The Talons of Weng-Chiang

The bird has flown the coop. One of us is yellow.

The Hinchcliffe era officially ends with the Doctor and Leela doing Sherlock Holmes. Hinchcliffe gave the BBC something of a middle finger with this story, blowing his budget completely out of the water on costuming and set design, both of which have been well praised by fans. However, the story is also well known for being mired in racism both deliberate, as would have been appropriate for the time, and natural.

Plot Summary

Following a show in Victorian London by illusionist Li H'sen Chang, he is confronted by an angry man whose wife was used as a model in his show and subsequently disappeared. Chang denies all knowledge and the man leaves to go see the police. As he walks down the alley, he is attacked by Chang's ventriloquist dummy, Mr. Sin.

The Doctor and Leela arrive as this is happening intent on taking in a show. They arrive at the scene of the attack with several Chinese men taking the body away. The men attack the Doctor and Leela but the pair manage to hold their own. The men flee with the body when they hear police whistles but Leela manages to trip one up and capture him. The police take all three back to the station for questioning.

During a later performance of Chang's show, the theater owner, Henry Gordon Jago, observes blood dripping off Mr. Sin's arm. He dismisses it but he is also unsettled by one of the stagehand's stories of large rats in the basement, though he dismisses the claims.

The Doctor and Leela have their information taken down by the police sergeant, though he is somewhat dismissive of them. Mr. Chang arrives shortly afterwards to serve as an interpreter, despite the Doctor catching the man off-guard by speaking Chinese. Chang slips the man a poison capsule and he dies quickly. Chang leaves, although the Doctor is suspicious.

The Doctor and Leela then head to the mortuary to have a look at the body, which the Doctor is convinced was killed by poison. He noticed that the man was a member of the Scorpion Tongs, a sect devoted to the god Weng-Chiang who was prophesied to return. In the mortuary, he finds Professor Litefoot doing an autopsy on the man whose body was being taken at the beginning. He had been fished out of the Thames but there were large bites on his body like those done by large rodents. He also finds long rat hairs on his clothes.

The Doctor and Leela then head down into the sewers to where the body was likely dumped. There they are confronted by a large rat, grown to nearly ten feet in length. The Doctor sets of a small flash which temporarily blinds the rat, giving them time to get back up to the surface. The Doctor figures the rat is guarding something and sets back to the police station for a plan of the sewers.

Back at the theater, Mr. Jago and the stage hand check the basement to make sure it is clear and find a woman's glove. Jago pockets it and then dismisses the stage hand. After he leaves, Jago sees Chang who then hypnotizes Jago into forgetting the angry man who came earlier. Jago is then sent back to his office.

Chang heads to the basement and then through a secret hole into a hidden lab. There he meets with a masked figure who demands additional people to experiment on to cure a disease the man is suffering from. Chang warns the figure of the Doctor but the masked figure dismisses him as a threat. The two then ascend into the street.

Back at the police station, the Doctor is left a note by Professor Litefoot. The Doctor meets up with him as he is preparing to leave and Litefoot confirms the Doctor's theory that the victim was gnawed on by a large rodent. He also notes that the man who killed him must have been of small stature based on the angle of the stab. Litefoot then invites the Doctor to dinner to discuss things further.

The Doctor and Leela take a cab with Litefoot back to his house but the Doctor leaves halfway there to stop at the Palace Theater. Litefoot and Leela instead enjoy a buffet meal alone, with Litefoot being amused at Leela's complete lack of table manners.

Chang, Mr. Sin and the mysterious figure arrive outside Litefoot's home. They have tracked the figure's time cabinet to this neighborhood but are unsure of what house it is in. Chang and Sin leave to investigate while the figure heads back to the theater.

In the theater, the Doctor undoes the hypnotism performed by Chang on Jago. Using Jago's returned memories the Doctor puts together more of the story. They search the theater, discovering a hologram which created the stagehand's ghost story. The Doctor also detects that a lair must be hidden here, although he is unable to find the entrance. The masked figure reappears and the Doctor chases him through the theater but he is able to escape. The Doctor instructs Jago to watch and gather information while he heads to Professor Litefoot's home.

At the home, Litefoot and Leela finish dinner but Litefoot detects movement outside. Peering through the window, he catches a glimpse of Chang and heads out with a pistol to chase him off. He does a circuit around the house but doesn't find anything. Reentering the house, he is knocked out by Mr. Sin who then advances on Leela. She throws a carving knife into Sin's neck but he continues to advance. She then dives out through the window where the just arriving Doctor finds her. The noise catches the attention of the police and Chang recalls Sin and the two disappear, though having discovered Weng-Chiang's time cabinet. The Doctor goes in to help Litefoot but Leela jumps on the back of the cab to follow Chang.

Litefoot is groggy but unharmed. The Doctor also discovers the time cabinet, which Litefoot purchased while living in China with his father. The Doctor makes a plan of the sewer system while Litefoot recovers and figures the location of the hidden lair under the theater. He then borrows a Chinese cannon gun from Litefoot and asks his help in getting to the sewers from the Thames.

In London, Chang hypnotizes a prostitute and brings her back to the theater. He stashes her in his dressing room and then hypnotizes one of the cleaning women. Whilst doing this, Leela substitutes herself for the hypnotized prostitute. Chang then takes both women, unaware of the switch, to the figure's lair. Chang promises the time cabinet that night but the figure is angry at his repeated mistakes and dismisses him.

The figure places the cleaning woman in a machine where she is enveloped by gas. Leela strikes out, knocking the figure down and turning off the machine, but the cleaning woman has already had her essence drained. The figure fires a ray gun at Leela but misses. She then escapes into the sewer but the figure uses a gong to summon the huge rats guarding the entrance.

She runs through the sewer pursued by one. It catches up and attacks her, only to be shot down by the Doctor, who had entered the sewer earlier via a boat from Litefoot. He takes Leela back to the boat and the trio head back to Litefoot's house where he supplies her with a fresh outfit. The Doctor then proposes to go to the theater to ferret out the mysterious figure. Aware of the danger, the Doctor orders Litefoot to be ready and has a police officer stationed outside.

Chang learns from overhearing Jago that the Doctor has returned and warns his master. The figure still waives off Chang from his service, though he begins to pack his lair. In the theater, Chang enlists the Doctor in his act. The Doctor enters, but avoids Chang's first attempt to trap him. Instead, he uses his own assistant in the trick. But when it ends, rather than the assistant emerging, the dead body of a stagehand emerges, killed by the mysterious figure.

Chang runs to the lair, where he is pursued by the Doctor, Leela and Jago. The figure and his equipment are gone and the Doctor realizes that he intends to set up shop elsewhere. Chang admits to discovering the figure, whom he believes to be the god Weng-Chiang, when he appeared in the time cabinet in rural China. However, as Chang nursed the man back to health, the authorities took the time cabinet and the two have been tracking it ever since. Chang then runs into the sewers where he is attacked by the giant rats.

Back at Litefoot's house, a band of Chinese men kill the police officer standing guard. Inside the house, Mr. Sin emerges from a fresh basket of laundry and knocks out Litefoot again. He opens the door and the group carry away the time cabinet with the mysterious figure in the same cab. They bring the cabinet to a hidden lair but in doing so, the figure is told that one bag with vital equipment was left at the theater. The figure in enraged and kills the man who forgot. He then orders his men to recover it.

The Doctor and Leela return to Litefoot's house and discover the break-in. They treat Litefoot and the Doctor discovers the attacker's method of entrance. The Doctor also figures that Mr. Sin is a well known robot with the cerebral cortex of a pig developed as a toy in the year 5000 but that turned against humanity and disappeared. The Doctor and Leela then head to the laundry to hunt for the attackers.

The bag with the missing components is discovered in the theater by Jago who then takes it to Professor Litefoot's house. Litefoot, upon learning of this, has Jago leave the bag with a note for the Doctor and the pair head out to the theater, figuring that the gang will return and can be followed back to their lair. They do indeed follow the gang but are discovered and captured. Under threat of Jago's life, Litefoot confesses that the bag is back at his house. They are then locked up, to be executed later.

The Doctor and Leela arrive at the laundry and break in. It is deserted and they sneak into an opium den in the back and find Chang. He survived the rat attack but lost his leg and is dying, easing his pain with opium. He reveals that the man posing as Weng-Chiang had a second lair where he would return to the future. However, he dies before he can tell the Doctor where it is.

The Doctor and Leela return to Litefoot's house to find the bag and the note. In the bag is the key to the time cabinet. The Doctor takes it and deduces that Jago and Litefoot went out after the gang. Suspecting that they will be captured and reveal the location of the key, he and Leela prepare defenses for the house. However, as they prepare, the masked figure attacks Leela from inside the house. She spins away, ripping off his mask to reveal a disfigured man. But his attack worked and she loses consciousness.

The Doctor returns to the room where he reveals that he has the time cabinet key. He strikes a bargain with the figure that in exchange for the key, they will head back to the hideout where Jago and Litefoot will be freed. The Doctor also insists that Leela be left behind. The figure reluctantly agrees. As they leave, Leela comes to and follows behind them.

