Story #126: Terminus (1983)

Harry -
This is never one of the Peter Davison stories that leaps to mind when I think of his classics, but I love watching it every time.

It's got space action, memorable sets and costumes, a gripping story, a cuddly monster, a score that Vangelis would have been proud of, great performances by all the regulars, and even a companion farewell. I daresay it's an underrated classic.


Sarah -
I have to ask, Old Boy, did we watch the same story?

To be fair, "Terminus" is in a difficult position. With a few notable exceptions, like The Empire Strikes Back, the middle story in a trilogy is often the most challenging to script and the easiest to overlook. "Terminus" has lots of good ideas, but the production does it no favors.


Harry -
Ohh! This sets things up for a rare round of point-counterpoint.


Sarah -
I have to admit I was a bit excited when I realized we were not on the same page for this story.


Harry -
We could use the list I posted above as broad subject categories. Shall I begin?


Sarah -
We can give it a try, but I'm not sure my critiques and your praise will line up.


Harry -
SPACE ACTION
Continuing on from "Four to Doomsday," "Earthshock," and "Mawdryn Undead," we have another Davison-era story set mostly or partially aboard a spacecraft. In this case, Turlough is guided by the Black Guardian to start sabotaging the TARDIS. When the Doctor discovers things have gone awry (yet again), he and the others observe as the TARDIS "melds" with a mysterious, seemingly abandoned cargo ship. A series of skull motifs on the walls tell us this is no place for good people.

One by one, our friends enter the ship: Nyssa, followed by the Doctor, followed by Tegan and Turlough.

KA-BLAM! Two space raiders blast their way aboard the ship, holding the Doctor and Nyssa at gunpoint, while Tegan and Turlough get stuck in a series of shafts below decks.

Sure, there are no dogfights in space or planets to explore, but along comes a giant space station called Terminus, which space raider Olvir recognizes as a destination for so-called lazars. "It's a leper ship!" he memorably cries out, "We're all going to dieeee!" More space than action, but I liked the setting.


Sarah -
I question your definition of action.


Harry -
Well...


Sarah -
In a rare turn of events, Mr. Smith joined me to watch this story, which was a terrible choice. I had been going on about how good "Mawdryn Undead" was and had forgotten how not-good "Terminus" is. For the next 48 hours, he punctuated conversations with "We're all going to dieeee!" This was not an homage to its greatness.

The script is just so weak and boring. It seems promising in the beginning. I like the opening scenes in the TARDIS, where Tegan is definitely keeping an eye on Turlough, whom she doesn't trust a bit. At the Doctor's request, she takes him to his new bedroom, which is Adric's old room. This was such a sad moment for me, "Here, you can have my dead friend's room." It would have been better if the TARDIS ejected it, like Romana's room after she had left the TARDIS.


Harry -
Yeah. The TARDIS is supposed to be so vast, the Doctor could have found some other space for Turlough, unless he just didn't care.


Sarah -
While, like many things in the story, it's not really clear why the TARDIS is melding with the cargo ship, those scenes are handled well. The skull doors are appropriately menacing and Nyssa having to leave the TARDIS is quite scary. It's heartbreaking that sweet Nyssa is being treated this way, but I guess it balances things out with Tegan's possession by the Mara.


Harry -
MEMORABLE SETS AND COSTUMES
Were the space raider uniforms of Kari and Olvir not the greatest thing ever? They looked like a Duran Duran cover band. The giant space helmets, the flowing mini-capes, the flashy white boots, and the epic hair. Kari's mane alone made it obvious why they had to wear those giant fishbowls on their heads. I think most of my appreciation for this story is coming from the camp point of view.


Sarah -
Oh, there's camp for days. I was thinking more along the lines of an Abba tribute band. Nick Rhodes wouldn't be caught dead in that getup. Still, Olvir did have a brunette version of Thompson Twin Tom Bailey's hairstyle, whom I found quite fetching in 1983.


Harry -
Interesting.

The Vanir, who are slaves tasked with managing the operations on Terminus, were decked out in metallic anti-radiation armour, but they also got to swish around in capes. Their flip-up helmets were amusing because I thought of Monty Python and the Holy Grail every time someone raised their face mask.


Sarah -
The armour may have been the best thing in the entire story. They looked like a Serbian metal band.


Harry -
I'll be thinking up names for Serbian metal bands for days now. CHETNIK FIST. TIGAR-TIGAR. BOSANSKI KORPS. Ok that's already crossed the line...

Terminus! I'm not sure why Nyssa had to play most of the story in a general state of undress. Did you happen to watch any of the extras with this story, Sarah?


Sarah -
Prepare yourself for a rant here. WHAT THE HELL? We've discussed the fact that one of the challenges of Nyssa's character has always been that she's played by a woman but written as a girl. Seems like they decided to change all that in the final story, which makes me so angry on behalf of Sarah Sutton. First she has to strip off her skirt and wanted around in her lingerie. Then we get two shots that completely disregard everything we know about her character -- she and the Doctor on their hands and knees while she's wearing a low-cut top and no bra, and then Nyssa laid our spread-eagle with the camera shooting up her skirt. Not to mention the fact that the Doctor apparently has a video camera to see into Nyssa and Tegan's bedroom. It's all just so creepy.


Harry -
I think Sarah Sutton shrugs it off these days as "one of those things" she was asked to do which made little sense at the time and looks even worse now. It was unfortunate that her streak of drab-to-outright-awful costumes had to end with her running around in lingerie.

