The Caves of Androzani

Well, I’m not going to say it’s bad, am I?

But seriously, The Caves of Androzani is one of the rare stories where absolutely everything comes together perfectly. The core is, of course, the script by Robert Holmes, which has fantastic dialogue and memorable scenes. Even the most minor character is well written. The most amazing thing about it is that it has all the quality of the best Holmes scripts of the Tom Baker era, but does not, in any way, feel like a throwback- in fact it feels like the epitome of all that was great about the JNT era. It takes the most troubling aspect of Saward scripts- the lack of attention paid to the Doctor- and subverts it brilliantly. The Doctor is only concerned with finding a cure for Peri’s spectrox toxæmia and is not overly concerned about the power struggles and corruption of Androzani Major. However, he has significant face time with all of the protagonists and it is his presence which leads to the climactic changes. I would call his presence a catalyst, but, of course, the Doctor doesn’t emerge unchanged…

However, the great script is only the beginning of this story’s greatness. This is the debut story for Graeme Harper as a director and, with due doffing of caps to the oeuvre of David Maloney and Douglas Camfield, this is the finest directorial work the programme ever saw in the 20th Century. Technically, Harper doesn’t put a foot wrong, effortlessly combining ‘modern’ techniques (hand-held, graduated zooms etc.) with ancient techniques (the slow cross-fade, which went out of fashion on the 60s). The ‘cinematography’ is first rate, with both shallow and deep field lenses being used perfectly, and the lighting is perfect, far more atmospheric and artistic than any of the glossy 80s American dramas shot on 35mm film. Other adventurous directors had attempted ambitious cinematic techniques, but came up against the limits of videotape- here, the fact that it is on video doesn’t matter.

One of the signs of a great director is the effectiveness of the cast and the guest performances are truly spectacular. Christopher Gable is masterful as the demented Sharaz Jek- a homicidal madman who is, remarkably, the most sympathetic supporting character. There is a simple, yet remarkable shot where Peri, on the verge of death, is in Jek’s power. The camera follows his hand as it goes down her body- to hold her hand to comfort her. It says so much about Jek’s character, and our perception of him in less than 5 seconds. John Normington is equally good as the vile Morgus. Morgus, brilliantly, performs asides to the camera, a bold move that could have so easily derailed the story- but in Normington and Harper’s hands, it is a masterstroke. Maurice Roëves makes Stotz far more interesting than the usual henchman- and his henchman, Krelper, is also interesting to watch. Harper’s mastery in directing actors is exemplified in the masterful ‘he knows that I know’ scenes between Morgus and the President.

Despite this embarrassment of thespian talent, there is one performance that towers over all- the final regular performance of Peter Davison as the Doctor. Nowhere before has the Doctor’s character been so thoroughly explored in the performance of the leading man- it is the best performance a leading actor has ever given in the role, perhaps the best performance by the actor playing the Doctor full-stop- the only other possible contender would not arrive till over two decades later. Davison’s excellence rubs off on Nicola Bryant, who gives one of the best ‘companion’ performances of all time. The regeneration scene is wonderful, topping the brilliant Logopolis sequence and giving the new Doctor post-regenerative lines for the first time.

There are no real flaws in the story- even the Magma Beast is actually rather good (look at the detail on the costume) and would have not been remarked on had it turned up in a lesser story. The Caves of Androzani is a triumph- there were better scripts in the Davison era (Kinda springs to mind) but few other stories succeeded on every level, certainly none to the same extent as this one. The Caves of Androzani is not only one of the best Doctor Who stories of all time, it is fair to say that no piece of telefantasy approached its level until Joss Whedon revisited a half-baked B-movie he had written.

NEXT: The Twin Dilemma