Once at the lair, the figure is revealed as Magnus Greel, a war criminal from the 51st century. Jago and Litefoot are brought out but they inform the Doctor that two women are being held prisoner as well and the Doctor insists on them being freed too. Angry at this push, Greel orders Mr. Sin to fire a laser cannon hidden in the eyes of a dragon statue to which he has snuck behind. The Doctor is knocked out by the blast and Greel orders the three relocked up as he intends to squeeze the Doctor for knowledge of the future.

The Doctor wakes in the room being used as a cell with Jago, Litefoot and the two women. He wakes them and proceeds to set up a makeshift gas bomb using the pipes and a linen bag.

Back in the main room Leela, having killed one guard, sneaks in and attacks Greel. She nearly kills him but is pulled off by his Chinese followers. He has Leela tied to his life extractor machine and then orders the guards to get the other two women. As the guards enter the room, the Doctor sets off the gas bomb. The guards are knocked out and the five prisoners escape, the two women running out of the building entirely. Entering the room, the Doctor throws an axe, disabling the machine before it can kill Leela.

The Doctor frees Leela and Greel orders Mr. Sin to shoot them. Sin begins to fire at them and they take cover behind furniture. The Doctor breaks off and begins to make make-shift repairs to Greel's extractor machine while Greel himself tries to get to his time cabinet. Guards enter the room, but Sin's animal nature take effect and he guns them down, thinking only to kill all humans.

Leela grabs a pistol dropped by one of the guards and empties it into the dragon statue's head, disabling the laser. Greel attempts to activate the time cabinet but the Doctor realizes that if he does so, it will be overpowered and destroy itself and the whole building. He attacks Greel and throws him into the life extractor machine which has been reactivated. His body crumbles to dust once the machine has finished it's cycle.

Mr. Sin emerges from the statue and attacks the Doctor with a knife. Leela, Jago and Litefoot help get him off the Doctor and the Doctor pulls a fuse from his back, deactivating him. The Doctor then destroys the time cabinet key.

With the gang destroyed, Jago and Litefoot prepare to go to the police to close the case. The Doctor and Leela leave in the TARDIS, Leela being very confused by Litefoot's explanation of the protocols of tea drinking.

Analysis

I highly enjoyed this story. If it wasn't for the racism angle, it would probably be regarded as one of the best stories in the canon and quite a few view it that way anyway. But the racism angle cannot be ignored so let's start with that caveat.

There are three forms of racism indulged in in this story: colloquial racism normal for the Victorian era, supplemental racism added by Robert Holmes when none was required and portrayal racism, mostly in the form of John Bennett's portrayal of Li H'sen Chang. The first form is fairly easy to dismiss. In fact, if you had a man like Henry Gordon Jago not calling the Chinese "Celestials" or other slightly derogatory terms, it would have felt out of place. As much as we might not like the history of racism, to endow characters of a particular time with modern sensibilities just strikes a false note. A good example of that is Mel Gibson's southern plantation owner who only uses free black labor in The Patriot. No one did this and such a man would have been ostracized by all his neighbors. It jut feels wrong even though it was made to make him more sympathetic to our sensibilities. So I don't have a problem with the small doses of the first type.

Indeed, Chang actually makes use of established racism to both make a point in suggesting that all Chinese look alike to the Doctor and then later puns on the term yellow as both a descriptor of East Asian people and cowards. Both of these are excellent moment both in terms of undercutting the norms of the day and providing character depth. I especially like Chang's rebuke of the Doctor in Episode One as in one phrase, it undercuts the Doctor's flippancy towards the racism of the day and also establishes that Chang is not on the same level as the henchmen he and Leela encountered earlier. Chang is established quickly as an intellect and a more worthy adversary for the Doctor.

The second type is where things start to get dicey. Nearly all of these are little asides and jokes made by the Doctor. Most of them are height jokes and all are delivered in a corny joke form. He does throw in a couple of harsh barbs, implying that savagery committed by Chinese is somehow more barbaric than that committed by Europeans. To give him a little credit, these harsher barbs are delivered to a character (Litefoot in both cases I believe) who would readily agree with him. But even in a jokey sense and through asides to sympathetic characters, this is a bit discomforting. The Fourth Doctor is flippant and often mildly offensive if you actually listen to what he says, but that does not excuse the degree to which Robert Holmes went in with these. Again, most are dismissive, especially as the Doctor delivers them in that bad joke fashion but even one clanger is enough to give you a bit of pause.

Then there is Li H'sen Chang himself. I'm very torn on this one myself. John Bennett is clearly giving it his all in this performance and he does very well both when he is in conspiring villain mode and playing coy for Jago and the other Victorians. There is poignancy in his performance, especially the scenes of his rejection by Greel and in his death where he comes to grips with being played by a false god. But, you cannot deny that it is an English actor in yellow face and with the Far Eastern stereotypical lisp. It's obviously not as bad as Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffanys, but it is still an obvious indulgence in stereotype. Especially when you have authentically East Asian actors playing all other Chinese roles.

All that being said, Bennett does well enough that you can forget about the yellow face as the performance goes on. This is especially true in later episodes where he loses the cool veneer and allows the emotions of fear and regret to seep through. By the time you see him wasting away, stoned on opium, it is very easy to see only the broken man and not the yellowed stereotype. That you can take moments to forget the makeup and see only the portrayal says a great deal about the quality of the acting.

Steering away from the racism angle, there is an awful lot to enjoy in this story. The Doctor is on point here. He has his typical flippancy but he also gets serious when the situation calls for it. He manages to avoid dipping into the anger that the Fourth Doctor can sometimes get in to as well. His relationship with Leela is also interesting to watch as he clearly displays a level of trust in her so far unseen and unfortunately not indulged in much afterwards.

This may be Leela's best story. Holmes clearly weaves a number of lines and elements from the character of Eliza Doolittle (My Fair Lady) into Leela's dialogue. Yet Leela does not lose her savage edge. She still fights back at every alternative and displays courage often not seen in male companions.

The first of my two personal favorite scenes of hers are when she picks up the side of meat and begins to eat it. Litefoot is taken aback but he is still so charmed by this naiveté that he does the same thing to another side of meat. In fact, the only time he corrects her manners is to use a napkin rather than wiping on the tablecloth (more of an evidence of how much he fears the wrath of his housekeeper). It is just endearing for both characters.

The second of my favorite Leela scenes is when she changes clothes following the giant rat attack. Litefoot gives her a dress and ushers her to another room to change. Up until now, Leela had been wearing an outfit fitting to her more athletic temperament. However, when she emerges in the dress, there is a softness introduced to her. That it impresses Litefoot is not surprising. However, it is the reaction of the Doctor that what make the scene. For the very first time, he is caught by the fact that his companion is attractive. It is subtle and the Doctor never moves or acts on it, but the fact that for the very first time in the series he is moved by the appearance of a companion is very enjoyable to watch. That it would devolve into the mess with Rose in the new series is regrettable but I thought it excellently played here.

The only downside with Leela was near the end when she is sneaking up on Greel. In all reality, Leela would have been able to bury that knife in his back from across the room and probably should have. She only snuck up on him and failed in her attack because the story couldn't end ten minutes sooner and the show needs at least one instance of the Doctor rescuing Leela rather than the other way around as is often the case. Even still, she probably should have been successful in slitting his throat, but again, the story needed ten more minutes and this is tea time drama, no matter how I might imagine it.

Another of the enjoyable aspects of this story are the characters of Jago and Litefoot. These characters became so popular that they even got their own Big Finish spinoff series as a detective duo. In this story, they each serve as Watson to the Doctor's Sherlock Holmes. What is more interesting is that each plays a different form of Watson.

Jago is the more stereotypical Watson as became well known through the Basil Rathbone movies. His Watson is more of the bumbling assistant, desperately trying to keep up with Holmes and generally viewed as comic relief. Litefoot on the other hand, is more of the original Doyle Watson that wasn't portrayed as such much until the Jeremy Brett version of Sherlock Holmes came about. In fact, the Edward Hardwicke version of Watson is strikingly similar to Litefoot in many ways. There is a calm reserve, much more quiet courage than seen in the standard Watson portrayal and a sharper mind than is often initially seen.

I've never listened to the Big Finish audios so I don't know how those typically go but two work well together in the last two episodes of this story. Litefoot takes the more Holmesian lead role with Jago falling in to the comedic sidekick role. That being said, it is Jago and not Litefoot who displays the courage to attract Sin's attention long enough for Leela to get the gun. So, unlike when they are paired with the Doctor, there is not a distinct Holmes-Watson comparison but more of two balancing forces both entertaining and intellectual.

I would be remiss if I didn't also discuss the atmosphere of this story. The costuming, set design and overall atmosphere of this story are about as perfect as you can get. There is night shooting on film, wonderful costuming, elaborate sets. It is as period as you can get with the BBC and that is saying something given the BBC's expertise in Victoriana. Of course, Philip Hinchcliffe broke the bank on this one and put his successor Graham Williams in a real hole. That explains some of the corner cutting seen in Season 15, to it's unfortunate detriment.

Overall, I'd say the good of this story way outweighs the bad. Despite the racism, I'd happily watch this one a second time around. It is paced well and quite exciting. It is only because of the racism that a moment's pause is even required. Still, I mark stories based on how I enjoy them and while the racism does give pause, I enjoyed the story, acting and style too much to be overly bothered by it.