As for the sets, you have to appreciate how they were able to make Terminus look vast. The set was probably no larger than one of our kitchens, but director Mary Ridge and her camera crew brought a convincing sense of scale to each shot. The "forbidden zone" was the only disappointing set. For all its ominous aura, it was mostly just an empty space piled with junk.


Sarah -
I was never sure which ship they were on. There may have been things that distinguished the two ships, but the differences were quite lost on me.

I also have to mention the lighting. Could it have been any brighter? The story may have been more effective if it wasn’t all so over-lit.


Harry -
A GRIPPING STORY
Beneath the campy wardrobes and questionable acting was a bleak tale, not the usual fare for Doctor Who. The Doctor and his friends discover a leper ship, taking a cargo of infected humans to a place with an obvious "final solution" connotation to it. The place is run by slaves who themselves are slowly becoming infected by radiation poisoning. There is no Big Villain here, no Master or Cybermen or otherwise. There are two groups of miserable wretches, with the Doctor and friends caught in between them. Impending death hangs heavy over this one. No one hopes to find a better place, no one dreams of escape - it was interesting to watch as writer Steve Gallagher plunked our friends into this story and basically made them squirm (or crawl, or fall ill).


Sarah -
I agree that it’s a potentially good story. Unfortunately, the actual telling of the story undercuts the brilliance of its premise. The nadir of the story for me is when the Doctor suddenly intuits all the center-of-the-universe-big-bang crap. What? How the heck did he make that leap? It’s just stupid and doesn’t make any sense. (Cue the Bidmead science rant!)

And another thing – what’s with the lazars? It seems some of them are cured – what happens to them afterward?


Harry -
Hmmm, good question.  Maybe they join the Vanir ranks.


Sarah -
The Vanir seem to think the Garm carries them off to kill them, which we find out is not the case. What the hell is going on in Terminus? I’m usually willing to shrug off minor plot holes, but these are gaping plot canyons that irritate me beyond belief.

Can you imagine what a stronger script editor would have done with this? Not that I’m dreaming of how Terrance Dicks would have handled this story, or anything…


Harry -
A CUDDLY MONSTER
One more slave is introduced in the form of the Garm, a giant canine/lupine looking thing that lurks in the forbidden zone and administers treatments to the lazars. It's given burning eyes and a growly voice, but it also walks in a silly wobbling manner. It's supposed to be terrifying, but I want to give it a hug.


Sarah -
I’m not sure how the production team could have handled this, given that he has to carry Nyssa, but the Garm really disappointed me. Apparently, Gallagher envisioned the Garm being more of mysterious, unseen creature.


Harry -
A SCORE THAT VANGELIS WOULD HAVE BEEN PROUD OF
This story came out when Vangelis was at the height of his fame. His themes for Chariots of Fire, Blade Runner and The Bounty were all big hits at the time. The score in this story borrows heavily from his ethereal synth sound. It really stood out, and you might have guessed I liked it a lot!


Sarah -
This may be our biggest point of contention, Harry. I LOATHE the score. I found it tinny and distracting through the entire story. It really made me dislike the story even more.


Harry -
GREAT PERFORMANCES BY ALL THE REGULARS
Peter Davison delivered a perfect Fifth Doctor here. He's curious and sensitive, gets frustrated to the point of violence, and tries his damndest to remain smiling and affable in the face of death and despair. That pretty much sums up his portrayal of the Doctor.


Sarah -
I find it interesting that, once again, the Doctor was separated from the companions and paired up with a more mature woman. And, once again, the chemistry is really good. This seems to be a recurring motif in the Fifth Doctor Era.


Harry -
That occurred to me too.

Janet Fielding pouring scorn all over Turlough was a highlight early on in the story, and the perfect set up to having her and Mark Strickson thrown into a series of confined spaces for most of the story. Rather than hokily becoming best buds with Turlough at the end, Tegan remains skeptical and wary of him. Turlough was Turlough, which for now is a mixture of being a sneaky jerk and being a cowering wuss.


Sarah -
At last, we’ve hit up on my favorite part of the story! Separating the Doctor and companions into three groups -- the Doctor and Kari, Nyssa and Olvir, and Tegan and Turlough – finally gives us a story where everyone has something to do.

I adore the Tegan and Turlough subplot. Both Janet Fielding and Mark Strickson are wonderful – even when they’re just crawling through tunnels with Mark trying not to look at Janet’s bum. I have to admit I was feeling more than a bit claustrophobic watching these scenes.

My favorite thing about these scenes is that they give us something we so rarely see in this era of Doctor Who – character development!


Harry -
Hallelujah!


Sarah -
I particularly like the scene where they’re sitting on the stairs and Turlough ask Tegan if she thinks she could ever kill someone. It’s the first time we get to see Turlough acting in a non-panto manner and it makes me look forward to the next story in the Trilogy.


Harry -
It's hard to get past the frilly underthings, but Sarah Sutton finally got to develop Nyssa's character. She shows huge empathy for the lazars and badly wants to help them. She puts her Traken knowledge to use in a makeshift lab, determined to cure the sufferers and even help the lazars make their own hydromel. It's frustrating that Nyssa finally got a good story, which ended up being her final story.


Sarah -
How disappointing is it that Nyssa’s first really great story is her last? Sarah Sutton is wonderful when she’s finally given something significant to do.

Have you listened to any of the Doctor-Nyssa Big Finish stories?


Harry -
I don't think so.


Sarah -
I’ve only heard good things about them. It would be nice to hear some strong Nyssa stories – and will work with our ongoing plan to just give Big Finish all our money!


