Story #133: Resurrection of the Daleks (1984)

Sarah -
Brutal.


Harry -
Grim.

That about sums up the Eric Saward era, and we haven't even gotten past the opening massacre in the alley.


Sarah -
What a fantastic opening.


Harry -
It's a very atmospheric start. A slow tracking shot through a grey, rainy setting -- something different for the Davison era. I've gotten so used to console room pandemonium at the start of every story. This felt cinematic.


Sarah -
The opening feels like a Third Doctor UNIT story.


Harry -
Good call.


Sarah -
An older man standing in an industrial district watches as a group of jumpsuit-wearing people burst of a warehouse, only to be gunned down by policemen. For an extra shot of pathos, they shoot and kill the old man before beaming up a police officer and the corpses. But we soon discover that two of the fleeing prisoners have evaded capture…


Harry -
The escapees search the warehouse looking for the time corridor that brought them there, but Galloway is gunned down and Stien is left to cower in fear.


Sarah -
I was confused about why they were trying to find the time corridor, assuming that they had used it to escape. Why do they want to get back to it?


Harry -
Maybe they eluded their captors inside the warehouse and thought the time corridor might take them back to safety.

Meanwhile, the lead policeman -- Lytton -- has beamed up to a space ship, a battle cruiser with a very Star Warsy looking bridge and crew. In their sights is another ship, one they intend to seize and board. This second ship is a run down hunk of junk manned by a somewhat demoralized crew. It turns out that this is a prison ship, carrying a single prisoner whose re-acquisition is the goal of Lytton's battle cruiser.


Sarah -
I like that the story takes its time. So much happens before we even see the TARDIS crew.


Harry -
Before we find out who Lytton is after (although it's a pretty easy guess), we get our weekly dose of console room pandemonium.


Sarah -
Console room pandemonium is its own specialized acting skill!


Harry -
This picks up from the ending of "Frontios", where the TARDIS suddenly lurched out of control. It has run up against the same time corridor and the Doctor manages to pilot the old girl to a safe landing beside the Thames, London, 1984. While having a look around, the Doctor, Tegan and Turlough encounter Stien, who begs for food and help.


Sarah -
Seriously, could they not have offered him something from the TARDIS kitchen to shut up the whinging? Of course, the Doctor is more intent on finding the time corridor that brought them there. We meet some UNITish soldiers on our way to the big revel -- or what would be the big reveal if the story wasn't called "Resurrection of the Daleks".


Harry -
The UNITish soldiers add to the Pertwee-era feel.


Sarah -
Definitely!


Harry -
The Colonel even had to use a payphone to ring HQ. How absurdly quaint!


Sarah -
I know, right? If he were a proper UNIT soldier, he’d have a field phone.

It's been five years since a Dalek story and I have to admit that I haven't really missed them. Still, the Cybermen had their triumphant return in "Earthshock", so why not give the Daleks their day in the sun -- or the warehouse, as it may be.


Harry -
One of the DVD features is JN-T's last recorded interview, where he admits that he started bringing the Daleks back repeatedly because of their "bums on seats" drawing power. Even so, they only appear three times in the 80s -- compare that with the annual Dalek story we viewers have been treated/subjected to in each season of the new series. It's definite overkill nowadays.


Sarah -
A little Dalek can go a long way. They're iconic, but not terribly interesting. Davros and the human collaborators are what make this story more compelling.


Harry -
"Resurrection of the Daleks" is remembered for the relentless killings that occur throughout the story. So many people are killed senselessly, like the old man in the opening scene, or the man with the metal detector down along the riverside. There was no need for that!


Sarah -
In a slaughter-filled story, that moment had to be the most heartbreaking.


Harry -
The bulk of the slaughter is done by the Daleks, once the battle cruiser docks and they smash their way aboard. Each death hammers home the fact that the Daleks are terrible creatures. A particularly unsettling moment was hearing the screams of terror from the prison ship crew when they were cornered by some Daleks. The believeability of the terror, and the realism of the production (the poison gas!) make this an important Dalek story, though certainly not a fun one to watch. Does that defeat the purpose of Doctor Who? I don't know.


Sarah -
It's not fun, but it's definitely watchable. Even having seen it before I found myself sitting on the edge of my seat over what would happen next.