Overall personal score: 5 out of 5

The Awakening

I'm being bullied, coerced, forced against my will. I've had enough for one day.

The Awakening is a quick story of only two parts. Given that it doesn't have to fill time, it races along much like a new series story would, with only a few quick moments of exposition between characters. It does fairly well, but I suspect that the story was a bit ambitious for what was capable both in terms of the two episode allotment and the production design.

Plot Summary

The Doctor, Tegan and Turlough are traveling to the town of Little Hodcombe in 1984 to visit Tegan's grandfather, Andrew Verney. At this time the local magistrate, Sir George Hutchinson, is holding a series of war game reenactments celebrating an English Civil War battle that destroyed the town in 1643. However, his men are beginning to take the games too seriously and have began acting too much like their historical counterparts. The lone objector is the local school teacher, Jane Hampden, but Sir George keeps blowing her off.

The Doctor and crew land in the church after encountering a time distortion and pursue a figure who they worry may have been injured in the cave in. Outside they are taken by Sir George's men and taken to Sir George. Sir George is worried both about their presence and the fact that they are looking for Andrew Verney, who disappeared several days ago. Upset at this news, Tegan runs out to look for him and Turlough chases after her.

Stopping outside a barn to orient herself, Tegan's purse is stolen by the one-eyed man who ran away from them earlier. She chases him into the barn but is locked in. In the barn, she begins to see a manifestation of an old man. Frightened, she tries to get out but is only freed when Turlough unbolts the door from outside.

The Doctor vaguely answers Sir George's questions and then bolts out when their guard is down. He heads to the village to look for Tegan and runs into her purse thief. The man blips away towards the church and the Doctor begins to suspect trouble. He arrives in the church to find the man gone but a boy, Will Chandler, breaks out of a crack in the wall convinced that it is still 1643. Tegan and Turlough arrive at the church shortly after and the Doctor informs them that there is a time disruption going on. He tells them to wait in the TARDIS while he sorts things out with Will.

The Doctor and Will first go towards town but are distracted and end up in a crypt. Exploring the legend of the Malus, the Doctor discovers a secret passage from the crypt to Colonel Ben Wolsey's house, which Sir George had been using as headquarters and Jane had been held under guard. She had found the other end of the passage and the three hid from pursing guards in the passage. The Doctor also finds a sample of alien metal, confirming his suspicions.

Tegan and Turlough head to the TARDIS but on seeing another projection, head back to warn him. They encounter more guards and split up. Tegan is captured and brought to Colonel Wolsey's house. There she is ordered to change into a period dress and is subsequently proclaimed the Queen of the May.

The Doctor, Jane and Will emerge back in the church where he fills Jane in that an alien probe ship landed in 1643 and that it picked up the Malus during it's travels. That same Malus was projecting it's time into the current time, blending the two streams. A crack opens further in the church wall and the Doctor is engulfed in smoke emanating from the crack. Jane pulls him back to reveal the statued face of the Malus waking while Will flees in terror.

The Malus manifests the one-eyed man, who then transforms into an old man with a sword. The man attacks but the Doctor and Jane run from him and he disappears. Realizing that the Malus is feeding on Sir George and the war games for psychic energy, the Doctor and Jane head back into the secret passage.

Turlough sneaks up on the preparations for the Queen of the May event but is captured. He is locked in a small house with Andrew Verney. Verney relates how he discovered the Malus and when Sir George was told, Sir George's greed allowed the Malus to feed off of him to the point where the Malus has taken over. With no other options, Turlough and Verney work to smash the door down.

Emerging from the secret passage, the Doctor confronts Sir George, who is having it out with Wolsey about reading Tegan. Sir George becomes angry and threatens to shoot the Doctor but leaves, ordering Wolsey to take care of the Doctor. Wolsey, now convinced that Sir George is mad, refuses to carry out the order and prepares to help Tegan escape.

The Doctor finds Will cowering near a building and asks his help in stopping the Queen of the May festival, which results in the burning of the Queen. The Doctor is captured as he approaches and Sir George decides to force him to watch the ceremony. However, when Wolsey drives up in the Queen's carriage, only a dummy is seen. Sir George is enraged and orders his men after Wolsey, who drives off. Will then runs up and fends off the other guards with a torch, freeing the Doctor.

All parties run back to the church where the Malus is further waking. They head down into the TARDIS and find that as Tegan and Turlough left the doors open, the Malus has manifested in there. The Doctor uses this to his advantage and works to block the link between the Malus and the villagers.

Sensing this danger, two guards enter the church and use fallen stones to try and bash their way into the TARDIS. Turlough and Verney, having broken out of the house, come upon the guards and knock them out. The Doctor then succeeds in isolating the Malus so that it cannot draw energy from the village. The manifestation in the TARDIS then begins to die.

Emerging from TARDIS, the group heads upstairs with Turlough and Verney to see if the Malus is dying there as well. It calls upon reserves of energy to manifest three swordsmen who advance on the party. However, one of the soldiers knocked out outside the TARDIS awakes and goes to see what is happening. The swordsmen turn on him, killing him. This uses too much energy and the soldiers fade from existence.

Sir George enters the church and threatens to attack them. Wolsey appeals to him and Sir George begins to crack, resisting the Malus' direction. Will then attacks Sir George, knocking him through the wall and into the void of the Malus. The loss of Sir George destroys the last remnants of energy available to the Malus and it begins to self destruct, pulling down the church with it.

The whole group runs into the TARDIS and the Doctor takes off as the church and the Malus are destroyed. The Doctor is then coerced into heading back and staying for a bit of a holiday in the village. He does promise to take Will back to 1643 when it is all over as well.

Analysis

In the two previous 5th Doctor seasons, a random two-part story was commissioned to fill the allotment of required episodes. This gave us Black Orchid in Season 19, The King's Demons in Season 20 and The Awakening in Season 21. It is a good story but someone should have probably told Eric Pringle a little sooner because this story reads like something intended for four parts. It doesn't suffer too badly from it's paring, but I have a feeling that it would have reached it's ideal state in three parts.

Still, I wouldn't say this is a bad thing. I would rather have too much story crammed into too small a space than the other way around. What's more, unlike Ghost Light or The Curse of Fenric, there is not so much story cut out that you feel lost and confused. Here you just have things packed very tightly. About the only thing that is noted as evidence to cut story is the Doctor's throw away line about needing to research why the aliens never invaded after sending the scout probe. But even here, that's not really that important to the overall story. It's a hint to a larger backstory that is simply undisturbed.

I did find it interesting that even with the shifting of companions to Tegan and Turlough, the Fifth Doctor is still doing most of his work with the pseudo-companions of Jane and Will. Will even gives a heavy Adric vibe, although it is an understandable fear that drives him rather than Adric's smugness. Jane on the other hand is more of the traditional companion. Someone who doesn't know what is going on and has to ask questions to get the Doctor to explain the plot.

Tegan is the contrivance to get the Doctor here and then becomes the damsel. Her status in this story is close to useless, much to her detriment. Turlough is also fairly useless as he runs around and gets locked up until the end as well. Arguably he has a slightly better arc as he actually finds Verney and knocks out the guards attacking the TARDIS, although I'm not sure they were ever seen as a credible threat given what the TARDIS has endured up to now.

I enjoyed the Doctor in this story. He was compassionate and intuitive. He was also to the point which is something rather lacking in the drawn out Fifth Doctor stories. I do like the fact that there was no negotiating or waffling. It was simply a declaration that the Malus was evil and must be stopped. Likewise it was try to appeal to Sir George and once that failed, thwart him. There was no mourning for him when Will killed him either. It was just a matter of pragmatism with Will even giving the line about how Sir George was better off in death than to be a slave to the Malus.

One other thing that amused me was the fact that the whole story was set in 1984, yet if it hadn't been for the paved roads and slightly later construction of the village, you could have easily pegged this story as a period piece. Sir George and his men never take off their period clothes. Likewise, they never switch to cars or modern firearms although those would have been available to him. In the church, Sir George threatens the Doctor with two flintlock guns. Yet there are six people standing in front of them, one of whom (Wolsey) is wearing a breastplate. Sir George is not in a position of authority. At best, he would shoot two of them, but the others would take him quickly. I suppose it is a sign of how much control the Malus had and how the Malus had to maintain the tie to 1643, but the juxtaposition of events just amused me.

The two great offenders of this story are the compression of the story and the special effects. I didn't have any trouble following the story as a whole, but there were a number of details that were rattled off very quickly that I'm not sure I got. I'm still unclear if the original probe was sent by the Terileptils or some other race. I also am a little unclear as to whether the Malus was part of the whole plan or if it just latched on to the probe and started it's own little party. These points are not critical to the overall enjoyment of the story, but a little more breathing space would have allowed these details to be presented better or at least in a more spread out manner.

The period special effects are pretty good and I also thought the psychic manifestations brought out by the Malus were done fairly well, although a little too deliberate when the swordsmen were used. However, the face in the wall is just dumb looking. It looks like a bad prop used on a kids adventure show and at no point does it look scary or threatening. The lizard/human manifestation in the TARDIS was better, but it still just sat there and didn't do anything. I'm sure the production folks were limited but there had to have been a better way to show the Malus and make him appear more threatening. A man in a mask or makeup hidden in the wall a la The Cask of Amontillado would have been so much more threatening and realistic looking. This was a big whiff in my opinion.

