop around the Marshal's ship as it is firing it's missiles. However, as the key is not complete, the time loop begins to degenerate, meaning that the Marshal's missiles will eventually destroy Zeos and Atrios in the blast.
A mind controlled Astra finds Merak and tricks him into believing they need to find the Doctor and Romana. They do and the Doctor tells them to transmat back to Atrios with K-9. As they walk, they are attacked by the Shadow's guards. K-9 drives them off but is tricked into a transmat which sends him to the Shadow's planet. Astra ditches Merak and he is sent back to Atrios.
Astra finds the Doctor and Romana and tells them that she was separated when K-9 drove off the Shadow's guards. With the time loop deteriorating, the Doctor decides to go to the Shadow's planet to stop him. The three take the TARDIS there and Astra and Romana head off to find the Shadow. The Doctor waits and heads in a different direction.
The Shadow captures Romana with the help of the mind controlled Astra and uses a projection of Romana to confuse the Doctor. The Doctor catches on but is caught in a cell shortly afterward. In the cell, he runs into a fellow Time Lord named Drax who was threatened by the Shadow to build Mentalis and help him get the Key to Time. The Doctor convinces Drax to help him and repair some of the equipment from his TARDIS, which is on Zeos.
While Drax is busy, the Doctor investigates a tunnel outside of which he finds a mind controlled K-9. K-9 offers a deal from the Shadow to the Doctor to spare Romana's life but the Doctor grabs K-9 and throws him down the tunnel where Drax removes the mind control chip. The two then work together to repair the equipment.
The Doctor tries to get back to the TARDIS but is captured by the Shadow's guards who take him to Romana. The Shadow also removes Astra's mind control chip to return her to normal and tells the Doctor he is working for the Black Guardian. Knowing that the Doctor would gather the other five segments, he found the sixth and has sat in wait for the Doctor. The Doctor agrees to bring the Key segments out of the TARDIS. He and a guard make their way to the TARDIS but Drax is waiting for them with the repaired equipment. However, he fires at the Doctor, shrinking him. He then turns the gun on himself and shrinks himself as well.
The Doctor runs across the floor and he and Drax hide in a crack in the wall while the guard searches for them. The Shadow, watching from his screen, sees the door of the TARDIS unlocked and leaves to take the Key. The Doctor and Drax then run through the crack and into K-9, whom the Doctor orders to return to the Shaddow, pretending he is still under his control.
On Atrios, Shapp and Merak see the time loop holding the Marshal deteriorating. Merak, suspecting that the sixth segment of the Key to Time is connected with Astra, pulls up her medical file and notes a genetic anomaly that has passed through her family. Suspecting that she is the key, Merak attacks one of the Shadow's guards guarding the transmat entrance and forces him to take him to the third planet. He steals the guard's robes and follows the Shadow back into his lair.
The Shadow retrieves the Key to Time and brings it back to where Astra and Romana are held. Astra, realizing what she is, is drawn to the key and is transformed into the sixth segment when she touches the detector. The Shadow picks it up but before he can remove the fake segment, K-9 bursts through the wall and points out Merak. This distracts the Shadow long enough for the Doctor and Drax to exit K-9 and be returned to normal size. The Doctor grabs both the key and the sixth segment and runs with Romana, Drax and Merak down the tunnels.
Merak, in a state of confusion, wanders to find Astra. Drax also stays behind, promising to transmat himself and Merak while acting as rearguard. With only one second left in the time loop, the Doctor doesn't have enough time to replace the segment so he and Romana take the TARDIS back to Zeos. There, with Drax assisting him, the Doctor fully disables Mentalis, allowing him to put up a gravitational deflection field around Zeos.
As the time loop fails, the missiles from the Marshal's ship deflect away from Zeos and destroy the Dark planet. As it explodes, the Shadow begs forgiveness from the Black Guardian, who vows to finish the job and take the Key for himself.
Drax bids farewell to the Doctor, deciding to go into business with the Marshal to rebuild both Atrios and Zeos. The Doctor then places the sixth segment, completing the Key. As he does so, the Doctor becomes worried about the extreme amount of power that the wielder has and knows that he must get it to the White Guardian as quick as possible. The White Guardian appears on screen and asks for the Key so that he might restore balance to the universe. The Doctor asks him about Astra and the Guardian notes that while regrettable, the Key must remain in his possession.
The Doctor realizes that the Guardian is actually the Black Guardian masquerading as the White. He activates the TARDIS defenses. He also orders Romana to dematerialize the TARDIS as he pulls out the Key detector. Pulling the detector out redisperses the segments through time and space, freeing Princess Astra, who reunites with Merak as he recovers in a hospital bed. The Doctor and Romana decide to continue their travels but with a randomizer that will make it unpredictable to know where they are going and thus keep the Black Guardian on his heels about how to catch up to them.
Analysis
While not the worst thing in the world, this story had a lot of problems and easily takes the crown of the worst story of Season 16. This is even more unfortunate as it feels bad to end a pretty good season on such a sour note.
This story has a myriad of problems. To begin, it is six parts and you can feel the bloat. In fact, I ran through it in my mind and I think that if you skipped directly from Episode One to Episode Three, you would pick up the plot almost where you left off and missed nearly nothing, the bloat is that bad. Even in the episodes where there is a critical bit of information given out or a key change of scene, so much of what is said and done could be pared down from the full twenty minutes it's given to a span of five to ten; the bloat is just that bad.
There are other problems with the bloat as well in that there are at least a couple of scenes where we've come out of long stretches of people running around or doing other things to kill time and then get a massive info dump. The worst of these is at the start of Episode Four where the Doctor is bringing Merak and Shapp up to speed on everything that has happened. We saw some of those scenes but instead of exploring all of this in those scenes, we're only given little glimpses and then a large expositional piece. It is some of the worst way to convey information, especially since we had been given at least a little insight into what actually happened.
Tone is another problem in this story. The whole thing has an underlying tone of wanting to be serious and a dire situation to get out of. Yet we are flooded with characters who are clearly comedy elements. Shapp is a pratfalling type straight out of Monty Python. I actually thought he even looked like John Cleese. Drax is a British geographical stereotype (Brixton is where I think he was supposed to have picked up the accent) and is an odd left turn after the first four parts of the story. Even the Shadow is played so over the top (as opposed to the Marshal) that he is impossible to be taken too seriously. By the time you get into Episodes Five and Six, you feel as though you're in a pantomime show and nothing is to be taken seriously.
This story also suffers from a lack of compelling characters. I've already noted the comedic ones but both Astra and Merak are just so devoid of personality that they are just boring. When writing up the recap, I had to go back and correct myself because I accidently wrote "Romana" when I meant "Astra", mostly because Lalla Ward is given so little to play with that you only remember her as Lalla Ward i.e. Romana II. If she hadn't become Romana II, I'm not sure anyone would remember her, she has that little personality. You basically get that in Merak as he is also a completely forgettable milquetoast who's only defining feature seems to be his hunt for Astra. It's even worse when you think that there was a set up for some interesting political drama between them and the Marshal but that just fizzled out and we're left with dirty dishwater.
The one character apart from the Time Team that is actually interesting and compelling is the Marshal. He has a very odd personality shift starting in Episode Two but once it's exposed that he is being mind controlled by the Shadow, that makes a bit more sense. But even with the twists, his personality and range of acting is such that you want to wee what happens to him and interact with him. So of course he gets put in the time loop and is essentially removed from the story for the last three episodes.
Another character who is completely underused is Romana. She does almost literally nothing except summon K-9, ask the Doctor what is going on and get captured. She shows almost no initiative except in a couple of scenes while on Atrios and does nothing to help out. I think her lack of action on both Zeos and the Dark planet are especially annoying because there is no reason why she can't be of use. She knows computers just as well as the Doctor and there were no guards around at one point so there was no reason why she and Astra couldn't have made a run for it. It's just a waste of a good character.
The Doctor is enjoyable as always and he at least gets to keep the central focus. He alone of everyone is probably the only one who navigates the waters between drama and comedy but even he goes over the edge here and there. His "evil" moment after they've completed the Key is downright disturbing to look at it and not for anything to do with the portrayal of evil. Still, he is one of the few reasons to get invested in this story.
Perhaps one of the oddest things is that this story seems compelled to make K-9 be the hero. It's like the writers decided that although it was the Doctor who would save the day, K-9 would be the most dutiful sidekick who would get all the proper action scenes and directly solve all the major issues. K-9 rescues the Doctor from the Marshal; he allows Romana to access the transmat; he gives the Doctor access to Mentalis; he smuggles the Doctor and Drax into the central chamber to retrieve the Key from the Shadow; etc. I don't mind K-9 but any story where he is the one providing the solution to all the problems (similar to the sonic screwdriver) and it just becomes boring. It's like Batman going to his utility belt for some magic gadget every time. At some point, I want to see the regular hero actually think his way out of the problem, not produce a "get-out-jail-free" card.
Even the ending is a let down. There might have been some interest in it if the Black Guardian had first shown up on the TARDIS view screen as the audience would have to figure things out as much as the Doctor did. But instead we had that silly overlay with the Shadow talking as he dies and we are given a very clear shot of the Black Guardian. So we know instantly that it's the Black Guardian who is appearing. There is also the unsatisfactory point of the Doctor dispersing the Key nearly instantaneously. We are given no evidence that the White Guardian accomplished what he wanted to do with it so the whole quest ends up having been for naught. It was just such a sloppy end to what seemed to be a good premise.
One of the reasons that I think this story was so tonally off is that Douglas Adams came in as script editor at this time. So you went from the more serious minded Anthony Read to the comedic Adams. My suspicion is that Adams ended up pushing any unresolved threads in the script to the silly side and that's why the tone seems to start in a serious direction and then crater into absurdism.
I will say that I thought the direction was alright. There were a few moments where it was pretty obvious that they were trying to maximize what was a small filming space by taking obvious circular routes around the set but most were fairly well hidden. The lighting also helped give the story a darker mood, although that also contributed to the odd disconnect between what the focus of the story should be.