Harry -
A COMPANION FAREWELL
Just as Nyssa breaks from the "child" character that far too often had to stand around and watch a story take place around her, Sarah Sutton made her departure from the show. In keeping with companion departures throughout the classic series, it was sudden, played out over the space of a minute or two, and the Doctor seemed a bit too cool about it. Time constraints, yeah yeah, but at least Tegan showed some emotion when saying goodbye. Arguably, the Doctor has had to say goodbye time and time again, and he's spent centuries building a wall around his emotions, but come on! It's Nyssa! Peter could have given us more here.


Sarah -
It’s quite sudden, but I love that Nyssa’s reason for leaving is true to her character. At the beginning of "Terminus", we see Nyssa in her bedroom/lab (seriously, Doctor, you couldn’t find space to give her a proper lab somewhere in the TARDIS?) doing sciencey stuff. Staying on Terminus finally gives her the opportunity to do something important with her skills.

Having watched the Fifth Doctor stories for the first time as teenager, I was always more drawn to Tegan than Nyssa. I just found Nyssa a bit too compliant and kind of boring. On this rewatch, I’ve realized that she has more moments of strength than I remembered, but, like most companions, was the victim of writers who couldn’t be arsed to give her something to do.

Nyssa has to overcome so much emotional abuse at the hands of the Master that it’s a wonder she survived. More than anything, I think it’s her fellow companions who got her through. One of the things I really like in her early stories is her friendship with Adric. They worked well as a team and Nyssa acknowledges her reliance on Adric’s ability to do calculations for her in "Terminus". After Adric’s death, she begins to develop a stronger relationship with Tegan, which is expressed in the teary farewell. We haven’t seen a companion friendship in the TARDIS since Sarah and Harry and there hasn’t been a friendship between two female companions since Barbara and Vicki (which is really more of mother-daughter relationship than friendship).

Davison really underplayed Nyssa’s departure. His only reaction seems to be an expression that implies that he can’t believe Nyssa is leaving while he’s stuck with Tegan.

Harry -
Well, that about wraps it up. Not sure if any minds were changed here today. We may have even had a hardening of opinions - pretty much like every point-counterpoint ever, haha!

I appreciate the glaring problems with the plot that you pointed out, but I cling to the camp and can't let go. I'll still give this one high marks.


Sarah –
Best Line:
Turlough: "We’re friends?"
Tegan: "Not yet."

Favorite Moment: Tegan and Turlogh’s discussion on the stairs.

Lasting image: The Serbian Metal Band Vanir!

4/10


Harry -
Best Line: "You're weird, Turlough." Tegan sums it up nicely.

Favourite Moment: Nyssa announces she wants to remain on Terminus and help the lazars.

Lasting Image: The Duran Duran Space Raiders!

8/10

Our marathon continues with Story #127: Enlightenment...

Story #125: Mawdryn Undead (1983)

Sarah -
"Mawdryn Undead" is another story that I have not watched since sometime in the 80s. Other than knowing that it introduced Turlough, I had no strong memories to remind me what was coming. What a great story!


Harry -
This is more like it. This is the Peter Davison era as I remember it.


Sarah -
The Brigadier returns in one of the most timey-wimey stories in Doctor Who history. The Brig!


Harry -
Two Brigs!


Sarah -
What could be better? The story begins in a boys' school, as young Turlough convinces the unfortunately nicknamed Hippo that they should take a quick spin in the 1929 Humber 16/50 open tourer, Imperial model parked in front of the school. To the surprise of no viewer ever, the joyride ends badly and the car is smashed. While unconscious, Turlough is visited by the Black Guardian, who offers him a deal. He will get Turlough, an alien who has been stranded on Earth disguised as an English school boy, off the planet in exchange for Turlough killing the Doctor.


Harry -
It's a leap of faith for the viewer to simply accept that Turlough is an alien. He doesn't look like an alien (no ginger jokes here). He doesn't act like an alien. There's a mention from the headmaster that his parents are dead and a solicitor in London handles his estate, but that's the only slightly irregular detail about him.

The Black Guardian, on the other hand, is campy as all get out. That sneer, that voice, that 80s video game background whenever he appears to Turlough. I love it. Best of all, the bird on his head. I love the bird! Now if that's not a sign of an unearthly presence, I don't know what is. I suppose it could be another indirect sign that Turlough was an alien that he so gullibly accepted to become the Black Guardian's minion.


Sarah -
The bird headgear is brilliant! I've worked a whole new cosplay for you, Harry!

The car turns out to be the property of none other than Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, formerly of UNIT and currently maths teacher at Brendon Public School. I didn’t remember that the Brig was in this story and shouted with delight at his first appearance!


Harry -
Love the Brig's return appearances. It's a staple of 80s Who. And here, Brig '83 is dressed once again like the Most English-Looking Man in England. The hat, the vest, the checked jacket with elbow patches. The only thing he's missing is a fancy walking stick or a pipe.


Sarah -
We join the TARDIS crew with a poorly conceived attempt to establish continuity between the stories. Tegan wanders into the console room to be reassured that the Mara is actually dead and will not try to possess her again. Nyssa arrives in a fetching costume, which is clearly an attempt at apology for what she was made to wear in Snakedance. Tegan hassles the Doctor for not being able to control the TARDIS as they’re caught up in a warp ellipse and forced to materialize on an abandoned luxury liner.


Harry -
Deserted? Abandoned? Something is up with this ship. Our friends wander the art deco rooms and corridors before the Doctor finds a computer panel that reveals the ship has been in orbit for 3,000 years.


Sarah -
How wonderful are the spaceship sets?