Overall, the good outweighs the bad in this story. At only two episodes, it is a quick watch and will keep you engaged. It also won't lose you too much as the various extra details are glossed over. It could have been better with a little more time and dedication, but it is still an enjoyable time.

Overall personal score: 3.5 out of 5

The Chase

No, what is that other awful noise?

There is a small bit of irony in The Chase. Doctor Who is probably one of the best known shows to have episodes wiped from BBC archives. However, this story escaped wiping and contains a clip of the Beatles from their appearance on Top of the Pops. The irony is that the remainder of that episode of Top of the Pops was wiped and this little bit from The Chase is the only surviving footage.

That amusement aside, The Chase is fairly derided among fans as being a boring and rambling mess. At the very least, it was a bit of a jumble behind the scenes as Peter Purvis, who appears as Morton Dill in Episode Three, was subsequently recast as the new companion Steven in less than three weeks. That gives light to some of the other little problems that cropped up along the way.

Plot Summary
While relaxing on the TARDIS, the Doctor develops a time-space visualizer, allowing the crew to witness any event that has happened in the past. Ian observes the Gettysburg Address, Barbara observes Queen Elizabeth talking with Shakespeare and Vicki observes a performance by The Beatles.

They then land on the desert planet of Aridius. Barbara and the Doctor relax around the TARDIS while Ian and Vicki go exploring. Vicki and Ian discover a trail of what appears to be blood and follow it, unaware that something is starting to follow them.

Barbara overhears the visualizer and when she goes to turn it off, she observes a group of Daleks entering a time machine in pursuit of the Doctor. Realizing the danger, the Doctor and Barbara head out after Ian and Vicki so they can all leave before the Daleks arrive. However, night falls and they are forced to hunker down amid some rocks due to a sandstorm.

As night is falling, Ian and Vicki decide to turn around, but Ian finds a ring protruding out of the sand. He pulls it and opens a hatch in the sand. He and Vicki head down the hatch but turn to find that it has been closed behind them by a tentacled creature that had been pursing them.

As day breaks, Barbara and the Doctor emerge from the sand, unsure of where to go. They are forced to hunker down again as a Dalek also emerges from the sand. They overhear the Dalek plans to search for the TARDIS and it's occupants and begin to creep away. In doing so, they run into a small group of Aridians, a fish people with underground cities. The Aridians offer to take the Doctor and Barbra to their city to look for Ian and Vicki.

Vicki and Ian flee through the tunnels away from the various tentacled creatures, called Mire Beasts by the Aridians. They are nearly caught however above ground a Aridian sets off an explosion designed to trap the Mire Beasts in the abandoned parts of the city and the resulting rock fall, knocks Ian out and kills the attacking creature. Vicki continues through the tunnels to find help for Ian.

The Daleks discover the TARDIS buried in the sand. They capture a group of Aridians and force them to dig it out. Once finished, they kill the Aridians and attempt to destroy the TARDIS. However, it is immune to their weapons. They instead set guards over it. Vicki emerges from one tunnel near the TARDIS to see the Daleks guarding it and heads back for Ian.

Back in the main part of the city, the Doctor and Barbara are informed that the Aridians have been contacted by the Daleks and ordered to give the Doctor and his party over by sunset. The elders are forced to agree as they cannot fight the Daleks. Vicki is captured by an Aridian and brought into the chamber with the Doctor and Barbara to be handed over. She tells them that she found the TARDIS and that Ian had apparently woken up and was wandering in the tunnels.

As the Aridians prepare to hand the Doctor over, a Mire Beast breaks through one of the walled off sections and attacks the Aridians. In the confusion, the Doctor and his friends run though the tunnels to the exit Vicki told them about. There they find Ian, setting a trap for the Dalek guard. Using the Doctor's coat and Barbara's sweater, he creates a tiger trap and lures the Dalek guard over. The Dalek falls into the tunnel pit and the group runs to the TARDIS and take off. The Daleks, seeing their escape, move to pursue in their own timeship.

Temporarily elated at their escape, the crew soon realizes that the Daleks are pursuing. They rematerialize on the observation deck of the Empire State Building in 1966, hoping to replot and lose the Daleks. There, they meet a man from Alabama named Morton Dill who assumes they are Hollywood performers. They quickly leave and Dill then sees the arrival of the Daleks. Still amused, he tells the Daleks that the other performers have already left and the Daleks depart once more.

Trying again to replot, the TARDIS lands on the deck of an American cargo schooner. Barbara walks about and is mistaken for a stowaway by the mate. Before he can take her below, Vicki hits him on the back of the head with a club, knocking him out. She mistakenly does the same to Ian when he comes up to tell them they are ready to depart. The two women then assist a groggy Ian back to the TARDIS, which then departs.

The Daleks materialize on the ship just after the mate has woken up and set the alarm among the crew about a stowaway. Upon seeing the Daleks, the crew panics, screaming about the "white terror." The entire crew, including the captain's wife and child, jump overboard to escape the Daleks. In the pursuit, one Dalek also accidentally falls overboard. The Daleks realize the TARDIS has left again and depart, leaving the abandoned ship (shown to be the Mary Celeste).

Checking the instruments, the Doctor sees that the Daleks are still pursuing and are actually gaining on them each time they replot their course. He sets down with the intension of finding a place to fight the Daleks and the group finds themselves in a derelict mansion. The Doctor and Ian head upstairs to see about defenses while Barbara and Vicki remain downstairs with the TARDIS.

Ian and the Doctor discover a lab with a Frankenstein type monster, which begins to rise to pursue them. This causes them to double back and head back downstairs. Meanwhile Vicki and Barbara see someone claiming to be Count Dracula and get separated in different areas of the house. Ian and the Doctor come back downstairs but discover the Daleks have landed, causing them to run back upstairs. They once again enter the lab and arouse the Monster, who advances on the pursuing Dalek, unaffected by it's gun.

Doubling back downstairs, the Doctor and Ian are reunited with Vicki and Barbara who were merely lost. The remaining Daleks advance on them but they are distracted when Count Dracula appears again, immune to their guns. The Doctor, Ian and Barbara dart into the TARDIS and the Doctor takes off. Vicki however is overcome with fear and doesn't move. The Daleks move to kill her but are distracted once again as the Frankenstein Monster emerges and attacks another Dalek. Vicki finally runs and hides in the Dalek time machine. As the Daleks withdraw to pursue the Doctor, a sign shows that the place was an elaborate haunted fun house on Earth.

On the TARDIS, the crew suddenly realize that Vicki was left behind. Unable to direct the TARDIS back there, they decide to make a stand wherever they land, defeat the Daleks and use their time machine to go back and rescue Vicki. They land in a swamp on a planet identified as Mechanus.

In the Dalek ship, Vicki tries to signal the TARDIS but gets no response. The Daleks, frustrated with their failure, create a robot duplicate of the Doctor to act as an infiltrator and assassin. As they land, they send the robot out while they patrol the jungle looking for the Doctor and his team. Vicki also slips out in search of the TARDIS.

The Doctor and his team are accosted by giant mushrooms but the fungi retreat when a series of lights are activated. The lights form a path and the crew follows it to a cave in the cleft of the cliff face. They hunker down and prepare to fight the Daleks. Barbara also finds the control rod for the lights and she deactivates it. The extinguishing of the lights causes the mushrooms to move in and attack Vicki. They hear her scream and the Doctor and Ian go looking for her.

While they are gone, the robot Doctor enters the cave and convinces Barbara to follow him out to look for Ian, claiming they were separated. The real Doctor, Ian and Vicki come back and after a moment's disbelief, informs them of the robot Doctor. Ian heads out again and finds the robot Doctor as it is attacking Barbara. The robot flees and Ian takes Barbara back to the cave. The real Doctor had also slipped out to look for Barbara and as they approach the cave, both Doctors arrive, each accusing the other. Ian begins to attack the real Doctor but they soon realize that it is the wrong Doctor. The two Doctors engage each other but the real Doctor gets the upper hand and disables the robot. Exhausted, the group returns to the cave and falls asleep.

In the morning, the Doctor and Ian spy a city built high above the forest. However, the Daleks attack before they can move and the retreat in to the cave. The Doctor attempts to fool the Daleks by posing as the robot but the Daleks realize it is him and attack, forcing him to duck back in to the cave. As they prepare to make a last stand, an elevator door opens and a robot bids them enter. They quickly do so and are taken up into the city.

In the city, the robot places them in a large room with Steven Taylor, an astronaut who crashed on the planet two years ago. He tells them the robots are called Mechanoids and were sent to the planet to prepare it for colonization. However, the colonization never happened and without the trigger code, the Mechanoids treat all life as potentially hostile. If no defined threat is observed, they enclose it for study as Steven and the TARDIS crew now are. Showing them around, they get on to the roof and find a spool of power cable. With Ian to help, the group decides to try and escape.

The Daleks invade the cave but find it empty. They determine that their prey escaped up to the city and they pursue, summoning all Daleks from the time ship. The Daleks attack the Mechanoids and the Mechanoids fight back. The Doctor also contributes to the fight by leaving his bomb which destroys the lead Dalek. The fight escalates and the city begins to burn as both Mechanoids and Daleks are destroyed in the fighting.