Overall, this is a pretty bad way to end the story arc. If it were more entertaining, I think it could be redeemed a bit, but it steady goes downhill and it gets boring. Even worse, you don't even get a proper climax at the end as you would think the White Guardian would have come in to give a little coda. The ending was done much better in Enlightenment where at least you had a direct confrontation between the two. Outside of a rewatch of the whole Key to Time season, I can't think of any particular reason to pull this one out and watch it again.
Overall personal score: 1.5 out of 5
Showing posts with label Romana I. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Romana I. Show all posts
Friday, June 23, 2017
Thursday, May 25, 2017
The Power of Kroll
Will there be strawberry jam with the tea?
The Power of Kroll is the fifth entry in the Key to Time quest and the second for Robert Holmes. It also is oddly derided by fans. If you ask a random fan which is the weakest story of the season, they will usually cite this one or The Armageddon Factor. Some of that may be due to the production values but often they will cite story as well. Having seen this once before, I can't really understand what the significant problem is.
Plot Summary
On one of the moons of Delta Magna, Commander Thawn has returned to a methane gas extraction facility after a visit to the home planet. One of the technicians, Dugeen, notices that another ship followed Thawn's through the atmosphere trying to mask itself. Fearing that it might be a smuggler named Rohm-Dutt supplying weapons to the local tribe, nicknamed Swampies, Thawn and his second-in-command, Fenner, head out to investigate.
The TARDIS lands in the swamp and the Doctor and Romana leave it to look for the fifth segment to the Key to Time. K-9 is forced to stay in the TARDIS due to the marshy conditions. The atmosphere plays with the key detector so Romana heads for higher ground to get a better signal. While on the ridge she is grabbed by Rohm-Dutt and a party of Swampies and take her to the Swampie village.
The Doctor hears Thawn and Fenner approaching but when he stands up, he is shot by Fenner. Thawn realizes that he is not Rohm-Dutt and when the Doctor sits up (Fenner shot his hat) Thawn takes him back to the extraction facility. The Doctor gives a few suggestions on how to improve the facility which convinces the crew temporarily that he is not an agent here to assist the Swampies. However, they refuse to let him leave.
Romana is taken back to the village where Rohm-Dutt delivers a load of guns to the Swampies. Newly armed, the Swampies decide to attack the refinery in the morning and prepare to offer Romana as a sacrifice to Kroll, their squid god, to give them victory.
While the crew is distracted by sending a payload of processed protein into orbit for delivery, the Doctor slips out, using his sonic screwdriver to open the door. At the same time, Mensch, Thawn's Swampie manservant, slips out and signals the village with a code via flashing light. A villager responds to him and the Doctor follows the light in a stolen boat to the village. He arrives just as another Swampie, dressed as Kroll is preparing to kill Romana. He knocks him away and frees Romana.
Left behind, the Swampie leaves a book detailing the history of the Swampies. They discover how the people were exiled from Delta Magna to this moon and began to worship a squid that was transported at the same time and grew to a large size. The tome also tells of how Kroll rises every couple of hundred years to cleanse the people from unrighteousness. The Doctor and Romana speculate that if there is a giant squid creature, it is preparing to emerge from a state of hibernation and that would explain the large quantity of protein the facility is able to get from the lake.
Thawn and the crew realize that the Doctor has slipped away and guess that he is league with Rohm-Dutt. Thawn is also alerted to a large disturbance on the sea bed by Dugeen. Thawn and Mensch leave the base to hunt down the Doctor and his allies. The Swampies are laying in wait for them but their weapons are faulty and only kill them. Before battle is joined, Kroll rises from the sea, a huge squid, grabs Mensch and drags him below. Thawn retreats back to the base while the Swampies abase themselves before the vision of Kroll.
The returning Swampies discover the Doctor and Romana about to continue their quest for the key segment and capture them along with Rohm-Dutt who they accuse of delivering faulty weapons to maximize his own profits. The village leader, Ranquin, consults the holy book and decrees that the three prisoners are to be sacrificed in one of seven specified ways to Kroll.
Back at the base, Thawn relays his experience to the others and they also observe more large disturbances on the sea floor. Unsure of the base's ability to withstand large torsional forces, they look at securing the facility. While doing so, Kroll snakes a tentacle through the extraction pipes, punches through, grabs Harg and pulls him down through the pipes and back into the sea.
The Doctor, Romana and Rohm-Dutt are tied to a rack with vines and a window to allow the sun in. As the vines dry, they contract, pulling the three like a rack. The Swampies leave to let the execution happen. As the vines tighten, Rohm-Dutt admits that he was actually hired by Thawn to deliver faulty weapons. It would give him justification to eradicate the Swampies, as they are arming, and also discredit The Sons of Earth, a fringe group advocating the abandoning of the colony and return to Earth.
On the extractor, Thawn orders the shut down and repair of the damaged pipes and also the continual monitor of Kroll. He and Fenner debate attempts of ways to kill the creature. Thawn has twenty-five depth charges that he thinks can be used against it but is unable to figure out a way to deliver them in a compact fashion against the creature's vitals. They are also distracted by a storm rolling in which causes everyone on the station to batten down.
As the storm rolls in, the three notice the rain splashing the window. The Doctor emits a high pitched tone which shatters the window. The rain flows into the room and the vines swell with the moisture, allowing the three to free themselves. They flee the village but the Swampies notice their departure and chase after them.
As the storm subsides, Thawn's team notices Kroll leaving the lake and heading towards the village, attracted by the vibration of the chase. The Doctor also notices signs of Kroll's advance and orders them to stop. Rohm-Dutt panics and continues to run until a tentacle reaches out and drags him under the water. The Doctor and Romana enter a boat and propel themselves amidst the swamp while Kroll surfaces and attacks the Swampies.
As Kroll is distracted, Thawn get the idea to launch the orbital rocket into Kroll. Dugeen objects, noting that it will kill the Swampies as well but Thawn knocks him out. Thawn pulls a gun and forces Fenner to start the launch sequence. The Doctor and Romana, who managed to sneak into the station, overhear the plan and head down to the rocket silo to disable the rocket.
The Doctor climbs up the rocket and pulls the guidance panel that controls the rocket. Dugeen comes around and tries to disable it from the control panel but Thawn shoots him. The Doctor however smashes the wiring in the rocket, disabling it. Knowing that sabotage has occurred, Thawn heads down and takes the Doctor and Romana back to the control room at gunpoint.
Kroll recedes into the lake, leaving the Swampies. Ranquin, sure that Kroll has punished them for not sacrificing the Doctor and Romana, leads the tribe to the base to fulfill their obligation. With Thawn distracted, they enter the base with ease. They then kill Thawn with a spear as he is about to execute the Doctor.
Kroll rises from the lake again and attacks the base. Tentacles snake in towards the control room but the Doctor has Fenner activate equipment elsewhere in the base. The vibrations attract Kroll and he leaves the control room alone while attacking other parts of the platform. Ranquin, believing Kroll has heard his prayers, heads to another part of the base to abase himself before Kroll, but is grabbed by a tentacle and dragged out.
The Doctor gets an idea and heads outside to a point where Kroll's body is pressed against the platform. He is grabbed by a tentacle but he manages to press the Key detection stick against Kroll's body. Kroll immediately disintegrates as the fifth segment materializes on the end of the detection stick.
The Doctor takes the segment in to Romana and then manages to disable the computer before it sets off components that would destroy the platform. With the base secure, the Doctor and Romana leave, suggesting that Fenner try to get to know the Swampies better and informing him that with Kroll gone, the methane production of the station will crater. They walk back to the TARDIS and take off as K-9 greets them.
Analysis
Again, for the life of me I can't figure out why this story is derided so much. Yes the split screen with Kroll is pretty obvious but fans tend to be forgiving of the Barry Letts era and I think the things he did were worse. What's more, you have some really good acting and (aside from the split screen) pretty good production values going on. Even the story, while very basic, rolls along at a good pace.
The Fourth Doctor is quite good here being a good balance of funny but also somewhat serious about the overall situation. He is never angry and always focuses on the lives of others, continuously insisting that he needs to go help Romana as well as constantly emphasizing the Swampies as real people. But he also does not hesitate to call out the Swampies own faults in their worship of Kroll and in ignoring their own history in doing so. It's the Fourth Doctor at his most fun.
Romana is enjoyable but she is a bit shortchanged in this story. Since it is Robert Holmes writing her again, she returns to the psychological mindset as well trading witty barbs, tinged with a bit of sarcasm. It's Romana at some of her most entertaining but aside from the dialogue, she just isn't given much. She spends most of the first three episodes captured, either waiting for or with the Doctor. In Episode Four, she does nothing as it is the Doctor who shorts the guidance in the rocket, destroys Kroll and disables the computer. Romana merely comments on the situation the whole time. She even manages to behave somewhat stupidly by first not dragging the Doctor out of the silo when he knocks himself out disabling the rocket and then by dismissing Kroll's attack and nearly getting grabbed by a tentacle. Not the best role for her.
Thawn made for a pretty good bad guy. He gets outacted by Fenner, played by Philip Madoc, but his overall performance is pretty good. He does things in such a way that he starts as somewhat reasonable, even if you disagree with him, but as things escalate, he gets more and more manic and savage. Yet despite the manicness, it never goes over-the-top. It just goes to the point where you feel satisfied that the Swampies have taken him down. It also makes sense in the context of the story that Thawn would have to be removed as an antagonist before Kroll could be fully dealt with so his death only halfway through Episode Four feels appropriate and doesn't leave the story hanging for the rest of the episode.
The Swampies were pretty good as a native. The makeup used to get that green skin was quite effective and they were all pretty good actors, Ranquin especially. There was some nice undertones with Mensch that would have been interesting to explore as well. He is a domesticated Swampie and carries that countenance of a native who has been "civilized" but knows the disdain he is under. The actor played it well and it's a shame that he is taken out halfway in Episode Two. My only other complaint about the Swampies is that their ceremony of sacrifice for Romana goes on a bit too long. It gets a bit tedious to hear them shout Kroll constantly for nearly half of Episode One. The ceremony should have been cut down or some other things done to institute a bit of variety in the proceedings.