Harry -
They really did a much better job with the sets and costuming in this story compared to "Snakedance". The production crew made the ship seem vast, and my favourite room was the one with the row of portraits on the walls. I kept waiting for one of the portraits to speak, and was freaked out when the Black Guardian appeared out of one of the faces. But that was later on...


Sarah -
I had the same expectation and was so disappointed -- until the Black Guardian appeared.


Harry -
Turlough suddenly appears in the transmat pod, and the Doctor determines that it is the cause of a disruption that trapped the TARDIS in the same coordinates as the liner. So, he and Turlough pop back to Earth while Tegan and Nyssa remain with the TARDIS. Things do not go as easily as hoped. The Doctor finds himself stranded on Earth with the homicidal schoolboy, while the TARDIS abruptly lurches to 1977. Oh, it's getting a bit timey-wimey.

After a quick look around, Tegan and Nyssa return to find -- to their horror -- the badly burned body of what they presume to be the Doctor, writhing in agony on the TARDIS floor. Tegan rushes out for help, finding assistance in the form of Brig '77, looking younger and more regimental than the older version we have already met.


Sarah -
I love this SO MUCH! What a brilliant idea to have the TARDIS crew meet the Doctor in two different time streams. It's as if the entire series has been leading us to this story.

Apparently, the original plan was to have William Russell return to the series, but it didn't work out, so they asked Nicholas Courtney. I'm so glad it was the Brig, as much as I'd love to see Ian return.


Harry -
You also get the sense that with so much of the script given to two Brigadiers, it left Nyssa and Tegan with little to do.


Sarah -
So, what else is new? Leaving the companions with nothing to do is a hallmark of this era. I like that Tegan is becoming the Tegan we know and love -- resourceful, clever, and not willing to be bossed around by the Brigadier!


Harry -
They return to the ship to find the "Doctor" recovering rapidly. It is in fact Mawdryn, an alien and one familiar with the Time Lords of Gallifrey. He uses his knowledge to bluff the ladies into thinking he is the Doctor suffering post-regeneration trauma. He was doing a good job of it, and it was all going so well until the production crew decided that what he really needed to complete his look was a plate of spaghetti on his head. Oh dear. At least the transformation is played dead seriously by David Collings, whom we last saw as the robophobic Poul in "The Robots of Death".


Sarah -
I liked how Tegan never really entirely bought Mawdryn's story that he was Doctor. Her skepticism was well-placed!


Harry -
Things get a bit too back and forth around the midpoint of the story, and it slows down. In fact, Brig '83 complains that he's "yomped up that wretched hill" to the obelisk three times in one day. That's a lot of yomping.


Sarah -
It could be worse -- he could be running through corridors. Yomping can be quite leisurely.


Harry -
Basically most of part three is a lot of explanation of Mawdryn and the plight of his fellow aliens, who sought immortality from the Gallifreyans. They acquired it, but have become desperate for mortality again.


Sarah -
Immortality always sounds like a good idea -- until you have it. It's hard to feel too sorry for them.


Harry -
Everyone finally converges at the spaceship, including both Brigadiers, whom the Doctor tries to keep apart. One must look out for that Blinovitch Limitation Effect.


Sarah -
Of course.


Harry -
There is a way the Doctor could help, but he would have to surrender his remaining regenerations to make it happen. At first he resists and tries to pull the TARDIS away from the spaceship, but with disastrous timey-wimey effects on Tegan and Nyssa, who almost-catastrophically become older and then younger in rapid succession, shifting back and forth in time to the Doctor's horror. He returns the TARDIS and agrees to help Mawdryn and company, accepting the huge consequences to himself in order to help his friends.


Sarah -
The mutant aliens are really a bunch of big jerks. "Oh, we've made a stupid decision and now you have to destroy yourself to help us or we're going to hurt your friends." Also, what was with their eyebrows being wrapped around their heads? That was seriously creepy.


Harry -
Creepier than the spaghetti.  Then, at the pivotal moment - at just the right second - the two Brigs encounter one another, touch, and set off a massive discharge of energy.


Sarah -
As Tegan would say -- ZAP!


Harry -
Everything resolves itself immediately (with just a couple of minutes left in the story, whew!). The Mawdryns become mortal and embrace death. The Doctor's regenerations remain with him. Tegan and Nyssa shake off the timey-wimey infection. The Brigadiers are returned to their respective time streams. Turlough decides to stick around with the TARDIS crew, although no one seems thrilled by the fact. And we don't know what happened to his pact with the Black Guardian. One can only assume he remains out there in 80s video land, watching and waiting...


Sarah -
Tralalalala! All is well and off to the next adventure, with a new companion in tow. Wasn't it just last season that JNT decided the TARDIS was too crowded and a companion had to go?


Harry -
Mm-hmmmm...


Sarah -
I'm sure we'll have more to say about Turlough as the season continues, but I have to admit that I often forget about him when discussing companions. It will be interesting to see how we feel about Turlough by the end of his run, but for now I just don't find him that interesting.


Harry -
Overall, a creative story but also a fun runaround. Maybe too much running around, but still fun. And the Brigs!


Sarah -
"Mawdryn Undead" is a really ambitious story and it was a delight to watch it again. Nicholas Courtney's performance is spectacular. He has to create two distinct versions of the Brigadier and is absolutely brilliant. Still, I have to admit I'm disappointed to find out that my beloved Benton is now a used car salesman.


Harry -
But he's probably the most tenacious and respectful and loveable used car salesman in the land.

Best Line: "In thirty years of soldiering, I've never encountered such destructive power as I have seen displayed here and now by the British schoolboy."