Harry -
As the Daleks lay waste to the crew, the few who remain scramble to destroy the prisoner: Davros.


Sarah -
Even though we know none of them will survive, I really liked the way the prison ship crew was handled. In a few concise scenes, Saward presents fairly well-developed characters. We're introduced to the prison ship via a conversation between Lt. Mercer and Dr. Styles -- he's the idealistic newbie who is horrified by the conditions on the the ship and she's the cynical veteran, biding her time so she can get a transfer out. Their initial conversation and the scene on the bridge when the attack comes shows us all we need to know to understand the situation. Well done, Saward!


Harry -
Back at the warehouse, Turlough is the first to discover the time corridor, which transports him aboard the battle cruiser.


Sarah -
Turlough would manage to stumble into the time corridor, wouldn't he? Once again, he bumbles his way through a story with a late opportunity to rise above his own self interest.


Harry -
A Dalek is dispatched in the other direction with orders to capture the Doctor. In the ensuing mayhem, the Doctor and some of the UNITish personnel team up for some rare hand-to-plunger combat and destroy the Dalek.


Sarah -
Tegan is hit in the head during the skirmish and spends much of the rest of the first episode lying on a mattress on the floor.


Harry -
It's a final rough outing for Janet Fielding. She's experienced so many bumps and bruises this season, and she still plows on valiantly. She was probably relieved to say goodbye... until they made her run away in those heels one last time.


Sarah -
I suspect Janet never imagined so much of her acting career would involve running around in heels and a short skirt!


Harry -
Before that, Lytton briefs the reawakened Davros on the failure of the Daleks, who lost their war against the Movellans when the latter developed a virus that only the Daleks were susceptible to. Davros is enraged by their failure, but pleased that they have returned to him, "like an errant child" needing his help. Cue Terry Molloy's first great megalo-rant, and it was a good one!


Sarah -
Can't have Davros without the inevitable rant.


Harry -
A second, larger Dalek force is sent through the time corridor. After more mayhem, the TARDIS lands aboard the Dalek battle cruiser. Stien then reveals himself to be a Dalek agent -- a duplicate in fact, something that the Daleks want to create from the Doctor as well. It seems they had a pre-existing plan ready for just this moment. A duplicate Doctor would be sent back to Gallifrey to assassinate the High Command and render the Time Lords vulnerable to invasion.


Sarah -
The first attempted volley in the coming Time War, perhaps? The Daleks are really playing the long game: 1) create duplicates of useful humans to do their bidding, 2) find Davros, 3) find the Doctor and trap him in the time corridor, 4) manipulate Davros into developing an antidote to the Movellans' virus, 5) create duplicates of the Doctor and his companions and send them to Gallifrey to do the Daleks’ bidding. What could possibly go wrong?


Harry -
It's an impressive stratagem. There's a wrench in the works, however. Davros is utterly paranoid. Fearful that the Daleks may turn on him (and his fear would be borne out later) he spends most of the story assembling a protective force of servitors, starting with some zombified aides and engineers. Eventually he takes control of some Daleks, triggering the civil war that they will wage for the remainder of the classic series.


Sarah -
Of course Davros immediately starts plotting against the Daleks, assembling his own team of Daleks and humans under his control.


Harry -
It's the first spark of the Dalek civil war, but it also sets the template for Davros moving forward: always paranoid, always plotting, always playing the innocent -- although you'd think people would stop themselves for a moment and realize, "Wait, this is freaking DAVROS! Why am I helping him??"


Sarah -
Whenever we see a Davros story, I always find myself thinking of Big Finish’s brilliant “I, Davros” series. I love having that backstory in my head cannon.


Harry -
I loved Terry Molloy in "I, Davros" -- one of the best things Big Finish has ever done.

The Doctor even has a wobble with Davros, despite holding him at gunpoint. He was intent on killing his enemy once and for all, but blew his chance and Davros sealed himself off in the laboratory. Oh Doctor, you can never do it, and we love you for it!


Sarah -
Ah, the inevitable Doctor-Davros showdown. We know the Doctor won’t kill Davros but it’s always satisfying to see him point a gun at Davros.


Harry -
What are we up to by this point? Thirty, maybe 40 characters dead already? The story is a nonstop killing spree. I was really heartbroken when Professor Laird -- a kind of "UNITish scientific advisor" character -- was gunned down. Senseless.