The group begins to lower each one down to the ground but Steven runs back into the holding cell to rescue his stuffed panda Hi-Fi. Not knowing his fate, the group flees back to the TARDIS. Steven actually does escape but is behind the group and out of sight. The TARDIS crew find the Dalek time ship and discover that it is empty with all the Daleks killed in the battle. As they examine it, Ian and Barbara realize they can use the ship to get back home.

Their suggestion angers the Doctor and he initially refuses to help them but Vicki calms him down and reluctantly agrees, warning them of the risks. They accept that and disappear in the machine. They arrive back in London in 1965, nearly two years after they left. The Doctor observes them on the time-space visualizer, whispering how he will miss them. He and Vicki then take off, unaware that Steven has snuck aboard.

Analysis

There are two caveats required to enjoy The Chase. First, because each episode is so radically different from the last in both story and tone, it must be watched in episodic fashion. The mind needs time to process each episode and then compartmentalize it before moving on to the next part of the story. Second, do not apply any primary sense of logic. Much like Silver Nemesis, many parts of this story are built to be a fun thrill ride and will fall completely to pieces if you try to put any sense of either cohesion or intellectual thought into it. Many of the character's moods and behaviors will change from episode to episode as the situation warrants it. They aren't bad from an overall perspective, but it is another reason to put some space between each episode.

Looking back over the whole thing, I imagine that Terry Nation had a four-part story in mind with Episodes One and Two, then followed by Episodes Five and Six. These four seem to have a bit more flow together and use each location on a longer term. Whether it was his idea or the production team, the story was expanded to six episodes and it then gets very weird. I believe that Terry Nation was still looking to get a science fiction series of his own off the ground in the United States (either with or without the Daleks) and the radical change in tone and style shown in each of the episodes feels a bit like an audition of the various types of episodes he felt he could write.

Episode One is a happy jaunt showing the crew in a holiday like setting. Episode Two becomes bleak with Aridians murdered at will by the Daleks and only a bit of chance sparing the crew from being turned over by the helpless Aridians. Episode Three becomes light again with the cornpone Morton Dill and the silly reactions of the crew of the Mary Celeste. Episode Four is horror with a genuinely creepy haunted house, straight out of Scooby Doo. Episodes Five and Six veer back into the adventure tone with Five having a spy flavor and Six being an all out war, punctuated by Ian and Barbara's departure.

You would think, given the way I railed against the tone shifts of The Romans that these radical shifts would really bother me. However, in The Chase, the tone is consistent through the episode, unlike The Romans, which oscillated within the episode. I found that this made the changes much easier to digest, especially, as I mentioned earlier, if you watch and episode and then give a little time to digest it before jumping in to the next one. It is still jarring and doesn't make for a great overall story, but it at least doesn't produce whiplash while watching an episode.

The production values in this story were not great. Normally I don't have a problem with them in 1960's stories but were so many in this one that they just stood out to me. The Dalek emerging from the sand in Episode One is obviously evoking The Dalek Invasion of Earth Dalek emerging from the water. However, that doesn't do it any favors as in that story, it was a full Dalek that was submerged and this is obviously a little model placed in a sand box. In Episode Two, you can see the flap of the skull cap worn to give the Aridian's their top fin peeling up. There is little done to hide the obvious backdrops, giving the story a penned in feel. It doesn't help that in Episode Five there is a strong focus downward in several shots, clearly showing the crew walking on a stage floor rather than earth. There is also something that appears in the cave when Barbara finds the rod controlling the lights that looks suspiciously like a microphone of some kind. Perhaps it was supposed to be something of the Mechanoids, but it looked more like a busted shot to me.

However, I think the worst aspect of production error was in how Edmund Warwick was shot. Warwick played the robot version of the Doctor and while he did a serviceable job as a stand-in, it is painfully obvious that he is not William Hartnell. So why isn't Hartnell used for the face shots and Warwick kept for the rear and double shots? Hartnell's voice is used throughout, although it is very obviously prerecorded. But even in distance shots, like the closing of Episode Four, it is so obvious that that is not William Hartnell. It actually gets worse in the final confrontation when Ian fights the Doctor. He is clearly fighting William Hartnell while Edmund Warwick is shown in medium shot next to Vicki and Barbara. These are cut shots and there is no reason you couldn't have had William Hartnell in both places. If that was too difficult due to time constraints, then the robot plot needed to have been dropped or at the very least, reworked so that only William Hartnell's face was shown at any one time.

There was one subtlety in Episode Three that caught my eye and I'm not sure what to make of it. Near the beginning of the story, a New York stereotype is giving a tour and a large man in a white hat comes over to listen. As he walks into shot, he give an African-American woman standing nearby a hard elbow in the back to get her out of the way. I would love to know whether this was a motion suggested by the director or if it was something done by the actors independently. Morton Dill is such an "aw shucks" kind of Southerner that it is interesting that to contrast this, a shot of hard racism is thrown in as well. What's more that it is done with subtlety and not splashed as a hard point is also quite a contrast with the rest of the episode.

Earlier I mentioned needing to turn off the logical center of the brain to enjoy this story. I think that is at it's greatest point in Episode Four. The explanation offered for the haunted house just doesn't make any sense. Dracula was played as you would expect a fun house robot to be. Likewise the ghost that crossed Ian's path. However, neither the ghoulish woman nor Frankenstein's monster act as fun house robots. Both move independently and change direction based on stimuli. The monster goes one step beyond and actively attacks the Daleks, both in their entry in to the lab and then afterward in the main hall. No fun house robot is going to have that level of independent thought and action. Yet the sign outside make it clear that they are only robots. I would also like to know why these robots are immune to the Dalek lasers but the Mechanoid robots are not. Also, if there is a great entrance to the fun house just beyond the hall, why didn't Barbara or Vicki see it when they were in the hall by the TARDIS. Heck, why didn't Ian and the Doctor see it when they were coming back down the stairs. I would have much preferred it if Ian's suggestion that they had come to a region of space where thoughts were manifested were the real one. That that idea ended up being the basis for The Mind Robber demonstrated that it would have been a perfectly valid one.

Finally, there is the Ian and Barbara goodbye. It is pretty good and spends a good amount of time with them as deserved. I think the most interesting thing about it is the Doctor's actual reaction. With Susan, there was this sense of inevitability and letting go as a parent (or grandparent) would. Here, the Doctor is angry and his anger turns him back into a petulant child. That it takes Barbara getting angry in turn with him shows the emotional level the First Doctor still is at despite his seasoning through the show.

I think it is also reflective of the fact that with someone you are rearing, there is an expectation that they will grow up and leave eventually. You don't have that with someone you see as a friend. You expect friends to stay as long as possible. What's worse for the Doctor is that Ian and Barbara are leaving voluntarily. In a way, you can imagine the Doctor questioning whether they ever considered him a friend if their only hope was to get back to mid-60's London as soon as they were whisked away back in An Unearthly Child. That would make the wound the Doctor feels by their leaving so much worse. But it is fairly well done: staying with them for a bit but not overly sentimental. It is possibly the best part of the story.

So where to come down on this one. I'm not going to lie, I wouldn't watch this one again without good cause. It is too disjointed episode to episode to form a cohesive story. That being said, in each individual episode the story zips along fairly well and you never get a sense of boredom that you do in some stories. That's not enough to save it but if you do sit down with it, the story will keep you engaged. Given that's the same saving grace I gave to Silver Nemesis, I'd say it deserves the same score.

Overall personal score: 1.5 out 5

The Runaway Bride

They had the reception without me!

The Runaway Bride is a good example of why it's good to not rely on your memory of a story from several years ago and instead go back and rewatch the story. My memory focused a great deal on the campier parts and I totally forgot some of the better elements of the story. It also benefits from being watched with Series Four in the back of your mind as many elements of the Doctor-Donna relationship form here.

Plot Summary

Donna Noble begins to walk down the aisle at her wedding when she disappears in a mist of particles. She reappears on the TARDIS, just as the Doctor has said goodbye to Rose. After settling Donna down, the Doctor attempts to take her back to the church but lands in the wrong part of town when the TARDIS begins to act up.

After a few moments of trying to figure out what to do, Donna manages to borrow some money off a shopper and catch a cab. The Doctor, distracted by getting money from an ATM, notices that the cab is being driven by a robotic Santa, similar to those seen in The Christmas Invasion. He pursues her in the TARDIS as she realizes that she is being kidnapped by a robot. The Doctor manages to sabotage the driver and has Donna leap from the cab to the TARDIS.

The Doctor is forced to let the TARDIS rest on the top of building for a couple of hours, allowing him to get to know Donna a bit and try to solve the mystery of how she ended up in the TARDIS. He learns the backstory of her relationship but nothing that clicks immediately as to how she ended up there.

With the TARDIS finished recovering, the Doctor takes her to the reception, which is in full swing. A little nonplussed, Donna joins the party and begins to go back to her normal self. Borrowing a cell phone, the Doctor does a quick search and learns that Donna's company is owned by Torchwood, furthering his confusion. The Doctor hangs around a bit, trying not to think of Rose when he notices a cameraman. He reviews the tape of the wedding where Donna disappears and recognizes the energy pattern as huon energy, a type not used in billions of years.

