Planet of Fire

One of the problems Planet of Fire comes up against is the sheer number of things it has to incorporate on top of the story. Turlough’s origins are explained, before he is written out. Kamelion, too, makes an exit. Peri is introduced and the Master makes a comeback. The story itself is straightforward and unspectacular. The inhabitants of the highly volcanic planet Sarn worship the God Logar, but while Logar might have a mundane explanation, there is real power on Sarn, a power that the Master is keen to exploit. This is tied in with the fate of Turlough’s father, who may have crash-landed on Sarn a generation ago. As a script, Planet of Fire doesn’t do things that other stories haven’t done before. There is a religion that is based on a technological power (like in The Face of Evil). The Master has come to a planet to heal himself (The Deadly Assassin/ The Keeper of Traken). However, if the story is somewhat unoriginal, the script is competently written, if not as tight as it could be- the Numismaton gas concept could have been more securely tied in with the story, for example.

However, the story’s realisation is very impressive and Fiona Cumming puts in good work in the director’s chair. The location filming in Lanzarote is excellent, although it was, perhaps, unwise to make Lanzarote represent both itself and Sarn- the Canary Islands are a very popular tourist destination and Lanzarote’s volcanic plains are very recognisable. The studio scenes are also atmospheric and work well with the filmed segments. The presentation of the Master/Kamelion is suitably disorientating to have a real effect.

Characterisation is not the story’s strong point and most of the guest characters are forgettable. However, we have a truly outstanding performance by Peter Wyngarde as Timanov, who gives the character a real sense of dignity, despite his delusion. Nicola Bryant is instantly memorable as the sparky Peri, although her American accent is variable (the scene where she has to share dialogue with Dallas Adams must be excruciating for an American viewer!) We are also finally given an explanation for the mysteries behind Turlough’s character before he leaves. Turlough was hardly the most consistently written character, but Mark Strickson always gave an excellent performance and it is sad to see him go. The spectacular misfire that was Kamelion’s character is also written out in only his second appearance. Kamelion is effective in this story (mainly because the static robot prop is hardly used) but his removal is welcome. The Doctor isn’t as fully written as he usually is (outside Eric Saward scripts) but Davison fills in the gaps with his usual professionalism.

Planet of Fire is well made, though hardly essential, Doctor Who. In a considerable reformatting of the character dynamics, the Doctor is back to having a single companion- but more changes are to come…

NEXT: The Caves of Androzani

Enlightenment

Enlightenment has at its core a simple image- a sailing ship gliding through space. This hugely evocative image is immediately appealing in its own right, but this story takes that image and runs away with it. Barbara Clegg turns it into a race between immensely powerful beings called Eternals, who exist outside time and space. The Eternals, however, lack creativity, dependent on ‘ephemerals’ for ideas, perhaps even intelligence itself. This is best shown in the ambiguities of the character Marriner- is he galvanized by her personality or is he, indeed, in love with Tegan? The guest cast do excellent work with these characters. Marriner is beautifully played by Christopher Brown, and Keith Barron plays Captain Striker with an eerie sense of detachment that is absolutely perfect. Lynda Baron’s performance as Wrack is hugely entertaining, while actually staying the right side of OTT. The only performance that isn’t first rate is Leee John. Hee tries to bee intense, but only suceeeds in beeing very camp- although the fact that hee is placed in the foreground for the Wheeelhouse sceenes for non-speeaking shots tends to reflect badly on him- it takes a very good actor to not look stupid when hee is placed in such a situation and hee was not a professional actor.

The story is beautifully realised, with sumptuous costuming and great sets- the design work is very carefully modulated so that we can see the contrasts between the different ships and crews without them clashing. Fiona Cumming is great in the director’s chair, setting up interesting compositions and it is probably due to her talent that Leee John remains watchable. There are many memorable scenes apart from the ships, such as the message from the White Guardian, the first appearance of Marriner (which starts off being very eerie and then becomes funny) and Wrack channelling the Black Guardian’s power. The lighting is superb throughout and the special effects beautiful, if not exactly state-of-the-art. Even the music (by Malcolm Clarke) is worthy of special praise.

This brings the Black Guardian Trilogy to an end. As an arc it was a rather weak one, so it is good that the stories had so much else to recommend them. The final scene has all the threads coming to a head, with Turlough making a final decision as to which side he’s on. The relationship between the Doctor and Turlough is very interesting; at the beginning, the Doctor all-but tells Turlough that he doesn’t fully trust him, and the end is unclear as to if the Doctor knew of Turlough’s bargain. Tegan’s interplay with Marriner is excellently performed- indeed this is very strong material for Strickson and Fielding and the companions come off almost as well as the Doctor. Almost, but not quite. Davison makes the Doctor a champion for all whose time is finite and we are cheering him all the way.

This is a wonderful story, that had me spellbound at the age of seven and still enchants today.