Sarah -
Professor Laird was wonderful – kind and protective toward Tegan, but more than willing to drug the Dalek clones into a long sleep.

While Turlough eventually stumbles into an alliance with the prison ship crew, they never have any interaction with the Doctor. We haven’t had many stories where an entire plotline develops without any interaction from the Doctor – it’s an early Doctor-light motif!


Harry -
Interesting point.


Sarah -
After a strong introduction of the prison ship crew, Saward gives them a worthy sendoff. Yes, they all die, but they go down swinging:

Mercer: Look, as far as we know, there are only four of us still alive. We can't fight the Daleks alone.
Styles: Only minutes ago you were prepared to fight till the bitter end.
Mercer: And look where it got me. A dead crew.
Styles: Then don't let it be for nothing.
Mercer: What can we do?
Styles: Have you forgotten? This station has a self-destruct system.

How great is Rula Lenska in this story? My only other memory of her is the series of Alberto VO5 ads she did in the late 70s:

Styles sets about activating the self-destruct system, delivering one of my favorite lines of the story: “We're nearly there. Why am I so excited? It'll be the last thing I ever do.”

So quietly heartbreaking.


Harry -
More so because she failed at the attempt.


Sarah -
And it was the last thing she would ever do.


Harry -
Eventually, all sides lose control of the situation. The Daleks order the destruction of the prison ship. Agent Stien, who famously can no longer stand the confusion in his brain, works his way to the self-destruct chamber intent on ending things himself.


Sarah -
A great performance by Rodney Bewes as Stien!


Harry -
Davros releases the Movellan gas and destroys the Daleks who are with him. Over at the warehouse, a final deadly firefight ends with the Doctor unleashing the same gas to wipe out the Dalek invaders. It's annihilation on all sides.


Sarah -
The Movellans’ final revenge!


Harry -
It's odd that we've never seen nor heard from them again after all this time.


Sarah -
I’m trying to imagine how their superfreaky look might be updated for the 21st century…


Harry -
Anyway, not many survive the carnage. Stien succeeds in blowing up the prison ship. It's uncertain whether Davros escaped, but we all know the answer to that. Stranded on Earth, Lytton and his silent policemen stroll away from the scene. Having escaped death by the slimmest of margins, the Doctor, Tegan and Turlough prepare to depart. Only, Tegan decides that she's had enough...


Sarah -
And who wouldn’t after all that? The longest-serving companion of the Davison Era has finally had enough.

Watching Doctor Who as a teenager in the 80s, Tegan was my first favorite companion. I absolutely adored her and was heartbroken when she left the series.


Harry -
What's sad about Tegan's farewell is that life with the Doctor -- which should be a thrilling thing -- is what ultimately drives her away from him.  Nyssa stayed behind on Terminus because she felt she could help people there. Romana wanted to forge her own path in E-Space. Leela stayed on Gallifrey for the love of a man in tight red trousers (and we can all understand that). Sarah Jane was dropped off, thinking that she'd get picked right back up again. Jo linked up with a younger man with big visions of his own. Liz Shaw's departure might be the only comparable one. However, Tegan seems to be the only companion who ended up so traumatized that she couldn't go on, and that's so sad considering how strong she was.

A sad note to end a grim story. Like I said above, this is an important story because it hammers home the evil, destructive force that is the Daleks. I with they'd get a kind of reboot like that in the new series, where their familiarity -- and their string of defeats at the Doctor's hand -- lessens their impact with each appearance.


Sarah -
I know Janet Fielding is often disparaging towards the character and the way Tegan was treated on the series. Rewatching her era, I can understand how she feels. With thirty years perspective, I’m more irritated by the lack of strong stories for Tegan and how often she’s given little to do but complain. That said, Janet’s performance made me love Tegan and she’s still one of my favorite companions today. I’m still impressed that I managed to speak in full sentences when we met her at Chicago TARDIS. Janet, you are the best!


Harry -
She was lovely in person, and amazing as Tegan.  One of the best companions ever!

Best Line:
STIEN: Impulsive, aren't they?
LYTTON: They'll kill anybody, even if they need them.
STIEN: How long before it's your turn?

Favourite Moment: Stien hurls himself onto the self-destruct activator.

