Story #144 - Time and the Rani (1987)

Harry -
Welcome to the (late) 1980s!


Sarah -
What a time to be alive!


Harry -
After the turmoil of the Colin Baker era, JN-T launched a total renewal of Doctor Who: new opening, new theme music, new script editor, new Doctor, new everything!


Sarah -
I have such fond memories of the Sylvester McCoy era. I was in college at the time and Doctor Who was comfort viewing when my class schedule was overwhelming.


Harry -
On the flipside, these were my turbulent high school years, filled with all the thrills, dramas and meltdowns of the average teenager. That left little time for Doctor Who, and it wasn't until the 90s before I caught up with the Sylvester McCoy era.

But here we are now, watching it together again. And we kick off this exciting new age with... a story by Pip and Jane Baker?


Sarah -
Good old Pip and Jane. They're on the commentary track and spend a lot of time explaining how they wanted things to go and who changed what in their script.


Harry -
They never come off as bitter or angry at anyone, which is very nice of them.


Sarah -
It really is. Fandom needs to cut them some slack.

We leap straight into the regeneration with a cold open. Colin Baker, not unreasonably, was not keen on coming back to the series that had kicked him to the curb, which leads to the most anti-climactic regeneration in Doctor Who history. The Doctor (McCoy in a blond wig) and Mel are tossed about the TARDIS, which is being assaulted and caught in a tractor beam. They both are knocked out and the regeneration begins. By the time our old pal the Rani enters the TARDIS, the regeneration is complete and the Seventh Doctor Era has begun.


Harry -
Worst regeneration ever, but forced by circumstances. What can you do?


Sarah -
Make the best of what you've got and move along...


Harry -
The Rani, cold and steely as ever, has plotted to kidnap the Doctor, not out of sentimental reasons but because she needs his mind. She has been snatching geniuses out of history and storing them in her new base on the planet Lakertya. There, she has been busy at work building a time manipulator with which she could rule huge swathes of time and space. She also has a gigantic pet brain helping her along, and it's hungry for knowledge, but that's her secret for now.


Sarah -
The Rani didn't count on the Doctor being in a regeneration crisis when she kidnapped him. His confusion both aids and inhibits her cunning plan. She disguises herself as Mel and leads the Doctor to help her with her scheme. I love Kate O'Mara's Bonnie Langford impression -- she looks like she's having so much fun! She also ends up looking a lot like Lucille Ball and is about three feet taller than Bonnie, so that regeneration crisis comes in handy. Unfortunately, it also means she has keep redirecting him through the process.


Harry -
The Rani's impersonation of Mel was hilarious! She captured her energetic walk and bouncy movements perfectly. Hopefully Bonnie took it in stride.


Sarah -
In the commentary, Langford talked about how much she loved it.

What do you think of Sylvester McCoy's post-regeneration scenes?


Harry -
He's so out of it at first, then he spots the Rani and goes almost manic as he leaps-into- action-to-stop-her-doing-whatever-she's-doing-because-they-go-way-back-and-he-knows- her-so-well... and then she plunks him with an amnesia drug. He spends the next little while in a state of befuddlement. Aided by "Mel's" guidance, he helps the Rani get her project back on track while spouting out garbled sayings. I was worried that "garbled sayings" was going to be one of this new Doctor's character traits, but they fell away shortly after the amnesia drug wore off.

I liked the scene where he was reunited with the real Mel and they felt each other's pulses to verify their identities.


Sarah -
I love when they meet and neither believes who the other says they are! Checking their pulses is brilliant -- as Mel flipping the Doctor!

I wrote this exchange in my notes because it struck me as a bit of a dig at the previous occupant: 

RANI: Yes, you've changed outwardly. But I'm sure you must still have the same sweet nature. 

DOCTOR: Perhaps this is my new persona. Sulky, bad-tempered. I mean, think how I spoke to you earlier.


Harry -
Doctor Who is all about digs at the past, haha!

