Story #143D - The Trial of a Time Lord: The Ultimate Foe (1986)

Harry -
I'm angry.


Sarah -
I'm angry, sad, and disappointed. Just as it was finally hitting its stride, the Colin Baker Era is over. What a wasted opportunity.


Harry -
Don't get me wrong, I love the Trial of a Time Lord season, for a whole list of reasons why (posted in our discussion of "The Mysterious Planet"). The ending is weak. It's confusing, infuriating and ultimately unsatisfying.

Behind the scenes reports indicate that the show was almost literally being held together by duct tape by this point. Eric Saward had resigned, Bob Holmes had passed away, and Pip and Jane Baker were hustled back to finish writing the concluding story over a weekend.


Sarah -
Saward had agreed to write the final episode after Holmes' death, but grabbed his script and stormed out the door for good after JN-T rejected what he had written. Saward's script had the Doctor and Valeyard falling into the Matrix, battling to the death.


Harry -
A nice bit of work by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle too.


Sarah -
JN-T was concerned that the BBC would treat the ending as a finale to end the series. All things considered, I can't argue with his reasoning. He went on to recruit the Bakers, but couldn't tell them anything about Saward's script. Say what you will about Pip and Jane's other scripts, I don't think they should get too much blame for the quality of this episode when everything was falling apart around them.


Harry -
Pip and Jane unfortunately became one of those bogeys that fanhood likes to swarm and kick at every opportunity. They were not the most stellar of writers, but the situation behind the scenes made their task incredibly difficult.


Sarah -
It's impressive they got anything done in that atmosphere.


Harry -
The 14-episode structure that had been mandated by the BBC left us with a truncated two-parter in which to wrap up the entire season. On top of it all, poor Colin hasn't had a chance to visit a barber and by the time we get to "The Ultimate Foe", he looks like a vexed sheepdog standing in the accused's box.


Sarah -
Is his ever-expanding hair on the list of reasons to love Trial of a Time Lord? It's one of my favorite aspects of the story.


Harry -
It is!


Sarah -
Of course!


Harry -
As the story picks up, the prosecution and defence presentations have been concluded and the Doctor continues to dispute the evidence of the Matrix. The Inquisitor has summoned the Keeper of the Matrix to respond to the suggestions of tampering.


Sarah -
And who should show up -- from inside the Matrix -- but our old pal the Master! I love the moment when Anthony Ainley appears on the screen in the courtroom. He's so smooth in this story, with a bit less of the mustache-twirling we've seen in the past. 

And look who else is here -- Mel and Sabalom!


Harry -
I love a dramatic courtroom entrance. Glitz drops the first bombshell, revealing that the theft of the Matrix contents by the Sleepers from Andromeda resulted in the annihilation of planet Earth, an action orchestrated and covered up by the High Council. The Master drops the second bombshell, revealing that the Valeyard is a future incarnation of the Doctor, one whose good impulses have been stripped away.


Sarah -
Damn Time Lords and their intrigue! This Bob Holmes-penned episode does a nice job of tying all the previous episodes together.


Harry -
The Valeyard flees the courtroom, the Doctor chases him into the Matrix, and the trial collapses.

Inside the Matrix, it is hard to separate reality from illusion. The Doctor finds himself in a shabby looking courtyard in Victorian London, at night. Voices and laughter ring out of the darkness, and a pair of hands attack him from inside a barrel of water. Glitz arrives shortly after, and together they search for the Valeyard.

Meanwhile, the Master continues to enjoy himself enormously, revealing that he has been watching the trial all along. He is delighted to have turned the Doctor on himself and coordinated the disintegration of the High Council. He also casually mentions that Peri somehow escaped her death on Thoros Beta and is now King Yrcanos' queen. WHAT THE WHAT?


Sarah -
Seriously! 

If I recall, it was JN-T's decision to resurrect Peri -- and it was a crap decision. Peri's death was horribly shocking and I hate that it's undermined by this scene. That said, my Peri-Yrcanos head cannon is kind of awesome.


Harry -
There are few things I hate -- HATE -- in Doctor Who and this is one of them. Bringing Peri back from the dead, I hate it. Not that I hated Peri, but you can point to that happy resolution as the first in a chain of deaths-that-are-not-really-deaths that littered Doctor Who for years to come. In fact, it has gotten worse over time. No one ever dies on Doctor Who anymore, despite dying right before our eyes. I hate that shit and this was the moment it all began. 