Spying more robots preparing to attack, the Doctor realizes that they are using the energy to track Donna. He warns everyone to get down and the Christmas trees release shock grenades, trying to stun the guests. Upon entering, the Doctor hooks his sonic screwdriver into the sound system and disables the robots. He then grabs Donna and her fiancé Lance and head off to their company.

In the building, the Doctor discovers an entrance to a Torchwood lab under the Thames. In this lab he finds Huon energy suspended in liquid form. They are then confronted by the Empress of the Racnoss, a giant humanoid spider from the ancient days, who still uses huon energy. She has had a tunnel dug to the center of the Earth and is preparing to release her children from sleep through a body saturated in huon energy. This plan was carried out by Lance who is working for the Empress as he slipped the liquid huon energy in Donna's morning coffee.

The Empress prepares to have her robots kill the Doctor and Donna but the Doctor uses the huon energy in Donna to summon the TARDIS and spirit them away. Going back 4.6 billion years, they observe the Earth being formed around the Racnoss egg ship. They are then ripped back to the present as the Empress, having lost Donna, has saturated Lance's body with huon energy.

The Doctor is able to materialize back in the tunnels but Donna is captured by the robots and held prisoner with Lance. The Empress then kills Lance by dropping him in to the tunnel to feed her offspring. The Doctor arrives in disguise but is easily spotted by the Empress. He gives her one warning, offering to take her and her children to a new planet to thrive. She declines, thinking she has the upper hand.

The Doctor then deactivates the robots and frees Donna. He also releases all the valves within the base, draining water from the Thames, which floods into the hole, drowning the Racnoss young. Donna recalls the Doctor back to his senses and the two flee the flooding lab. The Empress also transports herself back to her ship, which had been attacking the populace in preparation for feasting by her brood. Having used her huon energy to transport and lacking a fresh supply, her ship is defenseless as British tanks fire upon it. It is quickly destroyed, killing the Empress.

The Doctor then flies Donna back to her parents home. He invites her to come with him but she declines, overwhelmed by what he has shown her. She in turn invites him in for dinner but he also declines, although mostly by attempting to run away after telling her yes. They say their goodbyes and the Doctor takes off into the night.

Analysis

The Runaway Bride is not perfect by any stretch of means, but if you like the interaction between the Tenth Doctor and Donna, you will enjoy this episode. This episode is Donna at her most abrasive and shrill but even in the beginning it still plays well with the Doctor. In fact, it is rather funny to see him get pushed around for a change. It is also a nice contrast to see a woman who forcefully expresses her mind to the Doctor rather than go passive-aggressive and bitchy when she has something go against her.

Even though Donna starts out a bit bitchy, she improves as the reality of the situation hits her. By the time she and the Doctor have the rooftop scene, she has calmed down and all her further interactions are much nicer, even if she does have stroppy moments. There are even a few good moments of belittling Lance before knowing that he is working against them that are quite funny.

This is also the one story where it makes sense that he is moping about Rose. He has sad moments immediately after in the TARDIS and then at the reception where he envisions her dancing. But aside from that, he doesn't let it get to him. The use of Rose as appropriate memory or plot point her makes sense and given the immediate preceding nature of her departure, a little melancholy makes sense as classic era stories would often have a bit of reflection either at the end of the story or the beginning of the next story regarding the companion's departure.

The pacing and adventurous nature of the story makes sense given it's place as a Christmas episode. It flows fairly well with a bit of mystery as to the true villain since it is made fairly obvious that the robots are just servants. There does seems to be a little bit of faffing about after the Empress is revealed but I do like that she doesn't monologue much. She gets to the point of trying to kill the Doctor fairly quickly and only keeps Donna alive for as long as she does because she needs her alive.

So that brings us to my memory dislike of the story and that is the Empress herself. As impressive as her costume is, there is something I don't like about it. It just seems to come across as fake looking. I think the problem is three-fold. First is her constant gaping mouth. I don't know if the director told her it made her look more menacing, but it just makes her look silly to me. Second is her eyes. They added six additional eyes on the crown and even managed to get them to blink. However, those eyes are all bulbous with no pupil, exactly as a spider's eye should be. Try as they might, they can't disguise the white of the actress' central eye which diminishes the believability of the other eyes. Third is her arms. They are her forelegs which she is using in arm fashion, but given the way the other six look, they just look like tapered tubes coming off her arms that she raises up at various points and it doesn't quite look right. I don't usually mark down a story for production value but there was something about the Empress. I think it had to do with the fact that everything else about her and all other surroundings looked very good that it just made the limitations of her costume jump out that much more. Still, I'm pleased that they relied on real costuming rather than attempting to use less than stellar CGI to realize her.

Also affecting my memory is the performance of the Empress herself. She is over the top, but not as bad as I remembered her. You wouldn't expect subtlety from a giant spider but there are moments where she gets a little off the rails. I think the worst of it is when she goes into hissing mode, trying to maintain an animalistic performance. I think she operates better when she is quieter, more sinister and she does have the moments. It also helps that she lets Lance go on the exposition rant, giving her those moments of just looking sinister and creepy and that really helps. She loses it at the end with the death of her children and her ranting about destroying the Earth just before she is blown out of the sky, but taken as a whole, it is better than I expected.

The only other moments I didn't care for involved children. In the TARDIS chase sequence, Donna is encouraged and cheered for silently by two kids watching from the back of the car in front. It was a little too much "I want the audience to react this way" for me and didn't care for the cutaways. The other was when the Empress' ship attacks. A little girl does a freeze and scream as a bolt of energy approaches her. She is all alone, despite being shown with her parents in the previous shot. It also has that "I'm looking at something approaching me and I could avoid it by moving but won't for dramatic reasons" look to it as she is scooped out of the way just before impact. It's a cheap effect and it shows.

Still, altogether, it is a well put together story. It flows well and the characters are entertaining, especially if you're already used to Donna in Series Four. It has it's silly moments, but the good well outweighs the bad in my opinion.

Overall personal score: 4 out of 5

Remembrance of the Daleks

Crush the lesser races! Conquer the galaxy! Unimaginable power! Unlimited rice pudding! Et cetera! Et cetera!

Remembrance of the Daleks is the one story that people who do not like the Seventh Doctor era will come back and give an exception to. It's also funny to see the old time fans geek out whenever there is a glimpse of the Special Weapons Dalek introduced in this story. I looked forward to this story with a bit of trepidation as you always do when you hear that something is supposedly so good and yet you fear that you may not like it.

Plot Summary

The story opens with Ace and the Doctor arriving at Coal Hill School in 1963. The Doctor is immediately intrigued by a monitoring van with advanced monitoring technology. Ace leaves for a bit to get something to eat at a local café where she meets Sgt. Mike Smith. The Doctor enters the van to study the equipment and meets Professor Rachel Jensen. Ace and Sgt. Smith return as the group is called away to the death of a soldier. Ace and the Doctor tag along. All this is observed by a young girl.

The van arrives at the I. M. Foreman junkyard where a soldier has been killed by a Dalek blast. The Doctor notes that the Dalek is trapped in a shed. He urges Group Captain Gilmore to disengage but Gilmore orders his men to attack. The Dalek emerges, unphased by the human weapons. The Doctor orders Ace to give him two bottles of Nitro-9 which he uses to destroy the Dalek. Ace and the Doctor then steal a van and head back to Coal Hill.

Sgt. Smith turns over the remains of the Dalek to a specialist named Ratcliffe, who takes it back to a special facility. However, Ratcliffe is a fascist and working with a mysterious Dalek figure who remains hooded.

Ace and the Doctor arrive back at the school and begin to look around. The Doctor suspects the Daleks are looking for the Hand of Omega, a weapon that the Doctor took with him when he left Gallifrey. He notes rocket blast patterns and suspects that the school is a center of Dalek activity. Searching the basement, they find a matter transporter. The Doctor sabotages it as a Dalek is arriving, killing it. However the activity arouses a monitor Dalek. Ace gets to the exit where she is knocked out by the headmaster. He then locks the Doctor in, trapping him. Ace quickly comes to and knocks the headmaster down and releases the Doctor. They run as the Dalek blasts through the door and orders the headmaster, who is under Dalek control, to repair the transporter.

Outside the school, the Doctor discovers a weapons transport ordered by Gilmore, including several anti-tank rockets. Taking possession of them, they reenter the school as the headmaster has finished repairing the transporter. Alerted to the human presence, the Dalek attacks and Ace destroys it with the rocket.

Gilmore has ordered more weapons to be brought up but they won't be there until the morning. Unaware that the transport has been repaired, the Doctor leaves on an errand. Ace and the other women go to Mike's mother's house to spend the night. The Doctor ponders his next action over a mug of tea at the local café, contemplating the repercussions. Early in the morning, he takes possession of a coffin from a local undertaker in which the Hand of Omega is hidden. He also uses it to infuse Ace's bat, which he borrowed, with stellar energy. The Doctor then has the coffin buried in a local cemetery.