I will admit that the split screen done for Kroll was not good, but I've also seen worse. I think a case could be made that the giant robot in Episode Four of Robot was worse and yet that doesn't seem to be derided quite as much as this. There is a point where it gets too close and the effect seems even worse than it should but that's a small niggle. They actually do a better job in making Kroll seem more fierce with the use of the tentacles and dragging several people into the depths. I look at Kroll as an ambitious try to which they did not quite succeed.
Aside from Kroll, the effects are pretty good. There is nice location work which puts nearly everything outside on film and that looks good. There is some very nice night shooting for Romana's sacrifice that also looks good. Even the base set is pretty good, spare but serviceable. There is a point where the ladder used by the Doctor to disarm the rocket is seen to be rather wobbly but I'm willing to overlook that in favor of everything else they did.
There is one point that is just a bit dumb and it cannot be overlooked. That is the way the Doctor, Romana and Rohm-Dutt get out of the rack in Episode Three. Having the Doctor emit a high pitched tone and then talk about learning it from Nellie Melba is taking it beyond the realm of believability. I think it might have gone over slightly better if an actual soprano's voice had been used. At least there the joke about the opera singer would have made sense, even if it was a groaner. Instead you get a synthetic sound that makes the Doctor sound like a robot and that just didn't work.
Even with the missteps, I think this is a pretty good story. It's not The Ribos Operation and I think that's why it's reputation suffers. Since Robert Holmes already penned a very good story in the arc, it can't help but be compared to that one and it's just not as good. Had any other writer delivered this, it probably would be appreciated for the simple story that it is. While I like Robert Holmes, I try not to force a story to live up to a higher reputation just because of who wrote it. If the story is entertaining, well-acted and looks decent, I'm fine with that. Within the Key to Time season, I would certainly rather watch this than say The Pirate Planet, even though that story is supposed to be funnier.
Overall personal score: 3.5 out of 5
The Power of Kroll is the fifth entry in the Key to Time quest and the second for Robert Holmes. It also is oddly derided by fans. If you ask a random fan which is the weakest story of the season, they will usually cite this one or The Armageddon Factor. Some of that may be due to the production values but often they will cite story as well. Having seen this once before, I can't really understand what the significant problem is.
Plot Summary
On one of the moons of Delta Magna, Commander Thawn has returned to a methane gas extraction facility after a visit to the home planet. One of the technicians, Dugeen, notices that another ship followed Thawn's through the atmosphere trying to mask itself. Fearing that it might be a smuggler named Rohm-Dutt supplying weapons to the local tribe, nicknamed Swampies, Thawn and his second-in-command, Fenner, head out to investigate.
The TARDIS lands in the swamp and the Doctor and Romana leave it to look for the fifth segment to the Key to Time. K-9 is forced to stay in the TARDIS due to the marshy conditions. The atmosphere plays with the key detector so Romana heads for higher ground to get a better signal. While on the ridge she is grabbed by Rohm-Dutt and a party of Swampies and take her to the Swampie village.
The Doctor hears Thawn and Fenner approaching but when he stands up, he is shot by Fenner. Thawn realizes that he is not Rohm-Dutt and when the Doctor sits up (Fenner shot his hat) Thawn takes him back to the extraction facility. The Doctor gives a few suggestions on how to improve the facility which convinces the crew temporarily that he is not an agent here to assist the Swampies. However, they refuse to let him leave.
Romana is taken back to the village where Rohm-Dutt delivers a load of guns to the Swampies. Newly armed, the Swampies decide to attack the refinery in the morning and prepare to offer Romana as a sacrifice to Kroll, their squid god, to give them victory.
While the crew is distracted by sending a payload of processed protein into orbit for delivery, the Doctor slips out, using his sonic screwdriver to open the door. At the same time, Mensch, Thawn's Swampie manservant, slips out and signals the village with a code via flashing light. A villager responds to him and the Doctor follows the light in a stolen boat to the village. He arrives just as another Swampie, dressed as Kroll is preparing to kill Romana. He knocks him away and frees Romana.
Left behind, the Swampie leaves a book detailing the history of the Swampies. They discover how the people were exiled from Delta Magna to this moon and began to worship a squid that was transported at the same time and grew to a large size. The tome also tells of how Kroll rises every couple of hundred years to cleanse the people from unrighteousness. The Doctor and Romana speculate that if there is a giant squid creature, it is preparing to emerge from a state of hibernation and that would explain the large quantity of protein the facility is able to get from the lake.
Thawn and the crew realize that the Doctor has slipped away and guess that he is league with Rohm-Dutt. Thawn is also alerted to a large disturbance on the sea bed by Dugeen. Thawn and Mensch leave the base to hunt down the Doctor and his allies. The Swampies are laying in wait for them but their weapons are faulty and only kill them. Before battle is joined, Kroll rises from the sea, a huge squid, grabs Mensch and drags him below. Thawn retreats back to the base while the Swampies abase themselves before the vision of Kroll.
The returning Swampies discover the Doctor and Romana about to continue their quest for the key segment and capture them along with Rohm-Dutt who they accuse of delivering faulty weapons to maximize his own profits. The village leader, Ranquin, consults the holy book and decrees that the three prisoners are to be sacrificed in one of seven specified ways to Kroll.
Back at the base, Thawn relays his experience to the others and they also observe more large disturbances on the sea floor. Unsure of the base's ability to withstand large torsional forces, they look at securing the facility. While doing so, Kroll snakes a tentacle through the extraction pipes, punches through, grabs Harg and pulls him down through the pipes and back into the sea.
The Doctor, Romana and Rohm-Dutt are tied to a rack with vines and a window to allow the sun in. As the vines dry, they contract, pulling the three like a rack. The Swampies leave to let the execution happen. As the vines tighten, Rohm-Dutt admits that he was actually hired by Thawn to deliver faulty weapons. It would give him justification to eradicate the Swampies, as they are arming, and also discredit The Sons of Earth, a fringe group advocating the abandoning of the colony and return to Earth.
On the extractor, Thawn orders the shut down and repair of the damaged pipes and also the continual monitor of Kroll. He and Fenner debate attempts of ways to kill the creature. Thawn has twenty-five depth charges that he thinks can be used against it but is unable to figure out a way to deliver them in a compact fashion against the creature's vitals. They are also distracted by a storm rolling in which causes everyone on the station to batten down.
As the storm rolls in, the three notice the rain splashing the window. The Doctor emits a high pitched tone which shatters the window. The rain flows into the room and the vines swell with the moisture, allowing the three to free themselves. They flee the village but the Swampies notice their departure and chase after them.
As the storm subsides, Thawn's team notices Kroll leaving the lake and heading towards the village, attracted by the vibration of the chase. The Doctor also notices signs of Kroll's advance and orders them to stop. Rohm-Dutt panics and continues to run until a tentacle reaches out and drags him under the water. The Doctor and Romana enter a boat and propel themselves amidst the swamp while Kroll surfaces and attacks the Swampies.
As Kroll is distracted, Thawn get the idea to launch the orbital rocket into Kroll. Dugeen objects, noting that it will kill the Swampies as well but Thawn knocks him out. Thawn pulls a gun and forces Fenner to start the launch sequence. The Doctor and Romana, who managed to sneak into the station, overhear the plan and head down to the rocket silo to disable the rocket.
The Doctor climbs up the rocket and pulls the guidance panel that controls the rocket. Dugeen comes around and tries to disable it from the control panel but Thawn shoots him. The Doctor however smashes the wiring in the rocket, disabling it. Knowing that sabotage has occurred, Thawn heads down and takes the Doctor and Romana back to the control room at gunpoint.
Kroll recedes into the lake, leaving the Swampies. Ranquin, sure that Kroll has punished them for not sacrificing the Doctor and Romana, leads the tribe to the base to fulfill their obligation. With Thawn distracted, they enter the base with ease. They then kill Thawn with a spear as he is about to execute the Doctor.
Kroll rises from the lake again and attacks the base. Tentacles snake in towards the control room but the Doctor has Fenner activate equipment elsewhere in the base. The vibrations attract Kroll and he leaves the control room alone while attacking other parts of the platform. Ranquin, believing Kroll has heard his prayers, heads to another part of the base to abase himself before Kroll, but is grabbed by a tentacle and dragged out.
The Doctor gets an idea and heads outside to a point where Kroll's body is pressed against the platform. He is grabbed by a tentacle but he manages to press the Key detection stick against Kroll's body. Kroll immediately disintegrates as the fifth segment materializes on the end of the detection stick.
The Doctor takes the segment in to Romana and then manages to disable the computer before it sets off components that would destroy the platform. With the base secure, the Doctor and Romana leave, suggesting that Fenner try to get to know the Swampies better and informing him that with Kroll gone, the methane production of the station will crater. They walk back to the TARDIS and take off as K-9 greets them.
Analysis
Again, for the life of me I can't figure out why this story is derided so much. Yes the split screen with Kroll is pretty obvious but fans tend to be forgiving of the Barry Letts era and I think the things he did were worse. What's more, you have some really good acting and (aside from the split screen) pretty good production values going on. Even the story, while very basic, rolls along at a good pace.
The Fourth Doctor is quite good here being a good balance of funny but also somewhat serious about the overall situation. He is never angry and always focuses on the lives of others, continuously insisting that he needs to go help Romana as well as constantly emphasizing the Swampies as real people. But he also does not hesitate to call out the Swampies own faults in their worship of Kroll and in ignoring their own history in doing so. It's the Fourth Doctor at his most fun.
Romana is enjoyable but she is a bit shortchanged in this story. Since it is Robert Holmes writing her again, she returns to the psychological mindset as well trading witty barbs, tinged with a bit of sarcasm. It's Romana at some of her most entertaining but aside from the dialogue, she just isn't given much. She spends most of the first three episodes captured, either waiting for or with the Doctor. In Episode Four, she does nothing as it is the Doctor who shorts the guidance in the rocket, destroys Kroll and disables the computer. Romana merely comments on the situation the whole time. She even manages to behave somewhat stupidly by first not dragging the Doctor out of the silo when he knocks himself out disabling the rocket and then by dismissing Kroll's attack and nearly getting grabbed by a tentacle. Not the best role for her.