Lasting Image: Davros in his laboratory, facing off with the Doctor.

8/10


Sarah -
Best Line: "It's stopped being fun, Doctor."

Favorite Moment: The Doctor’s faceoff with Davros.

Lasting Image: The last shot of Tegan after the TARDIS dematerializes.

8/10

 



Our marathon continues with Story #134: Planet of Fire...

Story #132: Frontios (1984)

Harry -
"Frontios" is one of those stories that I watched once -- ages ago -- and pretty much the only thing I remembered was that there were giant ant-slug creatures in it.

When it came time to watch it again, I warmed up the VCR and slid the tape in. As the opening credits rolled, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that "Frontios" was "A Christopher H. Bidmead Joint" and got ready for some hard, factual science!


Sarah -
"Frontios" is just about as Bidmead-y as a Christopher Hamilton Bidmead story can get. Science!


Harry -
Yes, Science!  But to me the story played out like a Pertwee era six-parter: a slow, lumbering thing about some hard-done-by human colonists on some blighted rock in space, terrorized by some hokey looking monsters.

I was left confused by it all.


Sarah -
I definitely have not watched this story since the 80s and received fan wisdom is not kind to "Frontios", so I was anxious going in. My expectations were so low that I ended up mostly liking it. "Frontios" has its problems, but for me it’s a decent story with far more strengths than weaknesses.

I know there are plenty of critics of Bidmead’s writing, but this is a fairly well-constructed story. We think we’re on a planet under siege from above, as meteors are hurtled at the humans, only to discover that the threat is coming from below. I love that!


Harry -
It begins with scenes of human space colonists doing what they do best: bickering. The partial collapse of a mine is hastily covered up and the research centre above it hastily shut down. The entreaties of Range, the chief science officer, are quickly shot down by Brazen, the security chief. "Don't go waving your title at me," Brazen growls. He's the prototypical bullying type, always barking out orders but never the first one to enter a room. The colony figurehead patsy that he props up is Plantagenet, a (literally) weak-hearted figure who seems content to let Brazen stomp around with his guardsmen. It's sad to see that humanity has not advanced any further in its social structures as it reaches the far reaches of the universe.


Sarah -
Who needs character development when there's science -- SCIENCE! -- to be portrayed? Bidmead presents us with a series of archetypes, most of which are very familiar to Doctor Who viewers, to start the story.


Harry -
That's what I was getting at. It's all so un-Bidmead.


Sarah -
But...but...SCIENCE!


Harry -
Well, let's check in with the TARDIS, where the Doctor has allowed his ship to drift to these same far reaches. A sudden meteor shower and a mysterious gravitational pull force an emergency landing on the planet Frontios.


Sarah -
If it's not one thing, it's another. Before the chaos begins, the Doctor is doing a bit of redecorating, moving the coat rack out of the console room. Pay attention, kids, this will be important later.


Harry -
Ah yes, the Coat Rack of Death.

Before we get to that, the Doctor, Tegan and Turlough jump right into the action, landing at precisely the same time as the meteor shower bombards the planet. They act quickly to come to the aid of an injured colonist. In the Pertwee era, an arrest would have been imminent, but this being the Davison era and this being a Bidmead story, there's some affable sciencey business to be had first.


Sarah -
While helping the injured, the Doctor complains about the primitive conditions, particularly the poor lighting. While the lighting is certainly not ideal for a medical facility, it's almost a relief to have a story that's not over-lit. The lower lighting creates an atmosphere that has been missing from Doctor Who for a while now.


Harry -
The low lighting is a result of the phosphor lamps that the colonists are forced to use, as they have no electricity. These lamps will come into play later on. For now, the Doctor believes he can rig up something more permanent for the colonists.


Sarah -
He sends Tegan and Turlough back to the TARDIS, but they can't get past the console room because the doors are jammed. The Doctor pays little attention to this news and responds to accusations from Plantagenet and Brazen by inviting them into the TARDIS. It must be the Davison era, if the locals are being invited to tromp aboard the TARDIS. Seriously, what is with that?


Harry -
Overly welcoming to the TARDIS -- we've seen that too often in recent times.


Sarah -
It's stupid how much this annoys me.