Favourite Moment: Seeing Lethbridge-Stewart again was my favourite part of the story.

Lasting Image: the Black Guardian giving orders to Turlough.

7/10


Sarah -
Best Line: "I wonder... if I reverse the polarity of the neutron flow..."
Sometimes, it's the small things that delight!

Favorite Moment: The walk down memory lane we take when the Brig regains his memory and we see clips of his previous adventures with the Doctor.

Lasting Image: The Black Guardian and his fabulous headgear!

8/10

Our marathon continues with Story #126: Terminus...

Story #124 - Snakedance (1983)

Sarah -
I have to admit that I was on the edge of despair after the last two stories. Had I completely mis-remembered the Fifth Doctor Era? Fortunately, "Snakedance" has come along to set things straight. What a cracking story!


Harry -
Fun Fact: "Snakedance" was the last remaining classic Who story that I had never seen before. Thirty-two years after it first aired, I just watched it for the first time. There were no warm and fuzzy memories to influence my viewing or cloud my reactions. Instead, I let the dreaminess of it sweep over me.


Sarah -
I'm fairly certain that the last time I saw it was in the late 80s, so the story was quite fresh for me, as well. There were only two things I remembered – Tegan's possession by the Mara and Martin Clunes' marvelous performance. But more of those later.

This may be my favorite Davison performance so far. To be fair, he had a tough act to follow, but sometimes Davison's Doctor can be a bit too low-key for me. In "Snakedance", he's manic and alien and wonderful! I love how we see him through the eyes of others in the story and he looks like an absolute lunatic.


Harry -
Once again we see this Doctor being led by events, rather than leading them -- and it's starting to get to him.


Sarah -
This story feels different from the opening scene between Nyssa and the Doctor. Nyssa appears in a new outfit, which was probably necessary after all the running around she did in Amsterdam. It's a hideous ensemble, but the Doctor doesn't notice the change -- even when she throws herself in from of him, trying to make him comment on the clothes. He finally mutters a confused, "You look different." For a Doctor who has been perhaps a bit too solicitous of his companions in the past, this small moment reminds us that he is a Time Lord more effectively than anything in "Arc of Infinity".


Harry -
I'm going to run with the "dreaming" metaphor throughout our discussion, because it felt like we were watching everyone have a bad dream in this story.

Not being in control must be one of the things the Doctor hates most, in any regeneration. Right off the bat, he's lost control of the TARDIS. They have unintentionally landed on the planet Manussa, and he asks Nyssa to help figure out what's gone wrong with the coordinates.

You have referred to it above, but Nyssa's change of clothing is a nightmare unto itself. Like one of those dreams where you find yourself wearing something bizarre and nonsensical.


Sarah -
One can almost imagine JNT thinking, "The clown look really worked for a companion, I wonder how one might look on a Doctor." And what's with the heels? She looks so uncomfortable for the entire story.


Harry -
Costuming is a big let down throughout this one.


Sarah -
Meanwhile, how great is Janet Fielding in this story? Tegan's second possession by the Mara is even more frightening than the first.


Harry -
Tegan literally kicks things off with a bad dream, and it only gets worse for her.


Sarah -
She's pretty much possessed from the first scenes of the story, when the Doctor realizes the TARDIS has gone off course. She tells Nyssa and the Doctor about her dreams and Nyssa, trying to be a good friend, tells her that they're only dreams and not to worry. The Doctor suspects they're something more.


Harry -
Tegan describes how she found herself back on Deva Loka, the Kinda planet, in that dark place of the mind where the Mara lurks. The Doctor wants to study Tegan's dreams, fearing that she is still possessed. He rigs up something that looks like an ipod for her to wear as they step out to explore the village where they have landed.


Sarah -
It’s clearly a walkman, Harry. Get with the times!

I quite like the village. For a relatively small set, it packs a lot in. And look, there's Brian Miller, husband of our beloved Elisabeth Sladen, as Dugdale, the carnival barker!


Harry -
Had you not pointed that out I would never have realized!

Nearby, in a set that someone who watched too many Hartnell episodes must have dreamed up, we meet the local aristocracy. Well, "aristocracy" might be too grand a word. Amid cheap furnishings and tacky potted plants, Lom sprawls out on a chaise longue in boredom. His mother, Lady Tanha, tries to rouse him by arranging a kind of spelunking excursion with Ambril, the Director of Archaeology.


Sarah -
Oh, that set! According to the featurette on the DVD, it was borrowed from A Song For Europe, which was the former name of the show used to select the UK's Eurovision entry. You can almost imagine Bucks Fizz bopping about. 

Lom just screams over-privileged douchebag, doesn't he? And what does every one of those need? An over-indulgent mother, of course! I find Ambril to be an interesting character.


Harry -
John Carson plays the petty, small-minded, self-interested Ambril perfectly. Everyone's performances are a big plus in this one.


Sarah -
I absolutely adore Carson's performance. Ambril is poised and collected, but just sleezy enough to do what's necessary to get what he wants. 

My favorite moment in the whole story is when Ambril and the Doctor discuss The Six Faces of Delusion helmet. Ambril is dismissive of the legend of the Mara because there are clearly only five faces on the helmet. The Doctor asks Ambril to wear the helmet, pointing out that Ambril’s face is now the sixth. Ambril, unsurprisingly, does not take this news well.  

Seriously, this helmet has been there for years and no one has ever put it on. The Doctor is the first person who realized where the sixth face would be?


Harry -
On Manussa, legends of the Mara are prevalent. There are some who believe it shall one day return. I was just hoping it wouldn't return as that hokey prop we saw in Kinda.