*pauses for breath*


Sarah -
Preach it, Brother!


Harry -
Now, if Peri and Yrcanos lived happily ever after, it's a delightful outcome and how could we be anything but happy for them? The folks at Big Finish took it a step further in Peri and the Piscon Paradox, offering up several happy endings for Perpugiliam Brown.


Sarah -
Peri and the Piscon Paradox is a must-listen for every fan of Trial of a Time Lord!


Harry -
She's fine. Let's move on.


Sarah -
Moving along...


Harry -
Back in the Matrix, the Doctor and Glitz have followed the Valeyard's trail into a small office in a building labeled The Fantasy Factory. Seated behind a desk is a clerk named Mr. Popplewick, played by the wonderful Geoffrey Hughes from Keeping Up Appearances.


Sarah -
Mr. Popplewick! I love Mr. Popplewick. He's so wonderfully officious. The Doctor signs the paperwork proffered by Mr. Popplewick, promising his future incarnations to the Valeyard should the Doctor be vanquished. 

The paperwork complete, the Doctor passes through a door and finds himself on a beach, where hands from below start to pull him below the surface. And here we have the official end of Robert Holmes work on Doctor Who. I feel like we should pour out a gin and tonic for Dear Bob.


Harry -
To Bob.


Sarah -
To Bob.


Harry -
The Doctor being pulled under the sand is a nice bit of production work, and bravery on Colin's part. His re-emergence was not as spectacular, even though it was a challenge to pull it off.


Sarah -
And here ends our Colin cliffhanger closeup count.


Harry -
What a run!

After some more cat and mouse, the Valeyard unleashes a cloud of nerve gas. The Doctor and Glitz flee into a cottage, which happens to be the Master's TARDIS. The Master zombifies the Doctor and leaves him on the Valeyard's doorstep, but Mel -- plucky Mel! -- pulls him out of there, back to the courtroom. From there, we have a lot of running around. The Doctor tries to bluff the Valeyard, but ends up bluffing Mel and she interferes with the bluff.


Sarah -
The Doctor heading to the gallows, quoting, "It's a far, far better thing that I do..." only to be "saved" by Mel is always a favorite moment.


Harry -
That was very dramatic and well-played by Colin. Back to square one. They corner Popplewick inside an engine room and tie him up. Lo and behold, it was the Valeyard all along, wearing a Geoffrey Hughes mask.


Sarah -
The Valeyard is cosplaying Geoffrey Hughes!

How great is Mel in this story? She's pulled out of time and deposited in the middle of a bunch of over-stuffed Time Lords and she's having none of their nonsense. She also makes a good double act with Glitz: 

Mel: How utterly evil.
Glitz: Thank you.


Harry -
Meanwhile, Glitz has gotten his hands on the Matrix memory bank again. The Master has sown chaos on Gallifrey. The High Council is deposed, the court has been abolished, and the Master and Glitz make to depart in his TARDIS. But something goes wrong, the memory bank triggers a malfunction and the Master's TARDIS gets warped in space (for lack of a better term). That's the last we see of those two.


Sarah -
Oh Glitz! Such a classic, lovable Bob Holmes rogue. Did I ever tell you about the time I had to gently correct someone on LiveJournal back in the day, when he said Brian Blessed had played Glitz? I still cringe at my own pedantry.


Harry -
Mel discovers a megabyte modem (ooh!), which the Doctor identifies as a particle disseminator (yikes!). The Valeyard is plotting a mass assassination on Gallifrey, but the Doctor throws the contraption into disarray and it blows only itself up.


Sarah -
Hooray!


Harry -
In gratitude, the Time Lords change their tune and drop all charges against the Doctor (so malleable, that Gallifreyan justice system). The Inquisitor also confirms to the Doctor that Peri is alive and with Yrcanos. It was odd that Peri's situation was sorted out by two different characters. What we didn't get was any resolution of what happened to the Master and Glitz, but that's more a typical villains-get-their-comeuppance kind of ending. The Valeyard mysteriously reappears in place of the Matrix Keeper at the end, but that's the last we ever see of him to this day. In all this time, no show runner has wanted to bring him back or resolve his story.


Sarah -
The Valeyard's story is said to take place sometime after the Doctor's 12th regeneration. We'll have to suss out Chris Chibnall's position on Trial of a Time Lord. For all we know the Valeyard is still biding his time on Gallifrey.


