Harry -
The Doctor and Peri visit a planet held in rapture by reality TV, and it's not Earth.
Sarah -
How prescient! The opening shot looked like something from a David Bowie video -- the rebel Jondar chained to a torture device for the pleasure of the viewing public. For our benefit, the viewing public is personified by Arak and Etta, played by the delightful Stephen Yardley and Sheila Reid.
Harry -
It turns out they are on Varos, what appears to be a bleak looking mining planet. Arak and Etta are residents inside a colony of domes, and their society is one in which cruel brutalities are broadcast for entertainment. It has become so commonplace that even Jondar's torture bores them.
"When did they last show something worth watching, eh? When did we last see a decent execution?" Arak asks.
Etta seems to agree, but they keep watching since there isn't much else to do.
Sarah -
Times are tough on Varos.
Harry -
This is now our third Colin Baker story. With each one, the writers and production team have taken the Doctor-Peri bickerings down a notch. Here, their relationship appears to be no more rocky than the Doctor had with Tegan. No cruel remarks, no shouting. Even when the TARDIS appears to stall in the middle of a void in space, they barely raise their voices.
Sarah -
No one is getting strangled, so that's a plus.
Harry -
It is. I do wonder about Peri's rotation of bright, monochrome pastel outfits. Was it something to do with Nicola having to be dressed at the same level of colour as Colin, for technical or lighting purposes? Am I creating false memories? That seems to be the kind of day I'm having Sarah.
Sarah -
I know it's fashionable to slag 80s fashion, but I can assure you that my friends and I endlessly mocked Peri's wardrobe when these stories were first broadcast. I'm pretty sure they contributed to my negative impression of her at the time. Pleated shorts don't look good on anyone -- and those bodysuits! Could they scream, "LOOK AT PERI'S BOOBS," any louder. Poor Nicola. I just want to rescue her from those clothes!
Harry -
The Doctor and Peri might be a little too subdued at the start of this story. After the TARDIS stalls in midflight, the Doctor resigns himself to the possibility of drifting aimlessly in space for the remainder of his regenerations. He's even envious that Peri would be dead at the end of just one lifetime. He really has needed those cue cards for a long, long time.
Sarah -
Is this how Time Lords have a mid-life crisis? Considering the number of times the TARDIS has broken down, it's an odd reaction to just sit down in a (very colorful) chair and sulk.
Harry -
Odd how that chair appeared out of nowhere. For now, we leave our friends hanging around the console room while Philip Martin shows us more of the ways of life on Varos.
We meet a lot of characters in a short time. There's Arak and Etta of course, and we find them preparing to cast their votes on the Governor's latest personal plebiscite. The Governor has gone before the people to ask their support for his proposal to take a tougher negotiating stance with the mining corporation that seeks the zeiton-7 ore that is found only on Varos. What the public is not aware of is that Galatron Mining's representative is a vile, aggressive and relentlessly ambitious creature named Sil -- a kind of dwarf reptilian merman thing played brilliantly by Nabil Shaban.
Sarah -
SIL! I've been eagerly anticipating this story for Sil alone. He's the most memorable new character of the Sixth Doctor Era and Nabil Shaban's over-the-top performance is absolutely brilliant.
Harry -
In exchange for his duplicity against the Governor, Sil has been making secret payoffs to the Chief Security Officer of Varos (played by Forbes Collins, another familiar face from 80s telly). While the Governor is trying to negotiate for the benefit of Varosians, his own government apparatus is undermining him.
The Governor is defeated in the plebiscite and subjected to a blast from a cell disintegrator -- the ultimate recall mechanism. Never mind recall him, it almost kills him.
Sarah -
I really like Martin Jarvis' performance as the Governor. He projects the air of exhausted competence of a man who didn't want this job, but is going to do the best he can.
Harry -
He just wants to survive to the next day, and then the next. Meanwhile, he also oversees the expansion of Varos' secondary economy: producing "entertainments" (a more comfortable word for snuff films) for distribution across the galaxy. A bleak and nasty place is Varos.
Sarah -
This really is a grim premise for a family-oriented TV series.
Hey wait, did you say Varos is the source of zeiton-7? Why that's just the thing the Doctor needs to get the TARDIS back in tip-top shape! What do you think the chance of the TARDIS materializing right in the middle of this?
Harry -
Terribly convenient! Surely Jondar felt so, as the Doctor and Peri's arrival prevented his execution and helped him escape. Jondar was one of Jason Connery's earliest roles and he's gone on to enjoy a career in film and telly, but he seemed pretty soft spoken and unassertive for a rebel leader here. Then again, Colin Baker is so larger-than-life as the Doctor that everyone is dwarfed beside him.
Sarah -
It seems to have been Connery's first major role, just before he took over the lead role in Robin of Sherwood from Michael Praed. I was a huge fan of the series, but lost interest when Connery replaced Praed. Unfortunately, he's not much better in this.
Harry -
One of Jondar's discoveries, which led him to rebel, was the realization that Varos began as a prison planet and that its ruling structure has always been that of jailers and prisoners. Look at Etta and Arak's place -- they live in a cell. And look at all the preventative measures in place to keep people from escaping the dome: torture chambers, hallucination rooms, acid pits, poisoned tendrils. Wildly creative stuff, and all tools of confinement on Varos. And let's not forget the golf cart of death!
Sarah -
Not the golf cart of death! I suspect the guards could have arrived a lot faster on foot, at a light, rambling pace.