Sarah -
Oh, the horror!


Harry -
Frightened by a toy snake at the local bazaar, Tegan bolts and becomes separated from her friends. She ducks into a fortune teller's sanctum, where a refreshingly honest seer dwells. Cheerily, she confides that her work is mostly bunk, made up on the fly with nothing tangible behind it.


Sarah -
Hilary Sesta's fortune teller is just one of the many brilliant guest performances in "Snakedance".


Harry -
But in the grip of the Mara, Tegan causes a snake's skull to manifest itself in the seer's crystal ball, shattering it and scaring the bejeezus out of her.


Sarah -
I felt so bad for the fortune teller, after she was being so helpful and honest.


Harry -
All these years, I've been reading and hearing references to Janet Fielding's "Mara laugh," and there it was!


Sarah -
And it's quite epic, isn't it?


Harry -
It totally makes sense that legions of fanboys would have hounded her at every Who Con, demanding that she perform the laugh on the spot. I recall she said she finally snapped and refused to do it any longer.


Sarah -
I believe it was at a con in Chicago and she emphasized it by knocking a fanboy on the head with his rolled-up poster!


Harry -
Tegan dekes into the carnival barker's booth, into a hall of mirrors. Dugdale mistakes her erratic behaviour for a convincing performance and offers to work with her on a new attraction. Tegan-Mara instead sends Dugdale to Lom with a summons to meet at the cave. When Lom arrives, Tegan passes some of the Mara into him. "Not bored anymore," he declares as he begins to set the Mara's plot into action.


Sarah -
I love the scene where the Mara begins to inhabit Lom. The moment when Lom and Tegan join hands and command Dugdale to look at them is really quite terrifying, especially when they both do the Mara laugh. It's a spectacular finish to part two after the somewhat lackluster scream that ends part one.


Harry -
Meanwhile, the Doctor and Nyssa implore the Director for help finding Tegan. The Director is totally uninterested, and when Lom returns they whip up some false charges and throw the Doctor into a cell. A real man of action, this Doctor! He spends the entire third episode brooding in the cell, something that should be unimaginable on this show. If this was the Pertwee era, the Doctor would have escaped, been recaptured, escaped again and been recaptured again - all in a single episode!


Sarah -
In "Kinda", Nyssa was sidelined with nothing to do. Here, it's the Doctor who gets sidelined and has to wait for Nyssa to rescue him!


Harry -
Considering there's not much story here, it feels very pacey. The second half of Snakedance is essentially "get the crystal and bring it to the cave", but quick cuts between short scenes keep it moving along briskly.


Sarah -
It really does, doesn't it? Excellent direction by Fiona Cumming.


Harry -
Nyssa continues to play the role of Action Nyssa when she goes to search the Director's office for the key to the cell.


Sarah -
A favorite moment is when she goes to the Director's office and looks for the key in a stack of papers -- because where else would you look for a key? Unfortunately, she's busted by Ambril and Tanha before she can get the key back to the cell.


Harry -
When she ends up thrown in with the Doctor, they genuinely seem to run out of options for escape. The story remains watchable for its weirdness. It was so bizarre to see that image of the two of them sitting there in the cell. "In the meantime..." Nyssa asks, to which the Doctor replies, "We wait." Seriously?


Sarah -
Well, "Snakedance" is a Buddhist parable, after all...


Harry -
When they finally escaped with Chela's help, I couldn't help notice some more costuming issues. Chela was dressed like a Renaissance courtier, while the security guards wore some kind of futuristic looking armour and helmets.


Sarah -
I can't imagine how the actors saw enough to walk around in those helmets!


Harry -
Best of all were the aristocrats. Did you see the tiara on Lady Tanha? I mean, did you see it?!


Sarah -
I really couldn't help but see it!


Harry -
It's a wonder Colette O'Neil didn't fall over in every scene - that was the biggest tiara in the universe! And Lom! What in the hell was he wearing for the climactic ceremony in the cave? So much ridiculousness, from the silly gold helmet, to the tunic with the clouds on it. Oh my word how did the costume department get away with these horrors?


Sarah -
Everyone is so over the top. I laughed out loud when Lom walked in wearing his Sun God costume. I imagine that clip haunts Martin Clunes to this day. Speaking of Martin Clunes, thanks to Little Britain, I get this song in my head every time I hear his name: 

Harry -
Holy wow, that clip. Remember how some folks are retroactively appalled at the Asian stereotypes and yellowface in "The Talons of Weng-Chiang?" What would they say to that?


Sarah -
I was shocked by the skit the first time I saw it. Having been a kid in the 70s, the casual racism of Talons surprises me not at all. The Little Britain skit made me wonder what they were thinking. Still, that’s a catchy song.


Harry -
Martin was probably flattered.


Sarah -
In the full clip, he gets off the plane and is more than a little bemused at the reception he gets. Meanwhile, back in "Snakedance"…


Harry -
...Lom makes a mockery of the cave rituals, and things get trippy for the Doctor when he, Nyssa and Chela slipped away to the convenient nearby desert. (Strange how it felt like all the various sets were within steps of each other -- the cave, the village, the desert, etc.) 

The Doctor comes up with some mumbo jumbo about calling Dojjen with a crystal, and then the old man appears with simple words of wisdom. It's all about finding the still point. I like these little bits of Buddhism that are scattered throughout the classic series.


Sarah -
Exploring Buddhist themes was Christopher Bailey’s intention in writing both Kinda and Snakedance. It’s a heady brief for a Doctor Who writer.