Harry -
Imagine if Peter Capaldi regenerated into Michael Jayston... Whoa!


Sarah -
Can you even imagine? Fandom would explode.


Harry -
And with that, the Trial of a Time Lord comes to... nothing. The Doctor lost a companion, gained another, met his future self and at the end of it all, it's back to the exercise bike and the carrot juice. The show survived, but not everyone made it to the other side.


Sarah -
Still, it was a fun ride and I have no regrets!


Harry -
I still love it though.

Best Line: "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known."  (I think it says something that my favourite line came from a different source.)

Favourite Moment: The Master appearing on the courtroom screen.

Lasting Image: Mr. Popplewick and his quills of death.

5/10


Sarah -
Best Line: "In all my travelings throughout the universe I have battled against evil, against power-mad conspirators. I should have stayed here. The oldest civilization, decadent, degenerate and rotten to the core. Ha! Power-mad conspirators, Daleks, Sontarans, Cybermen, they're still in the nursery compared to us. Ten million years of absolute power, that's what it takes to be really corrupt."

Favorite Moment: The Master appearing on the courtroom screen.

Lasting Image: I have to give it to the final Colin cliffhanger closeup. 

6/10

 




Our marathon continues with Story #144: Time and the Rani...

Story #143C - The Trial of a Time Lord: Terror of the Vervoids (1986)

Harry -
One of the strongest memories I have of watching late-80s Doctor Who (in reruns broadcast long after the original air date) is the final scene of "Terror of the Vervoids". The Doctor has just gotten through a chaotic adventure, fighting off hijackers, murderers and homicidal plant monsters, when the Valeyard suddenly rises and charges him with genocide.

Genocide! 

A powerful word and a shocking accusation. This season's story arc has taken us from an inquiry, to a trial for interference, and now genocide charges. Legal proceedings on Gallifrey have proven breathtakingly malleable if anything else.


Sarah -
This trial has been suspicious from the very beginning. Due process doesn't seem to be a thing on Gallifrey.

After two strong stories, "Terror of the Vervoids" just feels a bit mediocre. It's as if Pip and Jane Baker were asked to write an archetypal Doctor Who story without any direction. Oh wait, I'm pretty sure that's exactly what happened.


Harry -
This is definitely the weakest story of the season.


Sarah -
We start out with the most unconventional companion introduction ever -- she just appears. The Peri era ends with a bang, while the Mel era begins with a whimper.


Harry -
Up to this point, I would have said that Dodo Chaplet's arrival was the most unconventional -- she basically skipped right into the TARDIS and joined the Doctor without batting an eye. But with Melanie Bush We don't even get a flashback or a reference to how she met and joined the Doctor. She's just there all of a sudden. Probably the first time since Susan that we see the Doctor already travelling with someone, no backstory yet. It looks like she's been with the Doctor for a while, as she's gotten him onto a regime of exercise and carrot juice.


Sarah -
At least Mel will get an ending story, rather than just retiring to the country to recover from the ravages of WOTAN.


Harry -
It's Dodo. She's insane. Let her be.


Sarah -
Still, Mel's bio is more intriguing and timey-wimey than I realized. I think we need to delve into her backstory sometime.


Harry -
Absolutely!  Gary Russell's books are always crowd pleasers.


Sarah -
Opinions divide on the opening TARDIS scene, but it cracks me up every time. I love when Mel leaves the console room and the Doctor stops riding the bike, while still counting. It's one of those things you can imagine almost all of the Doctor's incarnations doing. (But not the Tenth Doctor. He wouldn't cheat.)


Harry -
Hah! I can totally imagine them all doing that. As we see in this jump ahead, Doctor has also had time to change into a yellow cravat and rainbow vest, further marking the passage of time from the harrowing events of "Mindwarp".


Sarah -
I don't think we know how far in the Doctor's future this is meant to be, but he still hasn't managed to find a new coat!


Harry -
I can't remember the origin of it, but there was alternate "blue" look designed for the Sixth Doctor. It's basically the same style of outfit, in mellow blue hues.

Someone even created a video mockup:

Sarah -
It's so soothing. My heart is breaking a little.


Harry -
A distress signal is picked up by the TARDIS console, and our friends follow it to the Hyperion III -- an intergalactic liner that ferries precious metals between the planets Mogar and Earth. There is also a passenger deck, and Pip and Jane waste no time in introducing us to a gaggle of them.

