Meglos

I have often said that many Doctor Who stories regarded as failures have nothing wrong with the basic storyline. Meglos, however, is the story of the Doctor being summoned to help an old friend, but is impersonated by a cactus along the way. If you haven't seen this story before, you did not read that wrong. The script is somewhat better than this storyline would indicate- it considers questions about science and religion and has some nice dialogue. but it contains vague explanations- we never find out what exactly what Meglos is or what his aims are; we never find out anything about the Dodecahedron, apart from the fact that it is a source of great power. Even the ending is undercooked- the Doctor came to help with the Dodecahedron, but he destroys it in the end and the Tigellan's accept (in an implausibly laid back way) that they must live on the surface- despite the fact that the Savants have lost their power source and the Deons the totem of their God, they seem to take this massive cultural upheaval very well. Characterisation is rather basic and there is an even more serious script problem which I will discuss later.

Visually, the story has its strengths, most notably the 'scene-synch' variation of CSO. This process is unique to this story which probably makes it look more striking than it actually is, but the results are impressive, especially in episode 1, where the long shots mask the tell-tale CSO fringing (it was, perhaps, unwise to begin the shot with a close up of a planet in the sky, with the string holding it up all too visible). The sets are well-designed and atmospherically lit, with the exception of the Tigellan jungle, with plants that look as if they are pantomime props. Only Meglos itself is convincing amongst the phyto-bestiary- it helps, of course, that cacti naturally look like Doctor Who monsters anyway! Terence Dudley's direction is not as striking as in other stories in the season, but his skill is evident when one considers the padding in the story. This is a very short adventure, but it is clear that the script was much too short- reprises are long and there is no need to show the time loop in so much detail. However Dudley manages to rescue it.

The regulars put in excellent performances, with Tom Baker relishing playing a villain (his cactus make-up is very good, incidentally). Of the guest appearances, we welcome back Jacqueline Hill with the greatest of pleasure and she gives the best guest performance of the lot (her death, incidentally, is not particularly essential to the plot and is badly executed) Bill Fraser and Frederick Treves are fun as Grugger and Brotodac but none of the other performances rise above adequate.

This is perfectly acceptable Doctor Who- it is a pity it cannot be something more.

NEXT: Full Circle