NEXT: The King's Demons

Snakedance

After two disappointing stories, the Peter Davison era is back on track with a sequel to the previous season's fantastic Kinda. Like all good sequels, Snakedance expands on what the original explored. In what could have been a disastrous move, it explains the origin of the Mara, an origin that is very reminiscent of the origin of the Id monster of the film Forbidden Planet. However, the story is about so much more than that. It is about how cultures develop, how history is recorded and interpreted and how horrors in the past can be so blunted by ceremony and ritual that it can easily be forgotten that that horror could rise again. Manussa is a fantastic example of world building where a culture of a thousand years is painted with consummate skill. The technologically advanced Manussan Empire is destroyed by the creation of the Mara and the Sumaran Empire it commands. The post-Sumaran Manussans seem to live in a non-industrial society, although mentions of other worlds and space travel do not surprise them. Knowledge is also a key theme- perhaps the key scene is the 'Six faces of Delusion' where Ambril's attention to detail has made him overlook the blatantly obvious. Christopher Bailey's script is rich in invention and has some wonderful dialogue. The ending is a bit abrupt (the story was overrunning) but this does not really detract from the story.

Fiona Cumming directs wonderfully, with some very memorable imagery- the scene where Tegan looks into the mirror and her head is replaced by a snake's skull is terrifying. There is some great editing (such as the mixing of the snake and Tegan) and the lighting is superb. The costumes and sets are of a very high standard- the only criticism I can make is that the sound of footsteps are wooden, rather than stone and earth.

Characterisation is first rate, with a very talented cast doing it justice. Despite his own, well publicised reservations, Martin Clunes is excellent as the arrogant, pampered, but by no means evil Lon and Colette O'Neil is very dignified as his mother. John Carson makes Ambril engagingly pompous and Johnathon Morris gives a nicely low-key performance as Chela. Most interesting is the portrayal of the regulars. The Doctor is seen interrupting dinner parties and comes off looking like the lunatic that the supporting characters think he is. Janet Fielding is again wonderful as the villain and Sarah Sutton gives an engaging performance, particularly in the charming opening TARDIS scene where she tries to get the Doctor to notice her new outfit.

The Mara stories are not only a highlight of the Davison era, but of Doctor Who as a whole- unmissable telly!

NEXT: Mawdryn Undead

Castrovalva

Christopher H. Bidmead kicks off the Fifth Doctor Era with another very oddly structured story. Again, we have to wait until the second episode for the appearance of the titular location and before that, the plot takes some rather bizarre turns. The Master's plan to send the TARDIS back in time to Event One is foiled, but it turns out that the real trap was Castrovalva all along. However, to complain about these for too long would stop one from appreciating the many strengths of this fine story. Bidmead again bases his story on a striking idea- that the Doctor would end up in a place that behaved like the impossible architectural optical illusions of the prints of M.C. Escher- but weaves it into a beautifully told story with compelling characters and wonderful dialogue. The scenes before Castrovalva contain great sequences such as Nyssa and Tegan talking about recursion, the TARDIS getting hotter as it heads towards Event One and, of course, the scenes with the Doctor. These scenes may be technically superfluous to the story, but Bidmead doesn't do padding- he just goes off on tangents sometimes and they are almost invariably worth watching, irrespective of their plot relevance. Castrovalva itself is wonderfully realised. Bidmead obviously realised that its impossible vistas would not be convincingly realised with special effects, so he creates believable characters such as Mergrave and Ruther, who are made to understand what is wrong with their world and of Shardovan, whose enquiring mind came to that conclusion long ago. Wonderfully, the realisation that Castrovalva and its people are creations of the Master makes the Castrovalvans wish to assert their right to live- as Shardovan states 'You made us, man of evil, but we are free'.

The realisation of the story is very well done, from the atmospheric location work to the beautiful Escher inspired sets for Castrovalva. Fiona Cumming shoots with great feeling- the recursion of Castrovalva is implied with some good editing and there is the fantastic scene where the Master is trapped in Castrovalva that implies great brutality without showing any violence. The lighting is excellent throughout, from the soothing tones brought out in the Zero Room to the organic-looking night-time shots. The performances are excellent throughout, with Michael Sheard and Derek Waring being especially memorable as Mergrave and Shardovan. Anthony Ainley is a bit more OTT as the Master, but he also gives a thoroughly convincing performance as the Portreeve- if you didn't know, it would be easy to believe that it was a different actor.

However, there is, of course, one performance that totally outshines the others- Peter Davison as the Doctor. This story had a new Doctor in it for the first time in seven years. Speaking for myself, I had totally accepted the new Doctor by the end. Davison is stunning throughout. When the Doctor is reverting to his past personas, Davison's impersonations are spot on, especially that great Hartnell look he gives. However, Davison has no problem in imposing his own stamp on the character, from the very first time he frowns and has to explain a joke he has just made.

Castrovalva is gorgeous television and a great start for Peter Davison.

NEXT: Four to Doomsday