Before we jump too far ahead, we see that the Rani has also suppressed and exploited the stereotypically stoic natives of Lakertya. For all their colourful appearance, they are a generally subdued people, terrorized and kept in line by the Tetraps, the Rani's giant anthropoid bat monsters. Early in the story, we see one of the Lakertians -- Sarn -- fall victim to one of the land mine/air bubble booby traps that the Rani has hidden seemingly everywhere. It's quite an elaborate thing, a step up from just converting the victim into a tree. After her air bubble explodes against a rocky outcrop, Sarn's skeletal remains fall to the ground, where several characters observe them sadly. That had to be the saddest skeleton in all of Doctor Who.


Sarah -
The moment when Sarn's mother learns of her death is heartbreaking.


Harry -
Sarn was the sister of Ikona, one of the other Lakertians who informs Mel about what's been happening on their planet. It was a bit morbid that we had to keep seeing the skeleton lying there. So sad.


Sarah -
I like the Lakertians look, but they seem quite out of place in a quarry setting.


Harry -
Ikona is one of Doctor Who's most handsome aliens.  Just saying.  

The Doctor, still under the Rani's influence, returns to the TARDIS to ditch his old costume. "The new Doctor tries on new clothes" is always a fun moment in the show. Sylvester goes through a run of Napoleon, 4th Doctor, 3rd Doctor and 5th Doctor outfits before emerging from beneath Patrick Troughton's fur coat in his new, professorial kit. After the Colin Baker debacle, anything would have been an improvement. I like this look. It's toned down, but there are still plenty of eccentricities throughout to make it unmistakeably Doctory.


Sarah -
You are far too modest to mention how well you rocked that look at Chicago TARDIS a few years ago, so I'll take care of that for you! I always love the TARDIS wardrobe scenes. The image of Syl in Tom Baker's coat is a particular favorite. And then another dig: "Ah, thank goodness in this regeneration I've regained my impeccable sense of haute couture." Poor Colin.


Harry -
Syl was practically drowning in Tom Baker's clothes. And thank you by the way! I'll have to get more mileage out of my 7th Doctor costume at a future Chicago TARDIS. 

Back outside (that was a fantastic quarry set by the way), Mel is spotted and pursued by one of the Tetraps. She trips up one of the Rani's traps and is captured in an air bubble. Oh my goodness, the screaming. So much screaming.


Sarah -
On the commentary, Bonnie Langford mentions that she went on a carnival ride with JN-T on which she screamed and screamed. Apparently, that inspired him to get her to scream as much as possible. Really, the scream is the biggest strike against Mel's character. She's so wonderful, but all anyone seems to remember is the screaming. Poor Mel.


Harry -
I hadn't heard the carnival ride story before. It is unfortunate that JN-T seized upon that and told Bonnie to run with it. Mel's extreme reactions when frightened harken back to the melodramatic, back-of-the-hand-on-the-forehead swooning maidens of early cinema.


Sarah -
She's so level-headed when not screaming. It's jarring.


Harry -
Luckily, Mel's air bubble lands in a pool of water and Ikona is able to dismantle it and free her. Just in time for the Tetrap to dive at her again. And cue the screaming!


Sarah -
Oy!


Harry -
The Doctor finally gets back to his new-old self and recognizes the true Rani again. He steals her microthermistor, flees her lair, and escapes a close encounter in the Tetrap hive before meeting up with Ikona. 

One of the things that I marvel at in this story is how, despite all the running around a quarry, crawling in and out of hiding places and being menaced, captured and carried around by a tetrap, Mel's clothing remains immaculate. Even the soles of her white sneakers are spotless in every take!


Sarah -
I'm pretty sure the TARDIS takes care of that.


Harry -
The Rani uses a holographic Mel to swindle the microthermistor back from the Doctor, who has to do a lot of running around in that quarry as well. During these running scenes, the music by newly-hired composer Keff McCulloch was really in your face. A lot of the scores in the Seventh Doctor era will include this kind of quick tempo chase music that almost sounds like it's being played on fast forward.