Thawn made for a pretty good bad guy. He gets outacted by Fenner, played by Philip Madoc, but his overall performance is pretty good. He does things in such a way that he starts as somewhat reasonable, even if you disagree with him, but as things escalate, he gets more and more manic and savage. Yet despite the manicness, it never goes over-the-top. It just goes to the point where you feel satisfied that the Swampies have taken him down. It also makes sense in the context of the story that Thawn would have to be removed as an antagonist before Kroll could be fully dealt with so his death only halfway through Episode Four feels appropriate and doesn't leave the story hanging for the rest of the episode.
The Swampies were pretty good as a native. The makeup used to get that green skin was quite effective and they were all pretty good actors, Ranquin especially. There was some nice undertones with Mensch that would have been interesting to explore as well. He is a domesticated Swampie and carries that countenance of a native who has been "civilized" but knows the disdain he is under. The actor played it well and it's a shame that he is taken out halfway in Episode Two. My only other complaint about the Swampies is that their ceremony of sacrifice for Romana goes on a bit too long. It gets a bit tedious to hear them shout Kroll constantly for nearly half of Episode One. The ceremony should have been cut down or some other things done to institute a bit of variety in the proceedings.
I will admit that the split screen done for Kroll was not good, but I've also seen worse. I think a case could be made that the giant robot in Episode Four of Robot was worse and yet that doesn't seem to be derided quite as much as this. There is a point where it gets too close and the effect seems even worse than it should but that's a small niggle. They actually do a better job in making Kroll seem more fierce with the use of the tentacles and dragging several people into the depths. I look at Kroll as an ambitious try to which they did not quite succeed.
Aside from Kroll, the effects are pretty good. There is nice location work which puts nearly everything outside on film and that looks good. There is some very nice night shooting for Romana's sacrifice that also looks good. Even the base set is pretty good, spare but serviceable. There is a point where the ladder used by the Doctor to disarm the rocket is seen to be rather wobbly but I'm willing to overlook that in favor of everything else they did.
There is one point that is just a bit dumb and it cannot be overlooked. That is the way the Doctor, Romana and Rohm-Dutt get out of the rack in Episode Three. Having the Doctor emit a high pitched tone and then talk about learning it from Nellie Melba is taking it beyond the realm of believability. I think it might have gone over slightly better if an actual soprano's voice had been used. At least there the joke about the opera singer would have made sense, even if it was a groaner. Instead you get a synthetic sound that makes the Doctor sound like a robot and that just didn't work.
Even with the missteps, I think this is a pretty good story. It's not The Ribos Operation and I think that's why it's reputation suffers. Since Robert Holmes already penned a very good story in the arc, it can't help but be compared to that one and it's just not as good. Had any other writer delivered this, it probably would be appreciated for the simple story that it is. While I like Robert Holmes, I try not to force a story to live up to a higher reputation just because of who wrote it. If the story is entertaining, well-acted and looks decent, I'm fine with that. Within the Key to Time season, I would certainly rather watch this than say The Pirate Planet, even though that story is supposed to be funnier.
Overall personal score: 3.5 out of 5
Friday, February 24, 2017
The Androids of Tara
Next time I will not be so lenient!
The fourth leg in the Key to Time saga is somewhat notable for having almost nothing to do with the actual Key to Time. The Doctor and Romana find the key almost immediately and then follow though on a fantasy style adventure that would not be out of place with the likes of The Princess Bride. When ranking stories in their various lists, The Androids of Tara almost always ends up near the top of Season 16, usually in a battle with The Ribos Operation for the top spot, although exceptions are to be found here and there.
Plot Summary
The TARDIS materializes on the planet Tara where the Doctor has decided to take a break and go fishing. Romana, in a fit of mild irritation, ventures off into the forest to find the fourth segment of the Key to Time. She comes across a statue and the segment is disguised as a portion of the statue. As she retrieves it, she is attacked by an ape-like creature. The creature is then driven away by a helmeted knight with an electrified sword.
The knight removes his visor and reveals himself as Count Grendel, the lord of the lands on they are found. Seeing Romana has sprained her ankle, he carries her to his horse and takes her back to his castle. Upon reaching the castle, he gives her over to his engineer, Madame Lamia, where both he and her have mistaken Romana for an android. Lamia prepares to disassemble Romana but Romana notes her ankle and upon seeing swelling, Lamia realizes that Romana is flesh and blood. Under orders from Grendel, she knocks her out with an injection.
While fishing, the Doctor falls asleep. He is woken by two men holding him with electrified swords. They are Zadek and Farrah, two soldiers serving Prince Reynart. They take the Doctor back to a cabin where the Prince is resting. Reynart appeals to the Doctor to help him fix an android double of himself. The Prince is scheduled to be crowned king tomorrow and he fears that Count Grendel might try to harm him on the way to the ceremony which if he misses, he will forfeit his right to the throne, allowing Grendel to put forth his claim.
The Doctor agrees and manages a patch job on the android. Reynart pulls out a flagon of wine to celebrate, inviting the two guards to imbibe as well. As all four drink, they pass out from the drugged wine. The door to the cabin opens and Grendel walks in. He kidnaps Reynart, leaving the other three.
Upon waking and realizing what has happened, the Doctor decides to use the android copy of Reynart to be crowned, thus thwarting Grendel's plan and buying them time to rescue him. He summons K-9 from the TARDIS and asks him if Romana has returned. When he answers negatively, Farrah informs the Doctor that if she went into the woods, she was probably captured and taken to Grendel's castle. The Doctor sends K-9 to the castle to see if Romana is there and then report back to him.
In Grendel's castle, Romana wakes and is taken into the dungeons where she is shown Princess Strella, whom Grendel intends to marry and then dispose up, putting him closer to the line of succession. Princess Strella also happens to look just like Romana, which caused Grendel's confusion earlier. She is then taken to Prince Reynart's cell where she is locked in with him to tend his wounds and the subsequent infection he is now suffering from.
The Doctor, Zadek, Farrah and the android Reynart make their way to a secret passage that leads to the castle. They knock out one of Grendel's guards stationed at the entrance and make their way in. When nearly there, they are discovered by more of Grendel's guards, forcing them to make a fighting retreat into the throne room. As the hour of crowning comes, the Archimandrite (the high priest) opens the doors to find Reynart already seated on the throne, flanked by Zadek, Farrah and the Doctor.
The Archimandrite crowns Reynart as king of Tara. Grendel hesitates but goes along with the submission to him, unwilling to expose his knowledge that this is a trick. The android Reynart gives his acceptance speech, although it jogs slightly during the speech. Princess Strella then approaches the throne and bows before Reynart. The Doctor suddenly leaps up and strikes Strella with the scepter, revealing her to be an android. At Count Grendel's insistence, the ceremony is adjourned until the following day to allow Reynart to rest and investigate the assassination attempt.
As Grendel returns to the castle, Lamia pulls Romana out of the dungeons to ask about the Key segment. Romana pretends to be unaware of it's properties but Lamia suspects she is lying. Grendel returns and orders Lamia to create a new android, but this time of Romana. He then sends his man servant to lure the Doctor into a trap by offering to return Romana at a cabin on Grendel's land. K-9 returns to confirm that Romana is being held by Grendel.
The Doctor and K-9 head to the exchange cabin after agreeing and hide themselves prior to the time of exchange. Lamia, Grendel the android Romana and several guards approach the cabin. Lamia enters and is surprised by the Doctor, who initiates the exchange earlier. She brings in the android Romana but K-9 warns the Doctor and he ducks before the android can shoot him. He maneuvers around, allowing K-9 to destroy the android. Hearing female screaming, Grendel orders his men to fire on the cabin. Lamia runs out, yelling at them to stop firing but is shot down.
Back at Grendel's castle, Romana picks the lock of her chains and frees herself. She unlocks Reynart but he is too weak to travel. He creates a ruse and knocks out the guard, allowing Romana to escape on Grendel's horse. She rides past the cabin just as K-9 finishes cutting a hole in the back, allowing the Doctor and himself to escape. The Doctor and Romana ride off while K-9 stuns the pursuing guards.
The Doctor returns to the house outside the city where he first met Reynart and the android has been taken for repairs. Shortly after arrival, Grendel appears under a flag of truce. He enters and offers the Doctor the chance to become king. The Doctor is amused but alerts Zadok to Grendel's plan. Grendel takes his spear to which his white flag is attached and throws it into the chest of the android Reynart. Grendel then flees, grabbing Romana and riding back to his castle with her.
Back at the castle, Grendel summons the Archimandrite to perform first the wedding between Reynart and Princess Strella (really Romana) and then his own to Princess Strella following Reynart's death. As the real Strella refuses to go along with it, he uses her life to threaten Romana and Reynart to agree to his plan.
The Doctor devises a plan to get into the castle and open the doors from the inside for Reynart's men. He and K-9 take a boat across the moat to a passageway under the castle. The passage is baracaded by a heavy door but K-9 cuts an opening for the Doctor. The Doctor sneaks in but leave K-9 to guard the boat in case they need a hasty escape.
The Doctor enters the main hall and stops the wedding before it finishes. Angered by the Doctor's interference, Grendel challenges the Doctor to single combat, going so far as to give him a sword for a proper fight. The Doctor toys with him a bit but soon has Grendel on his heels. He tells Reynart to open the gates and he does, allowing Zadok and his men to pour through the main gate.
Grendel's captain of the guard heads down to the dungeons to kill Princess Strella but Romana follows him and she and Strella knock him out before he can attack him. As the castle falls, Grendel and the Doctor fight on the rooftop. Realizing the battle is lost, Grendel retreats and dives off the battlements, into the moat and swims away.
A victorious Reynart offers the Doctor control of all of Grendel's lands but he declines. He collects Romana and then the Key segment from Lamia's lab. They then spy K-9 adrift on the boat in the middle of the moat. They move to collect him and depart the planet.
Analysis
I don't know that I could rate this one as high as The Ribos Operation, but this is a fun story to watch. While the androids and electric swords and crossbows officially push this over to science fiction, it's much more of a romantic epic in the lines of The Man in the Iron Mask and the like.