Harry -
Aided by the Doctor, Tegan finally overcomes the Mara's possession, sending the snake monster to its green, bubbly death (naturally!)


Sarah -
Such an abrupt ending. Tegan snaps out of the spell, the Doctor reassures her and BAM – time to run the credits. It’s all a bit hurried, isn’t it?


Harry -
Yeah.  I'm guessing any finale that would have involved spending too much time and energy on another giant snake prop was not viable.  The one they ended up using was probably all they could manage.  

And so ends Christopher Bailey's indirect Kinda-Snakedance two-parter. Both stories stand out for their trippiness, their themes of identity and existence, and their memorable characters. And the large goofy snakes.


Sarah -
On the DVD extras, our good friend Rob Shearman says that "Snakedance" is his favorite Doctor Who story. It’s an interesting choice.


Harry -
I would not have guessed that.  Maybe he loved the costumes?  

I'd give this one a higher ranking, but the costuming and sets were unforgiveable. Once can literally see the beginning of the show's long, drawn-out end becoming evident. Where the budget for this show should have been growing, it seemed to be shrinking.


Sarah -
We’re going to be doing a lot of grousing in the coming months, aren’t we?


Harry -
Best Line: Tegan-Mara's "Look at me" taunting of Dugdale. Not a great line, but hair-raisingly creepy.

Favourite Moment: the fortune teller scene.

Lasting Image: that tiara!

6/10


Sarah -
Best Line: Dojjen : "No. The still point is within yourself, nowhere else. To destroy the Mara you must find the still point."  

Favorite Moment: The Doctor’s conversation with Ambril about the Six Faces of Delusion. 

Lasting Image: Lom’s costume – wonderfully over the top, even by Doctor Who standards. 

7/10

 



Our marathon continues with Story #125: Mawdryn Undead...

Story #123: Arc of Infinity (1983)

Harry -
Welcome to Season Twenty!


Sarah -
Huzzah!


Harry -
I had not watched this story for a long time. The memories I had of it were of the not-so-fond variety, but a rewatch improved my view. A little.


Sarah -
It's no "Time-Flight", which can only be a good thing!


Harry -
"Arc of Infinity" starts off in a different manner than what we became accustomed to in Peter Davison's first season. Here, we find the Doctor travelling with a single companion. The Doctor-Nyssa travelling partnership has been explored in other media, and it's too bad we didn't get more of it on the TV series. As two gentle, sciency types they get along famously as we catch up with them making long overdue repairs to the TARDIS.


Sarah -
I'm going to be a little controversial here, Harry, and admit that I'm not a big Nyssa fan. While I imagine she's someone I would like in person, and Sarah Sutton seems absolutely lovely, Nyssa is just, well, boring. If I'd had a vote on who was going to be written off the show in Season Ninteen, Nyssa would have been my choice. The problem is that she is too much like the Fifth Doctor and it's all just too nice. I've not listened to any of the Fifth Doctor-Nyssa Big Finish stories, but I hope they've found a way to inject something interesting into that relationship.


Harry -
I think Nyssa more than most suffers the problem of writers who didn't know what to do with her.


Sarah -
Always a valid point. In Nyssa's favor, she gets to say "reverse the polarity" while working on repairs.


Harry -
Since we've been watching the stories all in order, we've had a chance to watch the development of Nyssa's character. The conclusion is: there was barely any development to her character. Since re-joining the Doctor on Logopolis, Nyssa has been mostly a tagalong character who asks questions at timely moments, then gets banished or banishes herself to the TARDIS to ride out a big portion of every adventure, especially when it's time for action. A big problem seems to be that Nyssa is described as a child, but played by an adult, so her very persona gets confusing.


Sarah -
I'll have to track down some of the Big Finish audios and report back on her character development.


Harry -
Anyway, while the Doctor and Nyssa make repairs and conduct tests, two alternate timelines play out elsewhere. First, there's a return to Gallifrey, where an unidentified high-collared character is conspiring with a masked figure who targets the Doctor as a conduit for his plot.


Sarah -
Ah, Gallifrey! It wouldn't be the same without the political intrigue, would it?


Harry -
Seems to be all they do there.


Sarah -
The Time Lords having always been a bit disappointing, haven't they?


Harry -
Yeah.  You start to wonder why they kept going back to this.  

Second, there are scenes featuring two backpackers in contemporary Amsterdam, who find an unused crypt where they settle down to sleep the night. This being Doctor Who, these three lines are about to collide.


Sarah -
And things don't look good for the backpackers!


Harry -
Suddenly, an extradimensional entity invades the TARDIS!


Sarah -
Shocking!


Harry -
Suddenly, a freaky bird creature attacks one of the packbackers in the crypt!


Sarah -
Terrifying!


Harry -
Suddenly, the TARDIS's recall circuit is activated, calling the Doctor back to Gallifrey!


Sarah -
And, really, this is just too much!


Harry -
Upon arrival, the TARDIS is immediately impounded by the security commander, one of many familiar faces. There's Commander Maxil, played by the future Sixth Doctor! There's Councillor Hedin, played by the Celestial Toymaker! There's Chancellor Thalia, played by Blackadder's mum! What a cast of characters!


Sarah -
Whatever faults this story may have, the cast is bringing it. And, is it just me, or is Colin Baker bringing an extra helping of the sexy? When he's not carrying that stupid feathery helmet, that is.


Harry -
Sexy Maxil must have struck a note with JNT, considering all he does is march around in every scene.


Sarah -
Perhaps JNT was wondering what he would look like in a clown suit?