Harry -
Before anyone can get to the TARDIS, another bombardment occurs. Tegan, Turlough and Norna return from their mission to steal supplies to build a battery. The Doctor meets them at the TARDIS -- or rather, the place where the TARDIS had landed. It has vanished, and the Doctor declares that it has been destroyed. This cliffhanger stood out, as the TARDIS itself has not been in jeopardy in recent years. Now, apparently it is gone. Quite a shocking moment.


Sarah -
It's always disturbing when they lose the TARDIS.


Harry -
It's like having the lifeline cut.

Hauled before Brazen and Plantagenet, the Doctor is declared an enemy and sentenced to be executed. Turlough wields the Coat Rack of Death and they forge a brief escape. Brought together again, Plantagenet's weak heart gives out and he collapses. Using the stolen battery equipment, the Doctor rigs up a makeshift defibrilator. Okay, now THAT'S a very Bidmead moment.  Science!


Sarah -
The coat rack was hysterical. There were several points in the story when I started to worry that Mark Strickson was going to hurt himself with so much acting, but it was nice for Turlough to finally have something to do. While the Doctor tends to Plantagenet, he and Norna begin analyzing the meteorite fragments and end up discovering an access hatch to the underground tunnels.

The end of episode two is a whirlwind -- Plantagenet is pulled underground, the colonists are looting the ship, Turlough has snapped after encountering the giant woodlice that his people have dealt with before, Norna is immobilized by said woodlice, only to be joined by the Doctor. This is the moment when the story grabbed my interest.


Harry -
Aye, the heretofore lumbering story shifts up several gears here. The ground swallowing Plantagenet was a very disturbing image. Mark Strickson probably had his best outing here, getting to play Turlough having a breakdown. We finally also get the tiniest hint of a backstory for his character. Always too little too late it seems in this era.


Sarah -
Our first glimpse of the Tractators made me laugh out loud. Turlough and Norna pass by two polished rocks, which turn around to reveal themselves as giant woodlice. The Tractator costumes look really good, but were apparently a nightmare for the actors inside, who had to have air pumped in between takes. The costumes also made it really difficult to understand much of what they said. There were scenes where I couldn't make out half of what they were saying.


Harry -
The Tractators are right out of the 70s and maybe even the 60s. Huge waddling things with rubber faces and barely functional mouths. At times it looked like they might have had John Gillett voicing his dialogue separately from someone operating the mouth of the Gravis, the lead Tractator.


Sarah -
The fact that they are so absolutely classic Doctor Who is what made me laugh with delight.


Harry -
The "tractor beam" moments were kind of psychedelic, but Tegan quickly found a means of breaking the spell by smashing one of the phosphor lamps. Both of the Doctor's companions were well worked into this story and not just tacked on to the side.


Sarah -
I couldn't agree more. They all had something to do and rose to the occasion.


Harry -
As with Mark Strickson, Janet Fielding did a great job here -- not the least for all the running and climbing and awkward positioning she had to do on uneven surfaces while wearing high heels, not once wishing that she'd chosen better footwear. After the air hostess uniform, this is Tegan's most memorable outfit in my mind -- I think of it as her "Sheena Easton" look.

Turlough certainly looked like he could have used a change of clothes by the end of his ordeal.


Sarah -
That's my favorite Tegan look. I watched all of these episodes as a teenager in the 80s and I will tell you I wanted this outfit something fierce. Air hostess uniform and boob tube outfit aside, Tegan was a bit of a fashion icon for me at the time.


Harry -
Absolutely. She looks amazing!

The story flags somewhat during part three, as Range is hauled before an inquiry and subjected to questioning with Norna and Turlough present.


Sarah -
Who the heck was the woman running the inquiry?


Harry -
She came out of nowhere, showed some authority, then was never seen again. Shrug-a-lug.

Meanwhile, the Doctor and Tegan wander around underground -- "running around like rabbits in a hole," as Tegan puts it. It does however, come to another fantastic cliffhanger, when the excavation machine comes rumbling along, bearing the ghoulish corpse of Plantgenet's father, the colony leader Captain Revere. Another disturbing image.


Sarah -
Totally disturbing. I was happy to be watching this during the day.


Harry -
Surrounded by Tractators and fresh out of phosphor lamps to smash, the Doctor pulls an Adric and sides with the villains. I had to chuckle at Bidmead's decision here.


