Arc of Infinity
JNT wanted to film out of Britain again (following City of
Death) and found that the BBC had a connection with Amsterdam. So… this
adventure has plenty of shots letting us know, beyond the shadow of a doubt,
that we were in Holland. The story’s plot centers on Omega – the guy from the
antimatter universe in The Three Doctors – attempting to break free again. This
involves a complex plot to take over the Doctor’s essence. This leads to plenty
of Time Lord politics (sound of paint drying) and corridor crawls that still
manages to be more fun than it should. Some of that comes from an unexpected source:
future Doctor Colin Baker, who plays an overbearing Time Lord officer (complete
with highly plumed hat) who menaces Doctor and Nyssa to great effect.
Snakedance
It’s Kinda part two, as we get a return engagement with the
Mara. This is quite a sophisticated adventure that leaves some work to be done
by the audience (thought not as much as Kinda) and offers a really intriguing
story that is full of interesting characters and generally solid performances.
The special effects are a bit more special this time around as well.
Mawdryn Undead
If this episode was the length of a modern-day adventure (45
minutes) or even an hour, it would be a terrific adventure. At 90 minutes, it
gets dragged down by some horrible BBC corridor padding that threatens a good
idea for a story and some welcome returns. This includes the Black Guardian –
now with a bird on his head – who has enlisted the aid of a youngish public
school student, Turlough, in a plot to kill the Doctor. Turlough isn’t exactly
as he seems (we learn about his origins later), and one of his teachers is the
good ole Brigadier. As it turns out, we get two Nick Courtney’s here, one in
1977 and one in 1983. The Mawdryn of the title is one of eight people who, in
ancient times, stole Time Lord technology in an attempt to find the secret of
eternal life. They were doomed to constant mutations and forced to travel the
universe like the Flying Dutchman. The Doctor and crew get ensnared, with the
Brig and Turlough in tow. It all goes well until the two Nick’s spend most of
the final episode wandering different parts of the alien ship, slowly dragging
the action down.
Terminus
Mawdryn Undead was flawed. Terminus is a few good ideas
(from Warriors’ Gate scribe Stephen Gallagher) wrapped around terrible
execution. What’s good? There’s a faceless corporation exploiting the victims
of a deadly disease on an ancient spaceship. There are some interesting
performances and a mixture of interesting and unfortunate costume choices (a
pair of space pirates look like they are extras in a Flock of Seagulls video).
The rest is a disaster. Turlough still wants to kill the Doctor, so he and
Tegan spend most of their time locked in a cupboard (really, like for almost
the entire serial). Nyssa gets the disease and then meets up with a giant dog
creature thing that looks like it rolled out of a space-age panto. And… really,
the Black Guardian is around a bit, and then it all ends OK – and Nyssa decides
to stay, mainly because they decided once again that there were two many
companions.
Enlightenment
Thankfully, the Black Guardian episodes end with a bang in
this intriguing adventure. The only dodgy element are some of the early 1980s
special effects. The Doctor and crew land on what they think is an Edwardian
racing ship. It is – sort of. The ship is actually a space-going vessel, as a
group of “Eternals” are involved in a race. Their prize is “enlightenment.” The
Eternals can’t feel emotions, so they use folks like us to live and experience
emotions. As our crew is ensnared, Turlough goes through a final battle of
wills as he works his way through the Black Guardian’s final plans to destroy
the Doctor. A nice script, great guest cast and a terrific visual look carry
the day here.
The King’s Demons
So, it’s months before the signing of the Magna Carta
and…Ugh. I would rather watch Time-Flight on a loop for 12 hours than spend
another 45 minutes with this… thing. Essentially a two-episode excuse to
introduce a new companion, the story is dull, annoying and ultimately awful.
Anthony Ainley is absolutely unconvincing in disguise, the historical setting
is poorly realized (though we do get Ilsa Blair, which is nice) and then there
is Kamelion. Apparently, JNT saw a demo of a prototype robot and decided he
wanted one for the show. As it turned out, the robot never worked properly – it
could move a little bit, but never in any convincing fashion. It certainly was
unable to walk. After this, Kamelion spent most of his time in a cupboard in
the Tardis until finally meeting an end in Peter Davison’s final episode. That,
however, is still a year away…
The Five Doctors
This was filmed as part of the 20th season, but
actually was a special 90-minute adventure. It was broadcast on Nov. 25, 1983,
two days after the show’s 20th anniversary. While the term didn’t
exist then, this is essentially fan service. All of the actors are represented,
though William Hartnell was only seen in a clip from one of his episodes; while
Tom Baker refused to take part, so footage from the unfinished Shada was used
instead.
Along with Davison, Troughton and Pertwee (and Richard
Hurndall, who nicely channels Hartnell as the First Doctor), we have favorite
companions (Susan, the Brig and Sarah Jane), along with the Master, Cybermen, a
Dalek and a few other cameos. Alas, we also have Time Lord politics again, this
time centered on the Death Zone, the tomb of Rassilion, and more corruption.
The story barely holds together (Terrance Dicks had to sub in at the last
minute for Robert Holmes and assembled it on the fly) and the effects aren’t
always all that special… but this was a favorite of the teenage me, especially
for the peek into the then unseen early era of the program.
Up next, the Davison era ends with a stunning high – but not
before a couple more terrible lows.
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