Harry -
I'm not sure of one thing: were we supposed to know that the shadowy Gallifreyan was conspiring with Omega? It seemed like a really late reveal. Up to that point, we get a seemingly endless series of clandestine meetings between these two. Yes, they advance the plot in very small stages, but they got very tedious, especially when you know whose voice is behind the Gallifreyan collar.


Sarah -
The plotting scenes are soooooo tedious! Hand acting isn't mysterious -- it's boring.


Harry -
More interesting were the location shots in Amsterdam. Something we haven't really seen since the Doctor and Romana visited Paris. I know JNT was big on these foreign forays. And look who just turned up at the aeroport: Tegan Jovanka!


Sarah -
Hooray! At last! This story can only get better with Tegan around.

I had to laugh when Robin met Tegan at the airport -- he's in an anorak and she's dressed for summer in Ibiza. Janet must have been freezing for that entire shoot, which I imagine she mentions repeatedly on the commentary track. Still, her hair looks fab. I've always loved this cut on her.


Harry -
Short haired Tegan definitely looks better, and Janet Fielding was rocking a similar cut when we met her at Chicago TARDIS a few years ago.


Sarah -
When you've found a good look, you've got to stick with it.


Harry -
Anyway, for all that fuss about getting back to Heathrow, Tegan ended up getting sacked by the airline. With newfound freedom, she's travelled to Amsterdam to meet up with her cousin Colin, one of the backpackers. Only Colin's encounter with the Ergon resulted in him being captured and zombified. He toils away in the crypt, carrying equipment around as part of Omega's plot to return to this universe.


Sarah -
The Zombie Colin scenes really are quite creepy.


Harry -
Colin does a good zombie face.

Meanwhile, the Gallifreyans are s-l-o-o-o-o-w-l-y cottoning on to the fact that a conspiracy is afoot. The mysterious entity is threatening to force its way from the universe of anti-matter, using the Doctor as a conduit. So, the only solution must be to execute the Doctor! Good grief.


Sarah -
Bring out the Bidmead "That's Not Science!" button on this one. So very lame.


Harry -
Nyssa takes matters into her own hands and uses a stun gun on some of Maxil's men. Maxil responds by marchng around some more.


Sarah -
Pistol Packin Nyssa! This may be the most interesting thing she's done this far. More Action-Nyssa, please!


Harry -
Nyssa livening shit up around here. I don't know. Gallifrey has gotten even more boring since the last time we were there.

The three threads of this story took too long to come together, I thought.


Sarah -
Can we go back to talking about Janet's hair?

You know what would have been a great plot twist? If the Doctor left Nyssa behind and dragged Leela and K-9 in to the TARDIS. Someone needs to write that story!


Harry -
A Leela/K-9 cameo would have been very fun.


Sarah -
From a looking-backwards perspective, I did like the scenes where the Doctor and Nyssa dash around Amsterdam looking for Tegan. I imagine they were inserted to justify the location shooting, but they illustrated a point we've made in the past about the current series. David Tennant or Matt Smith would have just waved the sonic screwdriver and found Tegan.


Harry -
...and Peter Capaldi would have done the same, only more angrily.


Sarah -
Which would have made it completely awesome! Still, 80s Doctor had to put in some actual legwork!


Harry -
Did you spot the Dutch kid in the amazing "stars and stripes" knit sweater? That was the best bit of costuming in the entire show!


Sarah -
Which really isn't saying all that much.


Harry -
Well, for all Omega's furious desire to escape the anti-matter universe, and all of Hedin's gullible assistance, neither of them survive the story intact. Hedin gets shot by the Castellan and doesn't get past episode three.


Sarah -
If we've learned one thing on this marathon, it's that the lackey never wins.


Harry -
...and barely ever survives. Omega takes the Doctor's form but only partially materializes on Earth. Almost immediately, he starts breaking down while leading the Doctor, Tegan and Nyssa on a merry old jogging tour of old Amsterdam. When Omega is finally cornered, we see the Doctor do something he's seemingly doing more of in this regeneration: he zaps Omega into oblivion without flinching.


Sarah -
Another exciting chase scene, amortizing that location shooting. Back to the anti-matter universe for you, Omega! Threat averted.


Harry -
Kind of a messy, chaotic ending. The local citizens seemed to take it all in stride without a mass panic ensuing. Back on Gallifrey... well, we don't know what happens back on Gallifrey as the story ends before we can find out. And so after being separated at the end of Season Nineteen, the Doctor and Nyssa are reunited with Tegan to start Season Twenty.


Sarah -
Which brings us to my favorite part of the entire story. The Doctor thinks he's done with Tegan and she'll be heading back home:

Doctor: It's been marvelous to see you again.
Nyssa: Indeed. I've missed you. I wish you didn't have to go back to your job.
Tegan: What job? Didn't I tell you? I got the sack. So you're stuck with me, aren't you.
Doctor: So it seems.

Hooray! Tegan is back in the TARDIS!


Sarah -
Best Line:
Zorac: Each and every time the Doctor returns to Gallifrey there's violence.
Hedin: Perhaps it is we who should modify our approach.

Favorite Moment: Tegan tells the Doctor she's back on board for adventures in time and space!

Lasting Image: The Doctor's face when Tegan tells him she's staying.

5/10


Harry -
Best Line: The "so your stuck with me," "so it seems," exchange was the only time I laughed during the whole story, and it was the final line.

Favourite Moment: Seeing so many familiar faces on Gallifrey.

Lasting Image: I agree the Doctor's barely-disguised look of dismay was great, but I'll add the image of the Ergon. I like a good bird monster.

5/10

 


Our marathon continues with Story #124: Snakedance...