The Doctor is quite fun here. He's jokey but not over-the-top to the point of silliness. He has good lines and trades wit with both friends and foes alike. But he also has a few moments of seriousness that emphasize the danger to those involved. It's a good adventuring Doctor.
Romana is pretty good in this one and Mary Tamm actually gets a lot of extra work playing Princess Strella and two androids. She doesn't do much as Strella and the acting for an android is to play nearly dead, but it is still a lot of screen time. I rather enjoyed the beginning how she is off to shove it in the Doctor's face as to what their business is. She also has a good amount of spunk while still showing how green she is in the ways of the universe. Her attempting to get Grendel's horse to move is quite funny and you can tell that she is much more comfortable with something like K-9 than an actual animal.
Unquestionably, the star of the show is Count Grendel. He is mustache twirl-y but not so over-the-top as to become farcical. He also shows an odd dichotomy for both being a cheating asshole (such as promising not to shoot the Doctor and then ordering his men to shoot him) but also being a strict observer of the rules. Grendel clearly has the power to seize the throne by force or at least threaten the other nobles into supporting his claim, but he instead chooses to through a more complicated plan involving androids and murder just to ensure he has legal standing.
For all his mustache twirling, it was nice to see him be fairly competent. He successfully captures Reynart, successfully destroys the Reynart android and could have killed the Doctor to seal the wedding plan if he had not chosen to indulge in sport and a bit of chivalry. What's more, he is actually a very good swordsman and could have bested anyone else who challenged him, making his pretense of chivalry with the Doctor a lot less bluster than it would have been with other villains. Despite his being a bastard, in the end, there is a part of me that is happy to see him swim away, the odd taunt still on his lips.
The sword fight at the end was actually really well done. It's starts with a touch of silliness from the Doctor and a clear bit of irritation from Grendel. But it escalates quickly. What's even more interesting is that there is no music for the first part of the fight. It's just the open clash of the blades that fill the hall. It's not until Grendel is disarmed by the Doctor and he takes on a "this is serious tone" that we start getting some background music for their fight. What's more, the focus then begins to shift to the other aspects with Reynart retraining the manservant and opening the gate as well as Romana tracking down the captain of the guard in the dungeons. I only wish the middle portion of the fight in the passageway to the roof had been better lit. There is a nice play of shadow but Grendel gets the Doctor off-balance before he runs off and I would have liked to see that better rather that have the Doctor just be consumed by one area of darkness and then shown to be on the ground.
Most of the rest of the cast was also decent, though they didn't have that much to contribute. Reynart was probably the strongest of the lower tier, managing to pull off a man who did seem truly suited to be king. Lamia was probably the weakest as she was a little too emotionally stunted for my taste. I think she was going for bored indifference, but it came across as more stiff than anything else. Even her death seemed like weak acting, as though she couldn't show emotion even then. It just didn't play that well.
There were some nice little touches made in the production. I found the clock with extra hours a nice addition and there was a good diversity among the clothing of the nobles, giving it a strong period vibe. There was also a nice blend of exterior and interior shooting, including some clear night shots which gave the story an added layer of depth and realism that I enjoyed.
I also enjoyed how this story used K-9 as a true member of the crew though it did expose one reason why he isn't used that often. The Doctor clearly needed him to get out of the one trap and to breach the castle in another. But in the escape from the cottage trap, K-9 mows down four or five of Grendel's guards and that does remind the audience just how overpowered he is. K-9 could easily have been used to destroy the entire garrison of Grendel's castle single-handedly should the Doctor have wanted to blast his way through, but keeping him to the boat as a trusted sentry, actually makes sense and was a way to keep him from doing something like that. It's smart use, even if it does highlight other problems.
It did slow down in a couple of points and when the Doctor and Grendel were not directly involved, it bogged down a bit, but this story still moved along fairly well and is well worth watching for Count Grendel alone. I will say that I think you have to be in the right mood for it as the structure and tone is much closer to The Princess Bride rather than any traditional Doctor Who. But I think most folks would be happy to sit down with this story most of the time. I know I would and could easily have some fun with it at any time.
Overall personal score:
The fourth leg in the Key to Time saga is somewhat notable for having almost nothing to do with the actual Key to Time. The Doctor and Romana find the key almost immediately and then follow though on a fantasy style adventure that would not be out of place with the likes of The Princess Bride. When ranking stories in their various lists, The Androids of Tara almost always ends up near the top of Season 16, usually in a battle with The Ribos Operation for the top spot, although exceptions are to be found here and there.
Plot Summary
The TARDIS materializes on the planet Tara where the Doctor has decided to take a break and go fishing. Romana, in a fit of mild irritation, ventures off into the forest to find the fourth segment of the Key to Time. She comes across a statue and the segment is disguised as a portion of the statue. As she retrieves it, she is attacked by an ape-like creature. The creature is then driven away by a helmeted knight with an electrified sword.
The knight removes his visor and reveals himself as Count Grendel, the lord of the lands on they are found. Seeing Romana has sprained her ankle, he carries her to his horse and takes her back to his castle. Upon reaching the castle, he gives her over to his engineer, Madame Lamia, where both he and her have mistaken Romana for an android. Lamia prepares to disassemble Romana but Romana notes her ankle and upon seeing swelling, Lamia realizes that Romana is flesh and blood. Under orders from Grendel, she knocks her out with an injection.
While fishing, the Doctor falls asleep. He is woken by two men holding him with electrified swords. They are Zadek and Farrah, two soldiers serving Prince Reynart. They take the Doctor back to a cabin where the Prince is resting. Reynart appeals to the Doctor to help him fix an android double of himself. The Prince is scheduled to be crowned king tomorrow and he fears that Count Grendel might try to harm him on the way to the ceremony which if he misses, he will forfeit his right to the throne, allowing Grendel to put forth his claim.
The Doctor agrees and manages a patch job on the android. Reynart pulls out a flagon of wine to celebrate, inviting the two guards to imbibe as well. As all four drink, they pass out from the drugged wine. The door to the cabin opens and Grendel walks in. He kidnaps Reynart, leaving the other three.
Upon waking and realizing what has happened, the Doctor decides to use the android copy of Reynart to be crowned, thus thwarting Grendel's plan and buying them time to rescue him. He summons K-9 from the TARDIS and asks him if Romana has returned. When he answers negatively, Farrah informs the Doctor that if she went into the woods, she was probably captured and taken to Grendel's castle. The Doctor sends K-9 to the castle to see if Romana is there and then report back to him.
In Grendel's castle, Romana wakes and is taken into the dungeons where she is shown Princess Strella, whom Grendel intends to marry and then dispose up, putting him closer to the line of succession. Princess Strella also happens to look just like Romana, which caused Grendel's confusion earlier. She is then taken to Prince Reynart's cell where she is locked in with him to tend his wounds and the subsequent infection he is now suffering from.
The Doctor, Zadek, Farrah and the android Reynart make their way to a secret passage that leads to the castle. They knock out one of Grendel's guards stationed at the entrance and make their way in. When nearly there, they are discovered by more of Grendel's guards, forcing them to make a fighting retreat into the throne room. As the hour of crowning comes, the Archimandrite (the high priest) opens the doors to find Reynart already seated on the throne, flanked by Zadek, Farrah and the Doctor.
The Archimandrite crowns Reynart as king of Tara. Grendel hesitates but goes along with the submission to him, unwilling to expose his knowledge that this is a trick. The android Reynart gives his acceptance speech, although it jogs slightly during the speech. Princess Strella then approaches the throne and bows before Reynart. The Doctor suddenly leaps up and strikes Strella with the scepter, revealing her to be an android. At Count Grendel's insistence, the ceremony is adjourned until the following day to allow Reynart to rest and investigate the assassination attempt.
As Grendel returns to the castle, Lamia pulls Romana out of the dungeons to ask about the Key segment. Romana pretends to be unaware of it's properties but Lamia suspects she is lying. Grendel returns and orders Lamia to create a new android, but this time of Romana. He then sends his man servant to lure the Doctor into a trap by offering to return Romana at a cabin on Grendel's land. K-9 returns to confirm that Romana is being held by Grendel.
The Doctor and K-9 head to the exchange cabin after agreeing and hide themselves prior to the time of exchange. Lamia, Grendel the android Romana and several guards approach the cabin. Lamia enters and is surprised by the Doctor, who initiates the exchange earlier. She brings in the android Romana but K-9 warns the Doctor and he ducks before the android can shoot him. He maneuvers around, allowing K-9 to destroy the android. Hearing female screaming, Grendel orders his men to fire on the cabin. Lamia runs out, yelling at them to stop firing but is shot down.
Back at Grendel's castle, Romana picks the lock of her chains and frees herself. She unlocks Reynart but he is too weak to travel. He creates a ruse and knocks out the guard, allowing Romana to escape on Grendel's horse. She rides past the cabin just as K-9 finishes cutting a hole in the back, allowing the Doctor and himself to escape. The Doctor and Romana ride off while K-9 stuns the pursuing guards.
The Doctor returns to the house outside the city where he first met Reynart and the android has been taken for repairs. Shortly after arrival, Grendel appears under a flag of truce. He enters and offers the Doctor the chance to become king. The Doctor is amused but alerts Zadok to Grendel's plan. Grendel takes his spear to which his white flag is attached and throws it into the chest of the android Reynart. Grendel then flees, grabbing Romana and riding back to his castle with her.
Back at the castle, Grendel summons the Archimandrite to perform first the wedding between Reynart and Princess Strella (really Romana) and then his own to Princess Strella following Reynart's death. As the real Strella refuses to go along with it, he uses her life to threaten Romana and Reynart to agree to his plan.
The Doctor devises a plan to get into the castle and open the doors from the inside for Reynart's men. He and K-9 take a boat across the moat to a passageway under the castle. The passage is baracaded by a heavy door but K-9 cuts an opening for the Doctor. The Doctor sneaks in but leave K-9 to guard the boat in case they need a hasty escape.