The Doctor meets up with the military and they head back to headquarters with the Doctor ordering Ace to stay behind until he sends for her. She reluctantly agrees but eventually leaves the house, become disgusted upon finding a "No Coloreds" sign hanging. She heads back to the school and discovers that several Daleks have appeared through the repaired matter transporter. She partially disables one with the amplified bat, but is quickly cornered by three other Daleks. However the military and the Doctor arrive at this moment, having become aware of her departure. The Doctor uses a sonic weapon to distract the Daleks enough to get Ace free and then the military destroys the three with more anti-tank rockets.

Looking over the wreckage, the Doctor realizes there are two factions of Daleks in pursuit of the Hand. The Doctor decides to work to ensure the correct faction takes control of the Hand. He once again disables the transporter and gives instructions to Gilmore to fortify the school. The Doctor fills Ace in that he actually wants the Daleks to capture the Hand, which is a stellar manipulator, he stole from Gallifrey when he fled with Susan. He is now simply focused on making sure the humans don't get in the way and killed.

Ratcliffe, working on information from Mike, locates the buried Hand and pulls in a team to recover it. He is unnerved that as his men work, they are observed by the same young girl who has randomly appeared through the story. Eventually, they extract the Hand and take it back to their warehouse. At the warehouse, the mysterious figure reveals itself to be the young girl, having been transformed into a Dalek battle computer by the lead renegade Dalek. She activates the control device for the time corridor and then has all of Ratcliffe's men killed.

The Doctor and Ace arrive at the warehouse, having tracked the Hand's signal. They sneak in and sabotage the time corridor controller, delaying the renegade Daleks' escape as well as alerting the Imperial Daleks of their location. The Doctor further distracts the renegades by leaving a calling card. This attracts the Daleks who move out in pursuit back to the school.

The renegade Daleks attack the school but pull back before they breach the defenses upon being informed of the approach of an Imperial Dalek transport. The transport lands and several Daleks emerge, heading towards the warehouse. The initial force is beaten back by the renegades and they call in reinforcements in the form of the special weapons Dalek.

In the melee, Mike let's slip that he has been working for Ratcliffe and is arrested. However, he escapes his captors and makes his way to the warehouse where he is captured by the renegades. However, as the Imperial Daleks attack, Mike and Ratcliffe break loose and grab the time corridor control. The Dalek computer girl is sent after them and she kills Ratcliffe with an electric discharge. Mike continues to flee and she goes after him.

The Doctor sneaks aboard the Dalek transport ship and disables their ground defenses, allowing them free passage. He also uses the technology to hack into the communications system. As he does so, the Imperial Daleks capture the Hand of Omega. The Doctor and his group head back to the school basement where the Doctor uses the transporter to create a communications device with the Dalek mothership.

Ace does not go with the Doctor. Learning of Mike's escape, she heads back to his mother's house to try and take him back in. Upon arrival, he holds her hostage with his gun. But, the Dalek computer girl arrives and kills him with an electrical burst. She then turns on Ace.

As the transport arrives, the Doctor signals the mothership and the Dalek Emperor reveals himself as Davros. Incited by the Doctor, Davros activates the Hand of Omega, intent on increasing the power of the Skaroan sun for weapons development. Instead, the Hand causes the Skaroan sun to go supernova, destroying Skaro in the process. The feedback recoils and the Dalek mothership is destroyed also, although Davros flees in an escape pod prior to its destruction.

With the Imperial Daleks gone, the Doctor confronts the sole remaining renegade Dalek. The Doctor informs it that all renegade Daleks, Skaro, and even Davros have been destroyed. Unable to process it's failure, the remaining Dalek self destructs. This also frees the mind of the Dalek computer girl, who had been trying to kill Ace. Ace comforts her as she comes back to her normal self. Later, Ace and the Doctor quietly slip away as the remaining group attend a memorial service for Mike.

Analysis

This was an altogether excellent story and I can see how even those that are not fans of the Seventh Doctor enjoy it. I must also say that I'm glad I saw Silver Nemesis first as the two stories are very nearly identical except that instead of two factions of Daleks, you have Cybermen vs. Nazis. I can also understand the disappointment with Silver Nemesis more as Remembrance of the Daleks is more obviously the true twenty-fifth anniversary story, no matter what the labels say.

As fun as the constant action and blowing stuff up was, the true greatness of the story is in how it was played. All the actors took the story seriously and they didn't allow themselves to be carried away in either melodrama or in too much parody of who their character was supposed to be an homage to. I say that because every major character was a callback to a previous character. The most obvious is Group Captain Gilmore who the Doctor even calls Brigadier early in the story. But other characters are reflective as well.

The misguided and treacherous Mike Smith is a call back to the betrayal of Captain Mike Yates, with a dash of Sgt. Benton thrown in. Professor Jenson is a nice blend of the appearance and kindness of Barbra but with the intelligence and confidence of Liz Shaw. Allison has that spunky young blonde that is reminiscent of Jo but with a dash of the reliable competence from Vicki.

There were other homages as well. Obviously the whole thing being centered around Coal Hill School and the I. M. Foreman junkyard are pretty blatant. But you also have subtle touches, such as Ace picking up a book on the French Revolution (loaned from Barbara to Susan in An Unearthly Child) and the bulk of the classroom action taking place in the chemistry room (Ian's classroom). There are several other points in the story where people who had interacted with the Doctor recall seeing a white-haired old man rather than the Seventh Doctor. It is the light touch that helps this story as if it had become too obvious in it's references, the charm would have been lost.

On that note, there is the plot. My general complaint about Seventh Doctor stories is that they are forced to leave information out so that either the plot or the motivations of some of the characters are lost. Here, we have a strong action story that is allowed to have a few moments to breathe and explain any missing points. In fact, the only thing that is left unresolved is how the Doctor knew that it was the Hand of Omega the Daleks were after. That is a glossed over plot point and once the story gets fully going, you soon let that point go.

The story stays tight with the Doctor and Ace jumping in right away. There is little downtime where we feel like we are waiting for something to happen and even the few "back and forth" moments seem purposeful and a natural progression from the previous point. What few quiet moments there are are given over to the Doctor explaining things in a more natural feeling exposition scene or to character building moments, causing us to care about these characters more as the story progresses.

This also has to be one of the Doctor's best stories in terms of keeping people alive. Only a handful of soldiers are killed on the army side whereas Ratcliffe's entire retinue makes up the bulk of the human casualties. None of the Doctor's group are killed except for the treacherous Mike and even he could have stayed alive if he had let things go and stayed in custody.

The direction of this story is quite good as well. The actor's performances are utilized well and a number of differing angles are used for shots. There is excellent lighting and the action sequences pop very well. I heard once that when they were filming the battle sequence early on a Sunday morning, several London residents called the police because of the explosions and then seeing Daleks emerge from the mist and smoke. The level of realism is quite good and seems incredible for a 1980's story. In fact, apart from camera style clues that I've cottoned on to from watching other British programs from this era, it is nearly impossible to tell that this story was made in the 80's. It has a flow and style that could easily be set in a much later era.

Looking over the production as a whole, I could really only pull two negatives. The first is that the Daleks occasionally fell victim to production problems. When moving about the London streets, that had a tendency to wobble and sway a bit over the cobblestones. That rattling gave enough of a visual cue reminder that these are simple props that it took me out of the story every once in a while. Not badly, but it was one of the few points where the production value slipped a bit.

The second negative was the interaction between Ace and Mike in Episode Four. Through the first three episodes, their interaction was pleasant and natural. However once Mike was revealed to be working for Ratcliffe and the renegade Daleks, there was a layer of tension and melodrama added to their interaction and I'm not sure either actor pulled it off well. Some of that is writing as it is very difficult to make melodramatic tension sound good but the couple of scenes they had together after that point were just unpleasant to watch, nearly to the point of being painful. It came not as a source of sadness but relief when the little girl went Palpatine on Mike.

Speaking of the little girl, that was a very good piece of filming there. The girl was quite creepy and the use of nursery rhyme music whenever she appeared gave her an extra level of creepiness. I have wonder if Steven Moffat didn't have her in mind with his little "Tick Tock" rhyme in Series Six. Compound that with her surprise reveal as the Dalek battle computer. The production team did a good job in misdirecting the audience into thinking Ratcliffe was working with Davros and that the Emperor was another Dalek. The reveal of the girl as the computer and Davros as the Emperor was very satisfying to watch.

Overall, this is an excellent story and one that I would easily return to for a second watch. I can also imagine showing this story to a relative newcomer to Doctor Who and having them enjoy it on one level while a more experienced fan enjoys it on a deeper level. A well executed story all around that is enjoyable to just about anyone that gives it a chance.

Overall personal score: 5 out of 5

Vengeance on Varos

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

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

Plot Summary

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Analysis

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Overall personal score: 4 out of 5

Image of the Fendahl

...and some fruitcake. I love fruitcake.

Image of the Fendahl has been referred to as one of the darkest of all the classic Doctor Who stories and I can't disagree with that sentiment. The modern series has fully embraced the dark nature so that some of the darkness of this story is mitigated by that, but in context, this story is pretty grim.

Plot Summary

In the priory of a small village, a group of scientists are investigating a skull dug out of a fossilized lava bed. The chief scientist, Dr. Fendalman, and his assistant, Max Stael, power up a computer which energizes the skull in the next room. As it does, a third scientist, Thea Ransome, is hypnotized by the skull. At the same time outside the priory, a local hiker collapses in pain and dies.