Sarah -
The Doctor pretending Tegan was an android to protect her and the WTF look on Tegan's face were hysterical. "I got it cheap because the walk's not quite right. And then there's the accent, of course. But, when it's working well, it's very reliable. Keeping track of appointments, financial planning, word processing, that sort of thing."


Harry -
A hilarious kick that the story needed by this point. Tegan's face was priceless.

The Gravis totally falls for the Doctor's flattery and you can see the ending coming from a mile out. The Doctor has figured out the Tractators' modus operandi: they invade, infect and take control of entire planets, turning them into (ahem) "pirate planets" with which to cruise and plunder the universe. How brazen, Mr. Bidmead!


Sarah -
OMG, I hadn't made that connection. Douglas Adams should have called him out!


Harry -
Douglas Adams might have gotten around to it, eventually.

Meahwhile, Brazen, who ends up being a kind of goodie by the end, meets his doom by getting trapped inside the excavator machine, meeting the same ghoulish fate as Captain Revere. Everyone barely reacts. Savage!


Sarah -
Move along, colonists, there's nothing to see here...


Harry -
In keeping with his entire era, the Doctor naturally invites the Gravis into the TARDIS and bluffs him into using his powers to reassemble the ship.

ZAP! Right after that, the Gravis is rendered unconscious and our friends have won the day -- but not before a wonderful cutaway to Range and Norna chilling out and having a drink back at the research centre. It was so random, but I absolutely loved that quick scene.  A wonderful "Sofa of Rassilon" kind of moment.

Anyway, Gravis unconscious, dumped on an uninhabited planet, Tractators rendered harmless, and the Doctor has stopped the extinction of the human race, right under the noses of the Time Lords. Huzzah!

At first, I wasn't too wild about this one, but over the course of our review, I've come around to this thing called "Frontios". Well done Messrs Bidmead, Saward and JN-T!


Sarah -
It's a quite good story, isn't it?


Harry -
Yes!

Best Line:
Norna: "Nobody expects you to go back down there."
Turlough: "No, of course they don't. I'm Turlough."

Favourite Moment: the boozy cutaway to Range and Norna.

Lasting Image: the Tractators -- then, now, and probably years from now.

7/10


Sarah -
Best Line -- You stole mine! Nothing tops that moment.

Favorite Moment: The Tractators reveal.

Lasting Image: Turlough wielding the Coat Rack of Death!

7/10

Our marathon continues with Story #133: Resurrection of the Daleks...

Story #131 - The Awakening (1984)

Harry -
It's a Sofa of Rassilon milestone, Sarah! 

We have arrived at the midway point of our viewing marathon! Halfway through watching the entire Doctor Who series -- a series that has coloured and impacted our lives in myriad ways. This calls for drinks!


Sarah -
Halfway? Really? It's hard to believe that we'll have the Fifth Doctor wrapped up by the end of the year and will reach the current series in 2016. It's been a fun five years and I'm impressed that we're still chugging along.

So, what do you think of "The Awakening"? I have to admit I'm a bit of a sucker for a jaunty two-parter. I had forgotten that it was only two parts until it became clear that the story was wrapping up in episode two.


Harry -
It's a pleasant romp, quite literally. Everyone gets to romp around the village of Little Hodcombe, as a local English Civil War re-enactment goes way too far.

I felt anxious about watching this story again, because I always find Live Action Role Playing a bit unsettling. Some folks take it way too seriously, some folks don't know when to turn it off, and as is the case here, some folks make contact with a malevolent alien force and attempt to release its destructive powers, likely killing everyone in the village as a consequence. So that's why I've always declined your invites to LARP weekends, Sarah. You just never know.


Sarah -
Clearly my email had been hacked, as there's very little that I find more terrifying than historical-recreation LARPers! The American Civil War folks scare me the most. "Hey, remember that horrible civil war that resulted in the deaths of MORE THAN 600,000 Americans? Why don't we dress up and reenact it? That would be FUN!" The English Civil War was responsible for more than 200,000 deaths in England with more in Scotland and Ireland -- so, you know, fun. It's also a terribly impractical hobby. I happened to be at Gettysburg during Memorial Day weekend a few years ago and was horrified by the number of people walking around in 1860s garb. I have a great idea, Harry, on the next roasting summer day, let's put on wool and several layers of crinoline and walk around a cemetery. That would be FUN!