The Doctor enters the main hall and stops the wedding before it finishes. Angered by the Doctor's interference, Grendel challenges the Doctor to single combat, going so far as to give him a sword for a proper fight. The Doctor toys with him a bit but soon has Grendel on his heels. He tells Reynart to open the gates and he does, allowing Zadok and his men to pour through the main gate.
Grendel's captain of the guard heads down to the dungeons to kill Princess Strella but Romana follows him and she and Strella knock him out before he can attack him. As the castle falls, Grendel and the Doctor fight on the rooftop. Realizing the battle is lost, Grendel retreats and dives off the battlements, into the moat and swims away.
A victorious Reynart offers the Doctor control of all of Grendel's lands but he declines. He collects Romana and then the Key segment from Lamia's lab. They then spy K-9 adrift on the boat in the middle of the moat. They move to collect him and depart the planet.
Analysis
I don't know that I could rate this one as high as The Ribos Operation, but this is a fun story to watch. While the androids and electric swords and crossbows officially push this over to science fiction, it's much more of a romantic epic in the lines of The Man in the Iron Mask and the like.
The Doctor is quite fun here. He's jokey but not over-the-top to the point of silliness. He has good lines and trades wit with both friends and foes alike. But he also has a few moments of seriousness that emphasize the danger to those involved. It's a good adventuring Doctor.
Romana is pretty good in this one and Mary Tamm actually gets a lot of extra work playing Princess Strella and two androids. She doesn't do much as Strella and the acting for an android is to play nearly dead, but it is still a lot of screen time. I rather enjoyed the beginning how she is off to shove it in the Doctor's face as to what their business is. She also has a good amount of spunk while still showing how green she is in the ways of the universe. Her attempting to get Grendel's horse to move is quite funny and you can tell that she is much more comfortable with something like K-9 than an actual animal.
Unquestionably, the star of the show is Count Grendel. He is mustache twirl-y but not so over-the-top as to become farcical. He also shows an odd dichotomy for both being a cheating asshole (such as promising not to shoot the Doctor and then ordering his men to shoot him) but also being a strict observer of the rules. Grendel clearly has the power to seize the throne by force or at least threaten the other nobles into supporting his claim, but he instead chooses to through a more complicated plan involving androids and murder just to ensure he has legal standing.
For all his mustache twirling, it was nice to see him be fairly competent. He successfully captures Reynart, successfully destroys the Reynart android and could have killed the Doctor to seal the wedding plan if he had not chosen to indulge in sport and a bit of chivalry. What's more, he is actually a very good swordsman and could have bested anyone else who challenged him, making his pretense of chivalry with the Doctor a lot less bluster than it would have been with other villains. Despite his being a bastard, in the end, there is a part of me that is happy to see him swim away, the odd taunt still on his lips.
The sword fight at the end was actually really well done. It's starts with a touch of silliness from the Doctor and a clear bit of irritation from Grendel. But it escalates quickly. What's even more interesting is that there is no music for the first part of the fight. It's just the open clash of the blades that fill the hall. It's not until Grendel is disarmed by the Doctor and he takes on a "this is serious tone" that we start getting some background music for their fight. What's more, the focus then begins to shift to the other aspects with Reynart retraining the manservant and opening the gate as well as Romana tracking down the captain of the guard in the dungeons. I only wish the middle portion of the fight in the passageway to the roof had been better lit. There is a nice play of shadow but Grendel gets the Doctor off-balance before he runs off and I would have liked to see that better rather that have the Doctor just be consumed by one area of darkness and then shown to be on the ground.
Most of the rest of the cast was also decent, though they didn't have that much to contribute. Reynart was probably the strongest of the lower tier, managing to pull off a man who did seem truly suited to be king. Lamia was probably the weakest as she was a little too emotionally stunted for my taste. I think she was going for bored indifference, but it came across as more stiff than anything else. Even her death seemed like weak acting, as though she couldn't show emotion even then. It just didn't play that well.
There were some nice little touches made in the production. I found the clock with extra hours a nice addition and there was a good diversity among the clothing of the nobles, giving it a strong period vibe. There was also a nice blend of exterior and interior shooting, including some clear night shots which gave the story an added layer of depth and realism that I enjoyed.
I also enjoyed how this story used K-9 as a true member of the crew though it did expose one reason why he isn't used that often. The Doctor clearly needed him to get out of the one trap and to breach the castle in another. But in the escape from the cottage trap, K-9 mows down four or five of Grendel's guards and that does remind the audience just how overpowered he is. K-9 could easily have been used to destroy the entire garrison of Grendel's castle single-handedly should the Doctor have wanted to blast his way through, but keeping him to the boat as a trusted sentry, actually makes sense and was a way to keep him from doing something like that. It's smart use, even if it does highlight other problems.
It did slow down in a couple of points and when the Doctor and Grendel were not directly involved, it bogged down a bit, but this story still moved along fairly well and is well worth watching for Count Grendel alone. I will say that I think you have to be in the right mood for it as the structure and tone is much closer to The Princess Bride rather than any traditional Doctor Who. But I think most folks would be happy to sit down with this story most of the time. I know I would and could easily have some fun with it at any time.
Overall personal score:
Thursday, March 10, 2016
The Stones of Blood
I will plead with my colleague for a swift, painless death for you.
The Stones of Blood is the obligatory Earth segment of The Key to Time season and it is pretty good if wildly varying in tone from episode to episode.
Plot Summary
The Doctor and Romana land on Earth to find the third segment of the Key to Time. The detector leads them to an ancient stone circle which shows evidence of recent blood spill and stone movement, despite the circle being 4,000 years old. In the circle, they meet an old archeologist named Amelia Rumford and her cottage mate, Vivian Fay. Professor Rumford tells a little of the history of the stones and mentions some local Druidic activity, headed by a Mr. de Vries. The Doctor heads down to see him while Romana stays in the circle and assists Professor Rumford and Ms. Fay in their measurements.
De Vries sees the Doctor and is familiar with him due to his knowledge from "the goddess." He welcomes the Doctor into the home, giving him a little history of the stones before knocking him out. Meanwhile, Professor Rumford and Ms. Fay finish their measurements and head back to the cottage. They invite Romana but she declines, preferring to wait for the Doctor. After they leave, Romana hears the Doctor calling to her. Following the sound, she approaches a steep cliff where the Doctor appears and pushes her over. She catches herself on a ledge just below the edge of the cliff.
The Druids assemble to sacrifice the Doctor but Professor Rumford returns and the group flees. She unties the Doctor and the two realize that Romana is missing. The Doctor summons K-9 who tracks down Romana and the Doctor pulls her up. The Doctor and Romana speculate that whoever posed as the Doctor has the third segment of the Key and is using it to change their appearance. The Doctor and K-9 return to de Vries house for more information while Romana heads to Professor Rumford's cottage.
Upon arriving at the house, the Doctor and K-9 find de Vries and his acolyte crushed to death and much of the house destroyed. Investigating, they are attacked by one of the stones, in reality and alien called an Ogri. The Ogri knocks the Doctor out but it is fended off by K-9. He pursues but is damaged in the chase. Romana and Professor Rumford arrive to look through the archives and find the damaged house with the Doctor attempting to fix K-9. Romana takes K-9 back to the TARDIS to complete the repairs while the Doctor and Professor Rumford investigate the house.
The Doctor and Professor Rumford find de Vries worship center and three paintings that had been removed. The paintings are of the same woman in different periods of time and that woman is identical to Ms. Fay. Leaving K-9 to recover in the TARDIS, Romana investigates a light at the circle. She is frozen in a beam by Ms. Fay who then teleports her out of the circle.
The Doctor and Professor Rumford arrive a short time later and is warned off by Ms. Fay just before she too disappears. Investigating, the Doctor deduces that Ms. Fay and Romana have been transported to hyperspace. Retrieving K-9, the Doctor goes to Professor Rumford's cottage and builds a projector that will transport him to hyperspace. The device malfunctions and attracts the attention of the Ogri. Making quick repairs, he orders Professor Rumford to switch the device on every few minutes to allow he and Romana to get back but without burning out the machine. After he disappears, the Ogri attack but are held off by K-9. The Ogri retreat and go kill a couple of campers to refresh themselves. K-9 is also low on power and is unsure if he can fend off another attack.
In hyperspace, the Doctor finds himself on a ship. Most of the crew are dead but he finds Romana in a cell. He frees her and then also unseals a door containing two Megara, justice robots. They determine that the Doctor broke the law by breaking the seals and must be tried. He is convicted in absentia as he and Romana try to flee. However, Vivian Fay goes back and destroys the projector and takes the Ogri with her. Trapped on the ship, the Doctor is granted the right to appeal his conviction.
K-9 walks Professor Rumford on how to repair the projector while the Doctor conducts his trial. He learns that the Megara were to conduct the trial of a wanted criminal who stole the Seal of Diplos. The Doctor surmises that this is Vivian Fay who was able to take over the ship while the Megara were sealed off. With the projector repaired, Romana returns to Earth while the Doctor stalls in his trial. She and Professor Rumford go back to the cottage and there Romana is able to deduce Vivian's alien metabolism. The Doctor runs out of stalls and the trial ends with his sentence being held up.
The Doctor deflects some of the energy that would have been used to kill him into Vivian, knocking them both out. Upon waking, he urges the Megara to probe her memory to ensure no brain damage has occurred. Upon probing, they see that she is the criminal they seek. The Doctor takes Vivian back to Earth, swiping the Seal of Diplos from her neck (the disguised third segment) and the Megara trap Vivian in perpetual imprisonment as a stone in the circle. They also pledge to return the Ogri back to their home planet. The Doctor sends the Megara back to hyperspace before they can take a second attempt and carrying out his own sentence of execution.
The Doctor, Romana and K-9 say goodbye to Professor Rumford before disappearing in the TARDIS. There, the Doctor has Romana assemble the third segment in the Key.
Analysis
This story was all over the place in terms of it's plot. The first two episodes are very Scooby Doo with a dark conspiracy and trying to figure out who the real villain is. The Third Episode is an adventure scramble and the Fourth Episode is then Law & Order in space. None of this is bad though. In fact, the shift in focus helped prevent the story from getting too stale in my opinion.