The next morning the fourth scientist, Adam Colby, discovers the body, which is already beginning to deteriorate. Colby suggests they call the police but Fendalman demures not wanting to attract attention. He tells Stael to call the London office and have them send a security team to take care of things.

The Doctor and Leela are making repairs to K-9 in the TARDIS when it is rocked. The Doctor detects a hole in the time continuum and lands to investigate it. The two land outside the village and get information from a local caretaker named Ted Moss about the scientists. They go up to the priory to investigate.

Leela approaches a cottage from the rear and is nearly shot by Moss who has broken in to the house of the priory washer woman, Mrs. Tyler. Leela disarms him but is in turn threatened by Mrs. Tyler's son Jack. Jack shoves off Moss who had been looking for something Mrs. Tyler had promised him. Leela then tells Jack why she and the Doctor arrived.

At the same time the Doctor is set upon by an unknown creature who partially paralyzes him. The Doctor is able to reinvigorate himself before the creature attacks and he runs into the mist. The creature then goes back to the priory and kills the security guard Mitchell. He is almost immediately discovered by Colby and Ransome. Ransome passes out and as Colby goes to check on her, the Doctor walks in and orders him not to touch her. Her skin begins to glow and two embryonic Fendaleen appear briefly on her body before disappearing.

Fendalman appears in the kitchen and accuses the Doctor of killing Mitchell. He has the Doctor locked in a closet and sets Stahl off on an errand. Ransome goes to lie down and Fendalman begins to explain to Colby about the skull and it's properties. He believes that the skull is from a human ancestor who arrived on Earth millions of years in the past. He shows Colby an X-ray of the skull with a pentagram crack in it. He believes that the crack is a neural relay that has stored energy in the skull and he has been working to release it.

Back at the cottage as Leela finishes her tale, Mrs. Tyler returns in a state of fear and shock. She says that she encountered something hungering for her soul. Jack gets her to a chair to rest while Leela heads for the priory to find the Doctor.

Someone releases the Doctor from the closet and in wandering around the priory, he discovers Stahl talking with Moss about an occultist ceremony they are preparing for. Shortly after, Ransome comes around looking for the Doctor but finds the X-ray. She starts to go into a trance staring at it but is roused by Stahl. Stahl however chloroforms her and drags her out.

The Doctor enters the room with the skull and finds himself drawn towards it. When it begins to glow with energy, he is compelled to touch it. Locked in to a hold of the skull, Leela enters and helps free him. She takes him back to see Mrs. Tyler and he helps bring her out of her trance. In thanks, Mrs. Tyler gives each of them a rock salt charm she had prepared originally for Moss.

The Doctor and Leela use the TARDIS to go back twelve million years to find out what happened to the fifth planet and where the Fendaleen came from. The Doctor discovers that the planet had been destroyed by the Time Lords and then placed in a time loop to hide the fact. Indignant at his own people's criminality, the Doctor flies the TARDIS back to the priory.

While Dr. Fendalman demonstrates to Colby how his experiments had been proceeding, Stahl walks in and pull a gun on them. He takes them downstairs and ties them to two pillars. Ransome is also there, tied to the floor in the middle of a pentagram. Fendalman implores Stahl to stop, going so far as to note that he is of the bloodline called to search out the Fendahl. Stahl becomes annoyed at his rantings and shoots Fendalman in the head, warning Colby to be quiet or he will shoot him as well.

The ceremony begins as the Doctor and Leela return to the priory, meeting Mrs. Tyler and Jack. Mrs. Tyler, still fearful of the powers they face, ordered Jack to load the shotgun shells with rock salt instead of the regular lead shot. As they emerge from the scanner room, the group is frozen and see a Fendaleen approaching them. Only the Doctor is able to free himself and he takes the gun and shoots the Fendaleen. The rock salt kills it and the group is freed and able to retreat.

The Doctor instructs Jack and Mrs. Tyler to reload the gun with more rock salt shells while he and Leela head to the ceremony below. Ransome has been transformed into a goddess-like woman, the Fendahl core, and upon looking at the people around the circle transforms them into Fendahleen. Leela frees Colby and takes him upstairs. The Doctor tries to help Stahl but he is already infected, his plans for power having gone completely awry. He asks the Doctor for his gun and he shoots himself as the Doctor heads back upstairs.

With two of the planned thirteen manifestations gone, the Doctor realizes they have bought some time. He orders Mrs. Tyler to run back to her cottage and bring as much salt as she has. Leela and Jack head back into the corridor to fend off any attacks and buy the Doctor time. The Doctor and Colby then set up an implosion device to destroy the priory, the Doctor expounding as they work that the skull must have landed when the fifth planet exploded. It leached information into the human race as it developed but gained the power to manifest itself through altering Ransome via Fendalman's experiments.

The Fendahl Core attacks with one of the Fendahleen. Jack is paralyzed again but Leela, squinting to avoid looking at the core, shoots the Fendahleen and drives the attack back. Mrs. Tyler returns with the salt and the Doctor instructs her and Jack to go take cover in the cottage. He orders Colby to turn on the scanner to distract the Fendahleen for two minutes and then run to the cottage as the imploder will go off three minutes after that.

Using the salt to drive off Fendahleen in their way, the Doctor and Leela head back to the basement and the Doctor collects the skull into a radiation box. Colby turns off the scanner and runs. The Doctor and Leela do the same, fighting off the Core with salt as they flee the building. In the woods, they faceplant as the priory is consumed in flames and pulled back to nothing. They return to the TARDIS where the Doctor plans to throw the skull into a supernova to destroy it. He also sets about finishing the repairs to K-9, Leela amused that he referred to K-9 as a he for the first time.

Analysis

This story was a bit disappointing as it had good potential both in a baseline story and some truly excellent cinematography. This is one of the few stories that had actual night shooting and it works very well, adding a solid element of creepiness. Many of the horror elements were played well in this, both in set up and shot execution so I would say that whatever faults this story has, direction is not one of them.

I would also not fault the acting. All the guest cast do fairly well, although there are one or two moments where someone (usually Stahl) goes a bit over the top. But it is usually reigned in quickly. Leela is quite good in this and she has a strong measure of wit and humor in her dialogue, especially in her interaction with the Doctor. Whatever faults Chris Boucher may have as a writer, he does know how to make Leela a worth companion of the Doctor.

Where the story does fall flat is predominantly in it's structure. I have often criticized Seventh Doctor stories for the impression that story elements were left on the cutting room floor, giving the story a very disjointed feel. This story is much the same. There are abrupt cuts and a distinct lack of flow throughout the story. The nature of the Fendahleen is never really explained and the back story we do get in crammed tightly into two expositional scenes, one in Episode Two between Fendalman and Colby and the second in Episode Four between the Doctor and Colby. What few other expositional scenes are given feel rushed or underdeveloped. There is no reason for the Doctor and Leela to take the whole day to go back and see the fifth planet. If you did want to keep them out, structure the scene better so it has a better flow and explains the plot more. A quick scene on the legend of the Fendahleen from the Gallifreian point of view would have inserted very nicely here.

I also have to say that I'm not feeling the Fourth Doctor as well here. I can't help but contrast this story with The Pyramids of Mars where the Doctor is very serious about the threat to Earth immediately. He comes across as callous about those that have died because he is concerned for Earth as a whole. In this story, he is almost flippant. Some flippancy is to be expected, but once he has seen the Fendahleen on Ransome's body, his demeanor should have taken a more serious tone. Little jokes would have still worked, such as requesting fruitcake with Jack's tea or offering the skull a jellybaby, but it would have helped the story if there was a more serious tone underlying those jokes in-between.

Speaking of Ransome, she is actually what I feel makes this one of the darkest stories. Most people point to the Doctor helping Stahl kill himself, but the Doctor pointed out that he was dead already and killing himself actually aided the cause of stopping the Fendahleen. Perhaps I've seen too many Tenth Doctor stories where a similar style was used. However, there is a scene in Episode Two where Ransome opens the closet where the Doctor had been held and looks for him. She whispers, pleading for help from him. That is truly the darkest moment. There are many stories where the Doctor cannot save someone but he nearly always is able to infuse some measure of hope in them or at least make an attempt to aid them. Here, she is alone. She is afraid and alone and the Doctor doesn't come to help her. She instead stumbles out, gets entranced again and then finally subdued by Stahl. It is an incredibly bleak moment in the story.

I generally give this a pass but I feel I should point out that the Fendahleen look pretty bad too. If you are going to do a snake-like slug, there should be some undulation in it. They tried to keep them in the shadows to hide the flaws, but they were forced to show enough of the monster that you couldn't help but immediately notice that it was a man standing in a constricted suit. I know there are technological limitations but if the seaweed could be made to look like it was thrashing about and menacing in Fury From the Deep, I don't see why something could be done to make the Fendahleen look somewhat more menacing. I also don't know why the Fendahl Core looked like a Greek goddess but at least that was done well.

Overall, I can't say that I would pull this one out for a rewatch. There were good moments and the acting and atmosphere were nice, but overall it was just too disjointed. I don't mind being somewhat confused by the story if it is engaging and pulls together at the end, but this didn't do either. Worth a single watch to say that you've seen it but not much beyond that.

Overall personal score: 2 out of 5