Those people are CRAZY.


Harry -
There's a Canadian movie that came out about five years ago that riffed on the dark side of LARPing, but I think we're agreed that LARPing is all dark. A little cosplay at Chicago TARDIS is fine, but acting out a persona for an extended period of time is not my thing.


Sarah -
As uncomfortable as it can be when a cosplayer refuses to break character -- I'm still haunted by the weeping angel at Chicago TARDIS a few year back -- there's a huge difference between dressing up as a fictional character and dressing up as cannon fodder. But, we digress. Back to Little Hodcombe.


Harry -
As for the Doctor and his friends, they are still blissfully unaware of what's ahead. They are just trying to get to England 1984 so that Tegan can visit her grandfather. As has been too often the case, the Doctor is having trouble piloting the TARDIS. Until we got to this part of our marathon, I had no recollection that "TARDIS on the blink" was an ongoing trope of the Davison era.


Sarah -
One of the things I love in this story is that Tegan's first reaction is to be annoyed with the Doctor for getting it wrong yet again -- and that it turns out he got it right and they're not actually in 1643.


Harry -
They land inside the crumbling ruins of an old abbey. Stepping outside, they run smack into Sir George's war games. Roundheads! Cavaliers! Run for it!


Sarah -
I love the opening scene in Little Hodcombe, when we meet schoolteacher Jane Hampden. The cutting between her searching the stables intercut with the charging horses is really effective. We're not used to so much action kicking off Doctor Who.


Harry -
Definitely a different kind of opening.  Wildly arresting stuff.


Sarah -
It's a good thing JN-T was a master of budget -- I can't imagine how he managed the horses. Back to Jane, her reaction to the LARPers is entirely appropriate -- run and hide! You get the sense that she's one of the few people in the village who have managed not fall under Sir George's spell.


Harry -
Her non-compliance is great. She wants nothing to do with these boys charging about brandishing swords and bellowing at people. It's all fun and games until someone turns an ankle.


Sarah -
She also becomes a now-familiar character in the Davison Era, that of a more mature, female pseudo-companion for the Doctor. Polly James is wonderful as the voice of reason in the middle of all this insanity.


Harry -
For a fast moving two-parter, she jumped right into that role when the Doctor and his friends got hauled into the 17th century period-accurate room in Colonel Wolsey's home. That's where Tegan learns that her grandfather has gone missing. None of the LARPers seem the least bit concerned, so Tegan rushes out in frustration. Turlough follows while the Doctor is held at the house at gunpoint.


Sarah -
Turlough runs after Tegan and they're eventually separated, giving each regular more time with this week's guest stars.


Harry -
From the moment he first appears, Sir George has an unhinged quality about him. He's gotten way too deep into his role as local magistrate, and is a genuinely frightening character. There's no telling how far he's going to take things. Luckily, the Doctor manages to dash away too. Separated from his friends, he returns to the church and meets an unlikely person: Will Chandler, a frightened villager plucked from the year 1643. Will is not the only one, as other apparitions appear to Tegan and Turlough. There was something about the silent, eerily lit 17th century apparitions that was just as unsettling as the maniac LARPers. There are a lot of freaky frightening moments in this story.


Sarah -
I really liked Will's character, but I wasn't entirely clear on how hiding in a priest hole in the 17th century led him to 1984.


Harry -
When ye wanna avoid the fightin', there be no be'er place than a priest hole.


Sarah -
Well, there is that. I suspect there's something timey-wimey to do with it.


Harry -
Turns out, Will is full of information. Knows all about the Malus, a great evil demon, the very thought of which gets him all frightened again. I like how the Doctor uses his affability to calm the lad. He calmed him so much that Will fell asleep.

Suddenly, one of the church walls starts growling and belching smoke. Chunks of stone and plaster fall away, and the Doctor's first impulse is to surge forward and stick his head in. Odd that.


Sarah -
His confidence likely sprung from the lack of LARPers in the vicinity. I have to say the Malus is really quite impressive, especially after the pantomime horse in "Warriors of the Deep".


Harry -
A terrifying sea monster, surely?  Well...