Sarah -
I'm not a huge fan of the the music in this story, which I found extremely distracting.


Harry -
The next three seasons of Doctor Who may try your patience.


Sarah -
Believe me, I'm counting on it!


Harry -
By the time we get to part four, the Bakers have settled into a comfortable Who-by-Numbers approach. The Doctor repeatedly escapes and throws some spanners into the works before being captured again. He stirs up rebellion amongst the locals. The Rani betrays her Tetrap henchmen, who overhear of the betrayal and eventually relish in a spot of revenge. Mel screams. The sombre locals recapture the purity of their ways. The Doctor spits out a few last garbled sayings before going on his way.


Sarah -
It's definitely a template Doctor Who story, but I don't think that's a bad thing -- especially in this situation. The series and its fans have just been horribly abused by the BBC and we need a bit of reassurance that this is the Doctor Who we know and love.


Harry -
I do like the Rani's utterly unrepentant nature. After her plans have been foiled by the Doctor, she storms back to her TARDIS and flies off to start again somewhere. Cold and steely as always, she couldn't be arsed with hunting him for revenge. She has bigger aims to achieve.


Sarah -
I really love the Rani's two appearances in Doctor Who. It's a pity we won't see her again. (I'm not counting "Dimensions in Time".) Kate O'Mara will always have a special place in Doctor Who history.


Harry -
This was JN-T's third crack at a post-regeneration story. It was nowhere near as good as "Castrovalva", but definitely better than "The Twin Dilemma". I found there were maybe too many flashy new things thrown into it all at once. We still haven't been given any inkling about how or when the Doctor met up with Mel (and we won't, not on telly anyway).


Sarah -
Maybe the story is telling us it's time to look to the future and move along to our next story. Shall we?


Harry -
Yeah.  I don't like being too hard on post-regeneration stories because everyone is still feeling their way around.


Sarah -
Best Line: 
Mel: "Well, they kidnapped the Doctor, and no one would do that unless they were desperate for his help. He's not exactly predictable."

Favorite Moment: Mel and the Doctor checking each other's pulses.

Lasting Image: The Rani disguised as Mel.

6/10


Harry -
Best Line: "You don't understand regeneration, Mel. It's a lottery, and I've drawn the short plank."

Favourite Moment: the Rani bouncing around as Mel.

Lasting Image: Ikona the handsome Lakertian.

5/10

 



Our marathon continues with Story #145: Paradise Towers...

The Colin Baker Era - Final Thoughts

Harry -
Poor Colin!


Sarah -
Poor, poor Colin.


Harry -
He came into the role dreaming of surpassing Tom Baker in longevity and success, but when he was unceremoniously dumped by JN-T after "The Trial of a Time Lord", he became the shortest-serving Doctor ever (at the time).


Sarah -
Talk about dashed hopes! Poor Colin was the victim of forces far beyond his control.


Harry -
Right place, wrong time. Looking back on his era, it was a maelstrom. The change that the Doctor heralded at the end of "The Caves of Androzani" turned out to be mostly unwelcome. Nastily violent stories, bickering leads, terrible costumes, and a general sense that things just weren't right anymore. The Doctor was still the Doctor, but his larger-than-life brashness took some getting used to. Thirty years later, with the help of Big Finish, I think I've finally gotten used to it.


Sarah -
I stuck with the series through the Sixth Doctor era. Of course, the way Doctor Who ran on WTTW, I always knew it would only be a matter of weeks before we found ourselves back in the Third or Fourth Doctor era, so it was easy to hang in there. 

I will not lie, Colin Baker was a bit jarring, especially after affable Peter Davison. My then deep dislike of Peri did not help at all. And that costume! It was like chopsticks to the eyes. 