I can see why Professor Rumford has become a favorite character over the years with a similar type character becoming a companion (for the Sixth Doctor I believe) in some Big Finish plays. She is feisty and enjoyable and doesn't take much guff from the Doctor. She makes for a nice pairing with Romana as well.
Even the Ogri were better realized that I thought they would be. You would think a monster being just a big rock would be rather silly, but the actor's reactions really helped sell the Ogri. One of the best things was the talk and not show of the Ogri attack on de Vries. That left things to the imagination and that also helped make the Ogri seem more beastly. I had a little too much build up from other sources to think that the attack on the campers was particularly horrific so that didn't impress me as much as it has others, but for big rocks, they did well I thought.
If I had a complaint about anything, I think it would be de Vries and the other Druids. They were there as a red herring but I was not overly impressed with the acting of de Vries himself. I also thought that with the knowledge that they were a distraction, the scenes with them were a bit poorly done. Something about them just didn't quite sit right. Once they were out of the way halfway through Episode Two, it felt like the story became smoother and just worked better. I know why they were there, but it just felt better once we could get over that part.
I enjoyed this one and can easily see why it gets rated as either the best or second best story in The Key to Time season. I could also see myself pulling this one off the shelf for a good quick story just about any time. Definitely an enjoyable one.
Overall personal score: 4 out of 5
The Stones of Blood is the obligatory Earth segment of The Key to Time season and it is pretty good if wildly varying in tone from episode to episode.
Plot Summary
The Doctor and Romana land on Earth to find the third segment of the Key to Time. The detector leads them to an ancient stone circle which shows evidence of recent blood spill and stone movement, despite the circle being 4,000 years old. In the circle, they meet an old archeologist named Amelia Rumford and her cottage mate, Vivian Fay. Professor Rumford tells a little of the history of the stones and mentions some local Druidic activity, headed by a Mr. de Vries. The Doctor heads down to see him while Romana stays in the circle and assists Professor Rumford and Ms. Fay in their measurements.
De Vries sees the Doctor and is familiar with him due to his knowledge from "the goddess." He welcomes the Doctor into the home, giving him a little history of the stones before knocking him out. Meanwhile, Professor Rumford and Ms. Fay finish their measurements and head back to the cottage. They invite Romana but she declines, preferring to wait for the Doctor. After they leave, Romana hears the Doctor calling to her. Following the sound, she approaches a steep cliff where the Doctor appears and pushes her over. She catches herself on a ledge just below the edge of the cliff.
The Druids assemble to sacrifice the Doctor but Professor Rumford returns and the group flees. She unties the Doctor and the two realize that Romana is missing. The Doctor summons K-9 who tracks down Romana and the Doctor pulls her up. The Doctor and Romana speculate that whoever posed as the Doctor has the third segment of the Key and is using it to change their appearance. The Doctor and K-9 return to de Vries house for more information while Romana heads to Professor Rumford's cottage.
Upon arriving at the house, the Doctor and K-9 find de Vries and his acolyte crushed to death and much of the house destroyed. Investigating, they are attacked by one of the stones, in reality and alien called an Ogri. The Ogri knocks the Doctor out but it is fended off by K-9. He pursues but is damaged in the chase. Romana and Professor Rumford arrive to look through the archives and find the damaged house with the Doctor attempting to fix K-9. Romana takes K-9 back to the TARDIS to complete the repairs while the Doctor and Professor Rumford investigate the house.
The Doctor and Professor Rumford find de Vries worship center and three paintings that had been removed. The paintings are of the same woman in different periods of time and that woman is identical to Ms. Fay. Leaving K-9 to recover in the TARDIS, Romana investigates a light at the circle. She is frozen in a beam by Ms. Fay who then teleports her out of the circle.
The Doctor and Professor Rumford arrive a short time later and is warned off by Ms. Fay just before she too disappears. Investigating, the Doctor deduces that Ms. Fay and Romana have been transported to hyperspace. Retrieving K-9, the Doctor goes to Professor Rumford's cottage and builds a projector that will transport him to hyperspace. The device malfunctions and attracts the attention of the Ogri. Making quick repairs, he orders Professor Rumford to switch the device on every few minutes to allow he and Romana to get back but without burning out the machine. After he disappears, the Ogri attack but are held off by K-9. The Ogri retreat and go kill a couple of campers to refresh themselves. K-9 is also low on power and is unsure if he can fend off another attack.
In hyperspace, the Doctor finds himself on a ship. Most of the crew are dead but he finds Romana in a cell. He frees her and then also unseals a door containing two Megara, justice robots. They determine that the Doctor broke the law by breaking the seals and must be tried. He is convicted in absentia as he and Romana try to flee. However, Vivian Fay goes back and destroys the projector and takes the Ogri with her. Trapped on the ship, the Doctor is granted the right to appeal his conviction.
K-9 walks Professor Rumford on how to repair the projector while the Doctor conducts his trial. He learns that the Megara were to conduct the trial of a wanted criminal who stole the Seal of Diplos. The Doctor surmises that this is Vivian Fay who was able to take over the ship while the Megara were sealed off. With the projector repaired, Romana returns to Earth while the Doctor stalls in his trial. She and Professor Rumford go back to the cottage and there Romana is able to deduce Vivian's alien metabolism. The Doctor runs out of stalls and the trial ends with his sentence being held up.
The Doctor deflects some of the energy that would have been used to kill him into Vivian, knocking them both out. Upon waking, he urges the Megara to probe her memory to ensure no brain damage has occurred. Upon probing, they see that she is the criminal they seek. The Doctor takes Vivian back to Earth, swiping the Seal of Diplos from her neck (the disguised third segment) and the Megara trap Vivian in perpetual imprisonment as a stone in the circle. They also pledge to return the Ogri back to their home planet. The Doctor sends the Megara back to hyperspace before they can take a second attempt and carrying out his own sentence of execution.
The Doctor, Romana and K-9 say goodbye to Professor Rumford before disappearing in the TARDIS. There, the Doctor has Romana assemble the third segment in the Key.
Analysis
This story was all over the place in terms of it's plot. The first two episodes are very Scooby Doo with a dark conspiracy and trying to figure out who the real villain is. The Third Episode is an adventure scramble and the Fourth Episode is then Law & Order in space. None of this is bad though. In fact, the shift in focus helped prevent the story from getting too stale in my opinion.
I can see why Professor Rumford has become a favorite character over the years with a similar type character becoming a companion (for the Sixth Doctor I believe) in some Big Finish plays. She is feisty and enjoyable and doesn't take much guff from the Doctor. She makes for a nice pairing with Romana as well.
Even the Ogri were better realized that I thought they would be. You would think a monster being just a big rock would be rather silly, but the actor's reactions really helped sell the Ogri. One of the best things was the talk and not show of the Ogri attack on de Vries. That left things to the imagination and that also helped make the Ogri seem more beastly. I had a little too much build up from other sources to think that the attack on the campers was particularly horrific so that didn't impress me as much as it has others, but for big rocks, they did well I thought.
If I had a complaint about anything, I think it would be de Vries and the other Druids. They were there as a red herring but I was not overly impressed with the acting of de Vries himself. I also thought that with the knowledge that they were a distraction, the scenes with them were a bit poorly done. Something about them just didn't quite sit right. Once they were out of the way halfway through Episode Two, it felt like the story became smoother and just worked better. I know why they were there, but it just felt better once we could get over that part.
I enjoyed this one and can easily see why it gets rated as either the best or second best story in The Key to Time season. I could also see myself pulling this one off the shelf for a good quick story just about any time. Definitely an enjoyable one.
Overall personal score: 4 out of 5
Monday, January 11, 2016
The Pirate Planet
Mr. Fibuli!
The Pirate Planet is a story that starts rather poorly, but it grows on you towards the end. It's a comedy that is looks cheap and is over the top at first, but the depth of the performance matures as the story progresses and starts to offset the cheaper effects.
Plot Summary
The Doctor and Romana land on what they believe to be the planet Calufrax where the second piece of the Key to Time is located. However they find themselves on the planet Zanak instead, despite the Key locator telling them they are in the right location. The Doctor stumbles across a family who's son has been selected by the Mentiads, a telepathic sect that is fighting the Captain, the leader of the planet. Allying with the Mentiads, and following the locator, the Doctor and Romana break into the Captain's castle with the intention of stealing the Key segment.
Inside the castle, they discover that Zanak is a mobile planet that consumes other worlds. The Captain is being directed by Queen Xanxia, who has her old body held in stasis while actually posing as the Captain's nurse. The Captain is also subtly fighting her, planning to use the destroyed planets against her. The Doctor and Romana escape the castle. Romana and K-9 rally the Mentiads against the Captain's troops while the Doctor uses the TARDIS to disrupt Zanak's attempted materialization around Earth. The Captain, realizing that the Queen is being attacked, turns on her but she kills him first. This is distraction enough for the Mentaid army to sabotage the planetary engines, destroying the bridge and Xanxia. The Doctor and Romana then recover the remains of Calufrax and convert it into the second segment.
Analysis
As I mentioned earlier, this episode starts off on the wrong foot. The Captain is very over-the-top and his costume does no favors in allaying fears of low budget. The "crowds" addressed by the Captain involve about seven people standing in an empty courtyard while the Mentiads and the manifestation of their powers look very hokey. Add some bad blue screen effects when using air cars and the first episode and a half will make you feel like you are watching something pretty awful.
However, once the Doctor and Romana break into the castle, things improve. The Captain is still over-the-top but a subtly comes into his performance, especially when his nurse is introduced. His interactions with Mr. Fibuli also add a bit more depth and will remind many of the interactions between Captain Hook and Smee in the Disney adaptations of Peter Pan.
The scaling down of the setting also helps. When confined to the castle the lack of extras is diminished and by the time the Mentiads make their assault on the castle entrance, things are starting to look decent. It's still typical mid-70's television fare, but it doesn't look bad anymore.
The Doctor also getting into direct interface with the Captain and Queen Xanxia helps a great deal with landing the jokes. The three of them (with Romana playing the straight man) offer more puns and intelligent humor that we expect from Douglas Adams' style. By the time episode four rolls around, it's either interesting action or well landed jokes and the story starts flowing bay. There is a real cheap effect that sours things at the end, but if you can keep the context of the time, it is tolerable to watch.