Sarah -
But here's the thing -- what is the Malus? Why is it in Little Hodcombe? What does it want? Is he responsible for the cosplay?


Harry -
Everyone in Little Hodcombe has an opinion of the Malus, but no one can really explain it until the Doctor decides what it is. In the meantime, the local space alien had become a demon of lore, sealed away under the church.


Sarah -
Perhaps the presence of the Malus would have been explained in episodes 3 and 4 -- along with a lot more running down corridors to fill the extra time.


Harry -
Not enough horse budget.

Limitations aside, letting us only see the Malus' slowly awakening face was effective. It glanced from side to side as if semi-conscious and uttered booming growls of a monstrosity coming to life. Its greatest power over the locals is that it feeds on the psychic energy they produce, so it telepathically urges Sir George to lead the war games -- and eventually to start slaughtering people to maximize the psychic energy and enable the Malus to break free.


Sarah -
It's probably a good thing we don't know more about the Malus' masterplan.


Harry -
Amid all this revelation, it turns out that Tegan's grandad -- Andrew Verney -- had most of it sorted out already, which is why Sir George had him locked away.


Sarah -
I liked Tegan's grandad. Pity we meet him so briefly.


Harry -
The Davison era is rare in that we meet so many of the companions' family members and they become part of their respective adventures (Tegan's grandad and aunt, Adric's brother & friends, Nyssa's father and step-mom). This won't happen again until the new series.


Sarah -
Good point. It's a huge departure for the companions.


Harry -
Because this is a two-parter, there's no space for filler and the plot bounces along. There's a brief episode where Tegan is imprisoned and forced into a May Queen costume. Presumably, she will be the first human to be sacrificed for the Malus. Colonel Wolsey however comes to his senses and realizes that the war games have crossed the line. He creates a dummy Queen and helps Tegan escape. This was a disturbing little episode, one that harkened to the "folk horror" films and shows of the 70s, where villagers or entire villages fell under the sway of evil beings right out of English lore.


Sarah -
That whole segment was really disturbing. Pity there weren't some Morris dancers about to save the day, a la "The Daemons".


Harry -
Eventually, all the threads lead back to the church and the Malus, which is trying to seize the TARDIS. The Doctor formulates a hasty plan and uses the TARDIS console to kill the apparition-Malus that was inside. Well, I'm not entirely sure what he did to it, but it fell to the floor and began oozing green stuff, which can't be good.


Sarah -
The apparition-Malus was so creepy -- even scarier than the giant head. The oozing didn't help, either.


Harry -
The real Malus is also affected, and the TARDIS escapes just before it explodes and takes the whole church down with it. Nice model work by the crew on that one. It must have been fun blowing the whole thing up at the end.


Sarah -
In one of the DVD featurettes, a local comments on how surprised they were to see their church explode when the story finally aired.

I just realized we've barely mentioned Turlough. He didn't have much to do in this story, did he?


Harry -
Yeah, Turlough got a holiday in this one. He just moved from one set to another without doing much.


Sarah -
So, there were are. The day is saved and it's time to drop everyone off in their appropriate time and place, but not before the Doctor is persuaded to spend a bit more time in Little Hodcombe so Tegan can visit with her grandad. It's hard to imagine how Will will return to the 17th century after this experience, but apparently that's where he's headed, so we can get on to our next adventure.


Harry -
Back to the priest hole, in case there be more o' the fightin'!

I didn't have good or bad memories of this story, but was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it. The madness of Sir George went a long way in making this one very unsettling. As we discussed above, something about war games gone too far makes me anxious, and this is the only Davison story so far to have that effect. I'm going to give this one a high mark.


Sarah -
It was a fun story to rewatch. One of my favorite things about our marathon is the chance to revisit stories like "The Awakening", which we might not think about as we rush to rewatch "Genesis of the Daleks" for the 54th time!

Best Line:
Hutchinson: "You speak treason."
The Doctor: "Fluently!"

Favorite Moment: Tegan assuming the Doctor has brought her to the right place in the wrong time...again.

Lasting Image: The Malus head

6/10


Harry -
Best Line:
Turlough: "We're running out of places to run."
Tegan: "The story of our lives."

Favourite Moment: the church blows up.

Lasting Image: Sir George's maniacal face

8/10

Our marathon continues with Story #132: Frontios...