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

The King’s Demons

In today’s TV climate, we are used to climactic series finales and Enlightenment certainly felt like one. However, it was not the finale, but was followed by this brief oddity. The story is somewhat uninspired- the Master is using a shape-shifting robot called Kamelion to impersonate King John, so that Magna Carta will not be signed. Given only 50 minutes to tell the story, it would be hoped that this will result in a lean script from Terence Dudley, who had written the great historical two-parter Black Orchid. However, what we seem to get is not a four parter with the padding taken out, but the plot, the padding and very little else. Characterisation is non-existent, with characters changing their attitude to the Doctor with each change in circumstances. It doesn’t help that the brief for the story seemed to be a grab bag for all the bullet points for the anniversary season that had not been fulfilled earlier- a historical, a Master story and the introduction of Kamelion. The story just stops with the regulars running into the TARDIS, which is a hardly the most inspired turn of events.

The production goes some way to healing the problems. The sets and costumes are of a high standard (the castle set is very reminiscent of the one in The Crusade) and Tony Virgo puts in a reasonably good job behind the camera. Frank Windsor makes Sir Ranulf seem more rounded than the script allows, although a fine actress like Isla Blair is given far too little to do. The ‘surprise’ of Sir Gilles being the Master is the least effective plot twist in ages- I instantly recognised Ainley at the time. King John (or the Kamelion version of him) is played wonderfully by Gerald Flood. However, the robot itself is something of a disappointment- well designed, but lacking in mobility, and the decision to keep it as a regular character was a bad one, as the production team would eventually realise.

The regulars put in great performances, with Peter Davison again elevating the mundane to the watchable. I love Tegan’s reaction to the Kamelion version of herself as well. However, The King’s Demons, although not terrible is totally inconsequential, and you will lose nothing by skipping it.

NEXT: "The Five Doctors"