Security Officer Rudge and Stewardess Janet welcome the passengers. There's Professor Lasky (Honor Blackman stunt casting?), along with her associates Doland and Bruchner. There's an old gentleman named Kimber who believes he recognizes a man named Grenville. The latter quickly denies it and scurries off. There are also some native Mogarians who are travelling to Earth. It's a whirlwind of introductions and everyone is sure to act a bit suspicious.


Sarah -
Honor Blackman -- Pussy Galore herself -- definitely smacks of JN-T stunt casting.


Harry -
Meanwhile, the TARDIS lands in the Hyperion's cargo hold. The Doctor and Mel are escorted to the bridge, where the Doctor's old friend Commodore Travers is in charge. He denies having sent any mayday signal, and things are getting even more suspicious.

Obviously, the Bakers borrowed from Agatha Christie and the production crew hammered that home by having a copy of Murder on the Orient Express left on a table in full view.


Sarah -
Ben Aaronovitch said it best: “Talent borrows, genius steals, and Doctor Who gets it off the back of a truck, no questions asked.” I'm not sure if he had Pip and Jane in mind, but it's certainly the case with this story!


Harry -
I can't recall any other story where all the sets are such a perfect time capsule of 80s design. The triangles on every wall, the faux marble on every surface. There is not as much neon here, but maybe they just couldn't afford it.


Sarah -
You almost expect to find Jane Fonda leading an aerobics class in the workout room!


Harry -
While we've been gabbing away about guests and sets and writers, someone snuck down to the hydroponic centre. Whatever is down there is the work of Professor Lasky and her team. She's tight-lipped and very protective. Naturally, this has half the ship curious and eager to investigate.

The intruder inadvertently hatches something out of a giant pod -- something amazingly mobile and quick to organize into a roving pack.

The Doctor and Mel are conducting their own investigation. Mel finds her way down to hydroponics as well. There, she meets Communications Officer Edwardes, who casually leads her in for a look. But the whole centre has been booby trapped. Edwardes is electrocuted, another creature begins to hatch, and Mel unleashes a scream that carries over into the closing credits of part one.


Sarah -
Our first Mel scream...and so many more to which we can look forward. 

More things happen. Mel is questioned, Edwardes' body vanishes, and now all the pods are open. The Doctor and Mel discover a part-human, part-plant hybrid.


Harry -
...which triggers a second glass-shattering scream from Mel...


Sarah -
Grenville is killed while disguised as a Mogarian, more passengers and crew are killed and piled in a heap. Mel overhears and manages to record voices in the ventilation ducts, conspiring to kill all the "animal kind" on the ship. She's knocked out and dumped into a disposal bin for her troubles. The Doctor narrowly saves her from being chucked into the incinerator, but the tape that contained the recording is now missing. 

And then, finally, we get our first good look at the Vervoids -- and oh my goodness, Harry! In what I like to imagine as the gynocentric response to the phallic imagery of "The Creature From the Pit", the Vervoids turn out to be massive, walking vulvas. Sure. Why not?


Harry -
The Vervoids are certainly the most Freudian thing we've seen in a while. How that design got from paper to studio to broadcast is anyone's guess.


Sarah -
I suspect JN-T didn't know what he was looking at.


Harry -
Wew!

One thing for certain, the Vervoids are lethal. They show no conscience as they kill off every passenger they encounter. Why would they -- they are plants after all. An interesting new monster in the Whoniverse, even if they looked like massive, walking vulvas.


Sarah -
It's an interesting idea. Pity about the genocide.


Harry -
Pip and Jane didn't really provide us with much background to Professor Lasky and her team, only that by the time they got aboard the Hyperion, their partnership was fraying. Bruchner decides that Lasky's experiments are unacceptable and must be stopped. He destroys Lasky's research notes, attacks her, then seizes the bridge, determined to hurl the ship into a black hole. A good dose of poison gas puts Bruckner away and the Mogarians pilot the craft out of harm's way. 

Then Rudge decides to get uppity. On his final tour before retirement, he chooses now -- now! -- to vent his frustrations about his his lot in life. It says something about it when Rudge is overpowered minutes later, and ultimately killed by the Vervoids.


Sarah -
Retirement could have only been a better option.


Harry -
Lasky, like so many morally-blinkered scientists before her, goes to talk some sense into her creations. Naturally, they kill her too. Things are getting Darwinian now. It's kill or be killed as the Vervoids rampage across the ship, taking no prisoners.


