Harry -
Wow. Just wow. What the hell was that?
Sarah -
Oh dear. Surprisingly, it was even worse than I remembered.
Harry -
"Dimensions in Time" might be the only Doctor Who story that gets worse on repeat viewings. It's like being trapped inside a John Nathan-Turner fever dream.
Sarah -
I nearly spit coffee all over my monitor just now. That's a frightening thought!
Harry -
Doctors running around willy-nilly, mismatched companions barely getting a word in, East Enders popping up at random, and the Rani stalking around inside what looks like a fan-made mock-up of a TARDIS console room. Wow. Just wow.
Sarah -
Kate O'Mara looks amazing! And she's got that cutie-pie boy companion. (Look at me, focusing on the positive.)
Harry -
The Rani's companion was the best thing about "Dimensions in Time."
Sarah -
Him and Liz Shaw charging the Rani. That's our Liz!
Harry -
This was produced as a Children in Need special, marking the 30th anniversary of Doctor Who. The late William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton were represented as disembodied CGI heads floating around somewhere within the Rani's imprisonment. The rest of the Doctors showed, to put it gently, varying degrees of enthusiasm for the production. After watching Jon Pertwee dive back into the role with relish, I had a dream about sitting near him at a convention as he spoke to everyone around him with the same relish. Dreams upon dreams.
Sarah -
He inhabits the role, wherever he may be!
Tom Baker's appearance is rather odd. He's not part of the action, but serves as something of a narrator, warning his other selves of the danger.
Harry -
I don't know the backstory of the production -- and I'm in no way inspired to do research on this. I'll assume Tom's availability was limited, or he was coaxed into appearing at the last minute, or he saw the script and wrote his own narrator role. He looked strangely shrunken in his costume. Speaking of costumes, I wonder what Lis Sladen's reaction was to seeing the Andy Pandy costume again.
Sarah -
In the end, it's a fun little piece of fluff. I'm always happy to see beloved Doctors and companions, even when it's all quite silly.
Harry -
Silly, and rushed and cheap with a weak story. Textbook JN-T, haha.
Sarah -
The true end of an era!
Harry -
It's too bad this was the Rani's final story, as she has not made a return appearance in the new series. She'd be a perfect adversary for Peter Capaldi's Doctor. Imagine her teaming up with Missy.
Sarah -
I'd love to see a Rani regeneration.
Harry -
The anniversary specials of the JN-T era are notable for their "everyone and everything but the kitchen sink" approach. They are amusing larks, but I can't take them too seriously. "Dimensions in Time" marks the finale of the classic era. It was thoroughly panto. The show really needed a clean break and a new team to take it in new directions. The first such attempt was a couple of years away. But we can start watching right away. Shall we?
Sarah -
Yes, let's!
Harry -
I can't be bothered to pick out a great quote or favourite moment from this mess. I'll give it a 3/10 and move on.
Sarah -
I don't think I can even give a rating. For me, it just sits out there as a wacky little piece of Doctor Who history.
Our marathon resumes with: The TV Movie...
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