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...
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