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...