The Pirate Planet's biggest problem is that it follows the very intelligent The Ribos Operation. With that episode in mind, this clear play at a younger audience falls flat. It gets its legs under it eventually, but the beginning is a hard price to pay for only a good payoff at the end. I'll watch it again, but it's lower on the priority list.
Overall personal score: 3 out of 5
The Pirate Planet is a story that starts rather poorly, but it grows on you towards the end. It's a comedy that is looks cheap and is over the top at first, but the depth of the performance matures as the story progresses and starts to offset the cheaper effects.
Plot Summary
The Doctor and Romana land on what they believe to be the planet Calufrax where the second piece of the Key to Time is located. However they find themselves on the planet Zanak instead, despite the Key locator telling them they are in the right location. The Doctor stumbles across a family who's son has been selected by the Mentiads, a telepathic sect that is fighting the Captain, the leader of the planet. Allying with the Mentiads, and following the locator, the Doctor and Romana break into the Captain's castle with the intention of stealing the Key segment.
Inside the castle, they discover that Zanak is a mobile planet that consumes other worlds. The Captain is being directed by Queen Xanxia, who has her old body held in stasis while actually posing as the Captain's nurse. The Captain is also subtly fighting her, planning to use the destroyed planets against her. The Doctor and Romana escape the castle. Romana and K-9 rally the Mentiads against the Captain's troops while the Doctor uses the TARDIS to disrupt Zanak's attempted materialization around Earth. The Captain, realizing that the Queen is being attacked, turns on her but she kills him first. This is distraction enough for the Mentaid army to sabotage the planetary engines, destroying the bridge and Xanxia. The Doctor and Romana then recover the remains of Calufrax and convert it into the second segment.
Analysis
As I mentioned earlier, this episode starts off on the wrong foot. The Captain is very over-the-top and his costume does no favors in allaying fears of low budget. The "crowds" addressed by the Captain involve about seven people standing in an empty courtyard while the Mentiads and the manifestation of their powers look very hokey. Add some bad blue screen effects when using air cars and the first episode and a half will make you feel like you are watching something pretty awful.
However, once the Doctor and Romana break into the castle, things improve. The Captain is still over-the-top but a subtly comes into his performance, especially when his nurse is introduced. His interactions with Mr. Fibuli also add a bit more depth and will remind many of the interactions between Captain Hook and Smee in the Disney adaptations of Peter Pan.
The scaling down of the setting also helps. When confined to the castle the lack of extras is diminished and by the time the Mentiads make their assault on the castle entrance, things are starting to look decent. It's still typical mid-70's television fare, but it doesn't look bad anymore.
The Doctor also getting into direct interface with the Captain and Queen Xanxia helps a great deal with landing the jokes. The three of them (with Romana playing the straight man) offer more puns and intelligent humor that we expect from Douglas Adams' style. By the time episode four rolls around, it's either interesting action or well landed jokes and the story starts flowing bay. There is a real cheap effect that sours things at the end, but if you can keep the context of the time, it is tolerable to watch.
The Pirate Planet's biggest problem is that it follows the very intelligent The Ribos Operation. With that episode in mind, this clear play at a younger audience falls flat. It gets its legs under it eventually, but the beginning is a hard price to pay for only a good payoff at the end. I'll watch it again, but it's lower on the priority list.
Overall personal score: 3 out of 5
Thursday, November 12, 2015
The Ribos Operation
And they'll look back and say, "Binro was right."
There are a lot of Doctor Who stories that are fondly remembered by fans when they were children that they go back to as adults and find they aren't as good as they remembered. The Ribos Operation is the inverse of that as it is a story that children would have found a bit boring but as an adult, the story is highly entertaining.
The Ribos Operation is essentially The Sting set on an alien world. The story is set up early in episode one that the Doctor must find the six segments of the Key to Time (as established by the White Guardian) and is given a Time Lord companion (Romana) to complete the task. They then find themselves in the middle of a botched con job and must extricate themselves from it and take the first segment as well, which is disguised as a valuable object being used as bait for the mark.
The script is written by Robert Holmes and it is one of his best. All three factions (the con men, the Graf and General Sholakh, and the Doctor and Romana) work closely in pairs and the dialogue whips tightly between each of them. Even when the con man Unstoffe gets separated from his companion Garron, he pairs up with Binro the Heretic, which is more touching and sentimental than witty, but still very enjoyable to watch.
Because of the dialogue and the tightness of the overall plot, there are no points that feel like they are dragging. In fact as each cliffhanger comes in to focus, there is a pressing desire to start the next episode. Not that you feel any real peril for Doctor, but just because you are drawn in and want to see what happens next.
The acting is also very well done. The Doctor and Romana play well off each other with each softening towards each other's ways as the story unfolds. Garron and Unstoffe are the classic lovable rogues that you would happily lose a bit of money to just to have a chance to sit down and chat with over a drink. Sholakh is also very enjoyable as the noble general devoted to a lost cause, living on the memory of the glory days. There was much about the actor and the performance that actually reminded me of Tywin Lannister, although a bit less independently minded.
Now, there are a couple of nits with this story. The first is the shrivenzale. They do pretty well with it in the first couple of episodes, focusing tightly on it's head and forepaws. But in episode four there a couple of full focusing shots on it and that reveals it's shortcomings as a rubber costume. Worse is the fact that it wasn't necessary. The shrivenzale doesn't actually play any real role in the story and if the shots had stayed tight on the head or a slithering movement in the shadows, it would have played much better.
The second nit is with the Graf Vynda-K. I understand he is supposed to be a bit mad but he puts the dial near 9 in episode one when he gets excited about the supposed mineral wealth of Ribos. He keeps attempting to amp it up as things spin further out of his control but because he started so high to begin with, his performance comes across as shrieky. It's hammy, but it doesn't go so over the top to become painful. Overall, it would have been perfectly acceptable except that since he was already getting shrieky through episodes one through three, much of the impact of his going over the edge with the death of Sholakh is lost because he simply cannot go any higher on the scale.
Some people have felt uncomfortable with how easily and coldly the Doctor kills the Graf at the end of episode four, but I didn't have a problem with it. The bomb had been armed and they had both heard the Seeker say that only one would emerge from the catacombs alive so it was a simple matter of kill or be killed. The fact that the Graf walks off with grief tearing his mind apart so that he is imagining himself in past battles, almost makes the Doctor's actions feel like an act of mercy. I view it in the same way as how a rabid dog must be dealt with. You cannot reason with it or help it recover. Death is the merciful option.
The minor flaws that exist do very little to detract from enjoying this story. I would not hesitate to watch this again and it probably would make for a very good entry into classic Doctor Who for another adult.
Overall personal score: 5 out of 5
There are a lot of Doctor Who stories that are fondly remembered by fans when they were children that they go back to as adults and find they aren't as good as they remembered. The Ribos Operation is the inverse of that as it is a story that children would have found a bit boring but as an adult, the story is highly entertaining.
The Ribos Operation is essentially The Sting set on an alien world. The story is set up early in episode one that the Doctor must find the six segments of the Key to Time (as established by the White Guardian) and is given a Time Lord companion (Romana) to complete the task. They then find themselves in the middle of a botched con job and must extricate themselves from it and take the first segment as well, which is disguised as a valuable object being used as bait for the mark.
The script is written by Robert Holmes and it is one of his best. All three factions (the con men, the Graf and General Sholakh, and the Doctor and Romana) work closely in pairs and the dialogue whips tightly between each of them. Even when the con man Unstoffe gets separated from his companion Garron, he pairs up with Binro the Heretic, which is more touching and sentimental than witty, but still very enjoyable to watch.
Because of the dialogue and the tightness of the overall plot, there are no points that feel like they are dragging. In fact as each cliffhanger comes in to focus, there is a pressing desire to start the next episode. Not that you feel any real peril for Doctor, but just because you are drawn in and want to see what happens next.
The acting is also very well done. The Doctor and Romana play well off each other with each softening towards each other's ways as the story unfolds. Garron and Unstoffe are the classic lovable rogues that you would happily lose a bit of money to just to have a chance to sit down and chat with over a drink. Sholakh is also very enjoyable as the noble general devoted to a lost cause, living on the memory of the glory days. There was much about the actor and the performance that actually reminded me of Tywin Lannister, although a bit less independently minded.
Now, there are a couple of nits with this story. The first is the shrivenzale. They do pretty well with it in the first couple of episodes, focusing tightly on it's head and forepaws. But in episode four there a couple of full focusing shots on it and that reveals it's shortcomings as a rubber costume. Worse is the fact that it wasn't necessary. The shrivenzale doesn't actually play any real role in the story and if the shots had stayed tight on the head or a slithering movement in the shadows, it would have played much better.
The second nit is with the Graf Vynda-K. I understand he is supposed to be a bit mad but he puts the dial near 9 in episode one when he gets excited about the supposed mineral wealth of Ribos. He keeps attempting to amp it up as things spin further out of his control but because he started so high to begin with, his performance comes across as shrieky. It's hammy, but it doesn't go so over the top to become painful. Overall, it would have been perfectly acceptable except that since he was already getting shrieky through episodes one through three, much of the impact of his going over the edge with the death of Sholakh is lost because he simply cannot go any higher on the scale.
Some people have felt uncomfortable with how easily and coldly the Doctor kills the Graf at the end of episode four, but I didn't have a problem with it. The bomb had been armed and they had both heard the Seeker say that only one would emerge from the catacombs alive so it was a simple matter of kill or be killed. The fact that the Graf walks off with grief tearing his mind apart so that he is imagining himself in past battles, almost makes the Doctor's actions feel like an act of mercy. I view it in the same way as how a rabid dog must be dealt with. You cannot reason with it or help it recover. Death is the merciful option.
The minor flaws that exist do very little to detract from enjoying this story. I would not hesitate to watch this again and it probably would make for a very good entry into classic Doctor Who for another adult.
Overall personal score: 5 out of 5
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