Sarah -
What's a Time Lord to do?


Harry -
Naturally, rig up some explosives that kill off the Vervoids by accelerating their life cycle to the point of death. That had to be one of the quietest death scenes ever.


Sarah -
One might think the danger to an entire planet would justify the Doctor's decision to destroy the Vervoids. But one would be wrong with that rat bastard Valyard around with his accusations of genocide.


Harry -
Genocide!


Sarah -
So we head into the final installment of The Trial of a Time Lord and Colin Baker's final two episodes of Doctor Who. I have to admit I'm feeling a little emotional about this.


Harry -
I've never been a fan of how this season ended. I'm preparing to get angry.


Sarah -
Let's get on to being angry, then. Onward to "The Ultimate Foe"!

Best Line: "This is a situation that requires tact and finesse. Fortunately, I am blessed with both."

Favorite Moment: The Doctor on his exercise bike.

Lasting Image: Massive, Walking Vulvas.

4/10


Harry -
Best Line:
VALEYARD: Whether or not the Doctor has proved himself innocent of meddling is no longer the cardinal issue before this court. He has proved himself guilty of a far greater crime. 

INQUISITOR: You refer to Article seven of Gallifreyan law? 

DOCTOR: No, my lady, that cannot apply! Had a single Vervoid reached Earth, the human race would have been eliminated! 

VALEYARD: Article seven permits no exceptions. The Doctor has destroyed a complete species. The charge must now be genocide!

Favourite Moment: The Vervoids' death scene.

Lasting Image: The way Commodore Travers always slumped over in his commander's chair. It was as if his years of service were weighing down on him.

5/10

 



Our marathon continues with Story #143D - The Trial of a Time Lord: The Ultimate Foe...

Story #143B - The Trial of a Time Lord: Mindwarp (1986)

Harry -
As the Trial of a Time Lord continues, we reach "Mindwarp", a dark, sinister, runaway train of a story. From start to finish, the action is driven by circumstances out of the Doctor's control. It leads to treachery, confusion, chaos, and the death of the Doctor's companion.


Sarah -
"Mindwarp" is my favorite story in the Trial of a Time Lord season. It's the most memorable for me for so many reasons, but especially for Peri's fate.


Harry -
Peri's demise is a moment of true horror. Seeing it again for the first time in a few years, it remains a staggering moment in Doctor Who.


Sarah -
It's so shocking because it happens while the Doctor is trying to save her -- only to be taken out of time by the Time Lords. It's absolutely brutal.


Harry -
Apparently, Nicola Bryant wouldn't have had it any other way.


Sarah -
It was a bold choice.


Harry -
Peri's death is the devastating final moment in a story filled with extremes. It starts with the wild neon colours of the sea and skies of Thoros Beta, so powerful that they impact our perception of the Doctor and Peri. Everything outside takes on an overblown shade of pink.


Sarah -
David Bowie walking by in his Pierrot costume...


Harry -
On this planet we meet another mad scientist -- one brilliantly twisted enough to be on the precipice of altering the very nature of life in the universe. One of his brain analysis gizmos is used on the Doctor, causing him to undergo an extreme personality change. For the longest time, we can't be sure if this unhinged, self-interested Doctor is faking it or not.


Sarah -
Young Crozier is certainly up to no good.

Colin Baker's performance in Mindwarp is spectacular. I watched it twice and I'm still not sure if he's faking it or not.


Harry -
He shouts a lot. So do a lot of other characters, including the shoutiest shouting shouter to ever shout in Doctor Who: KING YRCANOS!

Sarah -
Ah, King Yrcanos. Has there ever been a more fulsome performance in Doctor Who than that bestowed upon us by Brian Blessed? Has any actor ever committed so fully to his performance? I think not!


Harry -
Hot off his performance as shouty King Richard in Black Adder, he dominates his scenes like no one else before or since. Along the way, he strikes up an unlikely friendship with Peri.


Sarah -
And somehow manages to be the least creepy of all of Peri's many admirers over the past season.


Harry -
She seemed amused by him. But before they meet, Peri accompanies the Doctor on a looksee around some caves near the rocky beach where the TARDIS landed. They find some highly advanced technology being guarded by a kind of claw monster. It wasn't a very good claw monster as it dies almost immediately. Eluding security, our friends take off down a dark underground corridor where they find another bizarre creature: a human-wolf hybrid cowering in the shadows. There's some kind of Island of Dr. Moreau madness going on here, and who else should be involved but the Mentors, the native rulers of the planet -- one of whom is none other than Sil.