Harry -
The Doctor, Peri, Jondar and his wife Areta are pursued through various corridors before getting split up. Jondar and Areta are recaptured by Varosian security. Peri is also caught and taken to security HQ for interrogation. The Doctor gets caught in one of the hallucination rooms, and is made to imagine himself dying of thirst. All caught on camera, of course, as the Governor and his minions watch onscreen. It's a nice buildup to the cliffhanger. The Governor gives cinematic direction, telling a crew person to zoom in on the Doctor's dead face before abruptly cutting to black, as Sil's evil laughter rings out in the background.
Another good first episode. It took too long for the Doctor and Peri to get into the action, but once they did the ride really kicked into high gear, even higher than the golf cart of death seemed capable of. I'd give it 7/10.
Sarah -
It's a strong first episode.
The second episode doubles down on the horrors of Varos. The Doctor, of course, has survived his ordeal and wakes up just before he's about to be chucked into an acid bath. He startles the guards and one of them is knocked into the acid bath, pulling his colleague in after him. The Doctor strolls out, quipping, "You'll forgive me if I don't join you." This scene really bothered me. The Doctor has faced situations like this before, but his response seems particularly callous. The Doctor has killed before, but it hasn't been without remorse or soul searching. I imagine another Doctor at least trying to prevent the second guard falling into the acid bath. Am I being overly sensitive?
Harry -
I was not wild about the acid bath deaths either. The victims were just a couple of anonymous labourers, not even proper baddies like the Security Chief, or even someone like Bax, the eternally glum middle manager. Not sure why I noticed Bax so much. Throughout the story he shuffled from one thankless task to another, perhaps dreaming of his chance to be chief or governor someday.
Sarah -
Until he loses one vote too many.
Harry -
Hauled before the Varosian high command, Peri refuses to speak. Well, she attempts to, but the impossibility of TARDIS travel makes her hesitate. I liked her reaction to Sil. Instead of screaming in terror (that will be the next companion), she gave him a couple of baffled glances and decided he was "that thing".
Sarah -
Peri has become a seasoned time traveler, it seems. She's kind of awesome in this story.
Harry -
The Governor takes Peri aside for a quiet conversation. In keeping with the nature of the place, it turns dark.
GOVERNOR: What's the matter? Oh, you grieve for his death. I forget that people do.
PERI: You don't?
GOVERNOR: I did once, but now death is my only friend, my constant and loving companion. Can you feel his, his cold presence?
PERI: I don't want to, thanks.
Sarah -
Varos has to be one of the worst places the Doctor has ever visited. It makes Skaro feel like a laugh riot.
Harry -
Impatient with her stalling, and having learned of the Doctor's escape, Sil and the security chief decide to send Peri to the reshapement chamber, yet another horror concocted by the rulers of Varos. Operated by the masked scientist, Quillam, the reshapement chamber bombards and mutates living cells. Subjects are liable to transform into birds or animals. It's so random, and utterly bizarre.
Sarah -
What the what was with that. Totally creepy and pointless.
Harry -
Quillam could not be more panto either. I really didn't like that portrayal.
Sarah -
Sil and his lackey The Chief force the Governor into a final vote, which he's doomed to lose. Fortunately, the Governor's grim speech has moved the heart of Maldak, the guard assigned to carry out the execution of the Governor and Peri.
Harry -
He's the second officer in this story to let his humanity win out over the regime. Things were so in flux at the top it's no wonder so many people down the line didn't blindly obey all commands.
Sarah -
The three of them escape to find the Doctor, who is evading some cannibals by running through a forest of poisonous tendrils.
Harry -
We've all been there.
Sarah -
The Doctor and co. escape, but the Chief is not so lucky. Sure. Whatever. They're dispatched. Move along.
Harry -
Kind of a cheap escape, but at least they fell to one of their own horrible traps.
Sarah -
Meanwhile, a second source of zeiton-7 has been found and Sil is ordered to obtain the Varosian ore at any price.
Harry -
Sil's climactic meltdown was delicious, but I really was done with him and everyone else on Varos by this point.
Sarah -
This convenient deus ex machina allows the the Doctor and Peri said adios to Varos, taking all the zeiton-7 they need. I hate this ending. How lazy can a story be?
Harry -
There were suggestions that things were about to change for the good on Varos, but we'll never see how much or for how long.
Sarah -
The final shot is of the true stars of the story -- Arak and Etta wondering what they'll do with their new-found freedom.
Harry -
It was funny, but also kind of sad. I'd forgotten how dark this story was -- even though it felt like Bob Holmes story with its great characterizations, world building and social commentaries.
For all the misery we had to see, I did appreciate that Philip Martin made the effort to build a place in which we could immerse ourselves and a group of people we could get to know, even getting some snippets of character development along the way. However, I'm kind of glad to be moving along.
Sarah -
Best Line:
Etta : "It's all changed. We're free."
Arak : "Are we?"
Etta : "Yes."
Arak : "What shall we do?"
Etta : "Dunno."
Favorite Moment: Anytime Etta and Arak are on screen.
Lasting Image: SIL!
5/10
Harry -
Best Line: I had to laugh when Sil exploded and called Peri a "LYING LIAR!".
Favourite Moment: the dramatic yet unhurried golf cart chase.
Lasting Image: the Governor addressing the people of Varos.
I gave part two a 7, so Vengeance on Varos gets an overall score of:
7/10
Our marathon continues with Story #139 - The Mark of the Rani...
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