This time out, I found myself more open to this Doctor and really enjoyed Colin's performance -- even when the scripts were bunk.


Harry -
Being prepared for the horrors makes them more tolerable.


Sarah -
Good point.


Harry -
JN-T certainly laid out a first season that might have rivalled Tom Baker's. Cybermen, Sontarans, Daleks, The Master, the Second Doctor -- all bums-in-seats stuff. We also met Sil and the Rani for the first time. Plenty of big name attractions to go around, but the stories themselves didn't really live up to their billing. A fault of the writers, or the script editor, or the behind-the-scenes difficulties at the time? Probably a combination of those things.


Sarah -
There's plenty of blame to go around.


Harry -
On to the Trial of a Time Lord season, where the show was literally hanging on and art imitated life. The Doctor survived, but Colin didn't. He and Nicola Bryant have gone on to become great ambassadors for the show and have provided lots more entertainment via the audio adventures.


Sarah -
If I remember correctly, it took a couple years to finally get "The Trial of a Time Lord" in Chicago. It had been long enough since I'd seen any Sixth Doctor stories that I remember being delightfully surprised by Trial of a Time Lord. So I guess Colin went out on a high note for me. Of course, I had no idea what had gone on behind the scenes.


Harry -
Lasting just over two seasons, it's hard to point to anything about this era that left a lasting imprint on the show, other than (regretably) what not to do with Doctor Who.

Sarah, can you find a bright light in all of this?


Sarah -
A bright light is asking for a lot, but I'm glad we rewatched these stories. I have a soft spot for Colin and Nicola these days -- and not just because Colin once asked if my daughter and I were sisters. That rascal!


Harry -
He's charming in person and always larger-than-life, whether you like it or not!


Sarah -
And, of course, we'll always have Big Finish!


Harry -
Very happy for that!


Sarah -
I'll always be grateful they finally gave Colin Baker the stories he deserves.


Harry -
After the 1985 hiatus, the BBC hacked down the number of Doctor Who episodes, leaving the production team with just 14 episodes to tell the entire 1986 season. The classic era would be limited to this allotment the rest of the way. JN-T decided it was time to refresh the series with a new Doctor, new script editor, new writers and hopefully a new direction. Are you ready for the Sylvester McCoy era?


Sarah -
I have mostly happy memories of the Seventh Doctor's era and I'm ready to go!

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

Harry -
I'm angry.


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


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

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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


Harry -
It is!


Sarah -
Of course!


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


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

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


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


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


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

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

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


Sarah -
Seriously! 

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


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

*pauses for breath*


Sarah -
Preach it, Brother!


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


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


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


Sarah -
Moving along...


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


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

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


Harry -
To Bob.


Sarah -
To Bob.


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


Sarah -
And here ends our Colin cliffhanger closeup count.


Harry -
What a run!

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


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


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


Sarah -
The Valeyard is cosplaying Geoffrey Hughes!

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

Mel: How utterly evil.
Glitz: Thank you.


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


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


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


Sarah -
Hooray!


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


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


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


Sarah -
Can you even imagine? Fandom would explode.


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


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


Harry -
I still love it though.

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

Favourite Moment: The Master appearing on the courtroom screen.

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

5/10


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

Favorite Moment: The Master appearing on the courtroom screen.

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

6/10

 




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

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

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

Genocide! 

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


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

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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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

Someone even created a video mockup:

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


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

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


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


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

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


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


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


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


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

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

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


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

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


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


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

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


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


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


Harry -
Wew!

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


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


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

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


Sarah -
Retirement could have only been a better option.


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


Sarah -
What's a Time Lord to do?


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


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


Harry -
Genocide!


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


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


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

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

Favorite Moment: The Doctor on his exercise bike.

Lasting Image: Massive, Walking Vulvas.

4/10


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

INQUISITOR: You refer to Article seven of Gallifreyan law? 

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

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

Favourite Moment: The Vervoids' death scene.

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

5/10

 



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