Sarah -
Ah, Sil. It cracks me up that his first reaction to seeing the Doctor and Peri again is to complain about how repulsive looking she is. At least there's one being in the universe not trying to get it off with her.


Harry -
I liked the rapid barrage of nasty characters we get introduced to right away.


Sarah -
There are a lot of them.


Harry -
There's a lot of cave creeping in part one, and the Doctor and Peri finally find themselves inside Crozier's laboratory. There, Crozier has been conducting tests on Yrcanos to determine his suitability for an operation. Sil's boss Kiv, another Mentor, is experiencing intense pain because his brain is growing beyond the capacity of his cranial shell. The pain is making him shout a lot. There's an awful lot of shouting in this story. Crozier's proposed solution is to transfer Kiv's brain into another body.


Sarah -
Patrick Ryecart's Crozier reminds me of the Rani -- a scientist who is so caught up in his work that he's never stopped to consider the ethics of what he's doing.


Harry -
The way he spoke was interesting. Not sure if it was the inflection or if Patrick Ryecart was trying on some kind of accent, but listening to him I kept thinking "Yep, he sounds like a self-absorbed mad scientist." The best (and I suppose cheapest) part of his performance was that all he did was stare at some screens with a cocked eyebrow, then immediately provide his analysis and decide which course of action to take. Barely any hands-on work required.


Sarah -
I appreciated his take on a mad scientist as Shakespearean actor. I can't recall another mad scientist who enunciated so well!

And then there's Kiv, played by the almost unrecognizable Christopher Ryan (aka Mike the Cool Person in The Young Ones), and devoted to the singular pursuit of making money. Like Sil, and seemingly all Mentors, his only concern is the bottom line. 

I'm not quite sure what to make of Matrona Kani. She serves as Crozier's assistant, but also seems to be responsible for running the mentors' household, supervising staff and misting the mentors.


Harry -
Did an actor drop out at the last minute, forcing Alibe Parsons' role to be doubled?  She pulled it off, as Kani moved between the lab and the lounge with ease.


Sarah -
She's a true Renaissance woman, with an awesome sense of fashion to boot!


Harry -
I liked her sci fi hair.  Anyway, cornered in the lab and confronted by Sil, the Doctor is held down on a stretcher and one of Crozier's analytical devices is slammed onto his head. The Doctor spasms in pain and the episode ends with yet another extreme close up!


Sarah -
Colin's cliffhanger closeups are the glue that hold Trial of a Time Lord together!


Harry -
I love the fact that the cliffhanger closeups are an entrenched part of the Sixth Doctor's era. There's even a website that tracks them all: 

The Many Cliffhanger Faces of Colin Baker

Sarah -
Back in the courtroom, things are getting curiouser and curiouser. The deleted information from the matrix in "The Mysterious Planet" was suspicious enough, but now it seems that someone is playing with the Doctor's memory. His behavior becomes more erratic as the story progresses.


Harry -
You'd think the Inquisitor might be a little more, I don't know, INQUISITIVE about these peculiarities. Instead, she grants the Valeyard permission to plow ahead with his prosecution despite the Doctor's protests.


Sarah -
She hardly seems an impartial jurist. Still, she's got awesome headgear, so I'll cut her some slack.


Harry -
After Yrcanos goes on a rampage and escapes the laboratory, he goes back undergound to foment rebellion -- or just seek out loud and glorious ways to die in battle. He, Peri and his equerry Dorff make an unlikely team, but what else can they do, now that the Doctor has lost his marbles.


Sarah -
Poor Dorff. Such a tragic character.


Harry -
Some fantastic physical acting by Thomas Branch.


Sarah -
I love how Yrcanos won't let Dorff give up and rallies him for one last fight. It's easy to see why he's a warlord -- and probably a successful one.


Harry -
Meanwhile, look at this weird anti-Doctor coseying up to Sil and Crozier, helping along with the experiments as Kiv's life hangs in the balance. A transplant into the retrieved body of a deceased Mentor is failing. Kiv has ordered Sil and Crozier to be killed if he should not survive.

The pressure is growing, as is the size of Yrcanos' rebellion. The unlikely trio have met up with some Thoros Alphans down in the tunnels. Despite being terribly unremarkable, the Alphans grow the size of the rebellion force, as Yrcanos prepares to lead them into battle against the Mentors.

Not so fast! Our friends all get zapped in a sudden battle with the security forces. Yrcanos is imprisoned, while Peri is brought to Crozier for examination. The wheels of fate are taking a dark turn.


Sarah -
This is where my dread starts to grow. Crozier is desperate to transplant Kiv into another host and decides Peri is the best candidate. In an attempt to save Peri, the Doctor leaves the lab in search of another body. While he's gone, Crozier starts to prepare Peri for surgery. 

The Doctor manages to free Yrcanos, Dorff, and other resistance fighters. He's trying to get back to the lab when he's suddenly returned to his TARDIS and taken out of time by the Time Lords. Those bastards!

Oh Peri! This is so hard to watch!


Harry -
This really is some of the hardest classic Who to watch. It's infuriating to see the Doctor being pulled out of time for reasons not very clear. The Valeyard and the Inquisitor stumble through an explanation, claiming that events had simply gotten out of control. It's hard to argue.


Sarah -
I'm on the Doctor's side here. They're both big jerky jerks!


Harry -
Jerks!  Scum!  He should have been given the chance to make things right, but the Time Lords are up to something. 

As Yrcanos and the rebels run rampant, Crozier gives the order to shave Peri's head so that he can make a direct transfer of Kiv's mind and personality into her brain. Tragically, the operation works. Peri is deleted from her own body, and Kiv takes control of her mind and motor functions. Shocked into action by the implications of Crozier's success, the Time Lords manoeuvre Yrcanos to the lab so that he can become their assassin. So much brazen manipulation going on. It's astonishing.

Yrcanos bursts into the lab, and is horrified to find Peri -- whom he pledged to make his queen -- now a bald corpse, moving and speaking with Kiv's voice. Overcome with grief, he opens fire on everyone in the room, and the Valeyard's presentation ends.

Wow.


Sarah -
Just devastating. The Doctor knows he was taken out of time for another reason and he's determined to get to the bottom of it. 

As we discussed in "Planet of Fire", I was not a Peri fan the first time around. Part of it was that I wasn't over Tegan's departure, but mostly Peri just didn't appeal to me. Her hostile relationship with the Doctor just wasn't fun to watch. It wasn't enough to make me stop watching, but it wasn't the most joyful time to be a Doctor Who viewer. Then came Trial of a Time Lord and Peri started to grow on me. 

Nicola Bryant and Colin Baker were certainly playing their relationship differently for this season. The dialogue was still spiky, but they delivered it like two dear friends teasing each other. Their entire relationship changed for Season 23 and then it ended in tragedy. I remember the shock of watching Peri's death for the first time.

I'm grateful that Big Finish has given us more Doctor-Peri stories.


Harry -
Big Finish has given us so much for which to be grateful!


Sarah -
I feel I should respond with "Praise the Company!"


Harry -
Some thought went into creating the character Perpugiliam Brown, but most writers were content to treat her as Template Companion with zero character development. There was a much improved chemistry between Peri and the Doctor in this season, but as has happened so many times in Doctor Who, just when we start to really know a character, they get written out.


Sarah -
Isn't that the truth. Every era of Doctor Who suffers from the Template Companion issue, but somehow it seems more amplified in the JN-T/Saward era. Maybe it's because there were so many companions.


Harry -
It's too bad, but as mentioned above, Nicola was happy to go out with a bang. "Mindwarp" is a black, haunting little tale, harkening back to Hinchcliffe Horror days and I love it. As a stand alone, it's amazing. As part of the Trial of a Time Lord arc, it casts a brighter light on the murky goings on between the Valeyard, the Inquisitor and the entire prosecution against the Doctor. Hopefully our hero will get to the bottom of things soon.


Sarah -
Farewell (for now), Perpugiliam Brown. 

Best Line: "Gentlemen, may I remind you this is a court of law, not a debating society for maladjusted, psychotic sociopaths."

Favorite Moment: King Yrcanos' war cry.

Lasting Image: Bald Peri.

8/10


Harry -
Best Line: "Scum."  (Yrcanos' quick-and-to-the-point summation of Crozier.)

Favourite Moment: Yrcanos amuses Peri with his unceasing talk of battle.

Lasting Image: the seas and skies of Thoros Beta.

9/10

 


Our marathon continues with Story #143C - The Trial of a Time Lord: Terror of the Vervoids...