"Wish World"/"The Reality War"

Storytelling is what makes for great television and this two-part finale is about creating fiction to unleash the truth behind the tale. The focus of Doctor Who has been moving towards the fantastical throughout Ncuti Gatwa’s tenure and, with its almost literal fairy-tale opening, this is further brought into focus. There are very many ideas, and, although they do flow together, the result is not as aerodynamic as it could have been. As with the previous year, an iconic villain is brought back as a monstrous efflorescence of their previous form. Yet, despite Omega being a more solid feature of the mythos than Sutekh, the effect isn’t as potent. With the loss of both Stephen Thorne and Ian Collier, there is no distinct vocal performance to emulate and no attempt is made to replicate it. However, the idea behind the Wish World is intoxicating and its accoutrements, such as the Bone Beasts are classic Russell T Davies ingenuity, blended with a touch of Moffatt influence. Furthermore, it is the other ideas that are fore successful. The increasingly idiotic culture wars that dominate the socio-political discourse in Western society are prime targets. People are ignored and (in the case of Rosie) actually erased. Yet Davies ensures that it is the ideas that are despicable, rather than the people. Conrad is shown to be a far better type of person than his real-world equivalents and he is given the redemption that a decent society would grant him, rather than the punishment that he probably deserves.

The realisation, marshalled by Alex Sanjiv Pillai is an intoxicating visual feast, as if Powell and Pressburger had collaborated with Karel Zeman, leaving us with appealingly stylised English life blended with incredible visuals that appeal due to their originality. The characters are fully blended both into the story and its realisation. Jemma Redgrave channels an Archers’ protagonist in a very good performance and Bonnie Langford and Ruth Madeley support admirably. However Omega is not the only returning villain. Archie Panjabi attacks the role of the Rani with real relish and her double-act with Mrs Flood is joyful. We also have the wonderful return of Steph de Whalley as Anita. Long may the Time Hotel’s lobby remain open.

The most heartfelt part of the story is that involving the child Poppy. The fact that she is needed has no relation to her objective reality. Her initial disappearance from reality is a masterpiece in economic televisual storytelling. Ruby, another lost child helps Belinda get hers back. Both companions give very human performances in making the child real again.

We also have a very welcome surprise in the return of Jodie Whittaker. It is, perhaps, just my own perception that makes me feel that this is one of her best scenes, as she finally gets a truly first class writer to script her. However, It is with real sadness that we say goodbye to Ncuti Gatwa, a Doctor both original and archetypal. Again, the Doctor gives his life for one other and his regeneration is more joyous than ever before. I would have liked to see him face the Daleks, but this is a great ending for the Fifteenth Doctor.

For the first time since 2005, there was no new Doctor Who to brighten the winter. Doctor Who’s future is more uncertain than it has been for over two decades, but it is still there. Here’s to the next Christmas!

"The Legend of Ruby Sunday"/"Empire of Death"

All too soon, we come to the end of the first season of this new/old era in an epic two-part finale. In evaluating the story, we must acknowledge the fact that this is, in fact two plotlines. Both are good, one more so than the other and the quality of the writer is shown in how these two are joined together.

The first concerns the return of one of the most iconic one-off villains of 20th Century Doctor Who. Moreover, the story that it is a sequel to, is a contender for my favourite ever Doctor Who story. Even before the reveal, one sentence intoned in that inimitable cadence is enough to inform us – Sutekh is back. The programme has taken a step into more fantastic realms and we are now squarely in the realm of Gods. Sutekh was always the most awesome adversary that the Doctor has faced, yet not the most powerful – until now. The mightiest of the Osirans has ridden the vortex and ascended to god-like status. Gabriel Woolf returns again and his sepulchral tones have the same effect as they did nearly half a century ago. The cosmic devastation promised in Pyramids of Mars is delivered with interest. However, the biggest criticism of the story as a whole is that Sutekh deserves a better send-off and the reset button is not as effective here as, say, in "Last of the Time Lords". It isn't a plot cheat, but it causes the most dissatisfaction with the story. I would like to think, however, that RTD reacts to the misunderstanding of the term deus ex machina and it's misapplication by fandom by expelling a god from the machine!

However, there is a second plot and the title of the first episode indicates that it isn't a secondary story. The mystery of Ruby's birth has been at the back of our minds since her début and, what glimpses we have had of her first day of life have been suffused in festive mystery, which reaches its pinnacle in the time window. We have a 3D extrapolation of a VHS tape, using future DNA records to enact in the present the secrets of the past. Yet the revelation is one of comforting normality – sometimes a mysterious cowled figure is just a frightened, crying young girl wearing a hood to keep out the snow. RTD had always celebrated the wonder of the ordinary life and Ruby is finally given one.

Jamie Donoughue is given the finale to début as director and he doesn't disappoint. The epic sweep of the Empire of Death and the intimacy of Ruby's meeting her birth mother are both expertly handled, with every mood in between. In particular, the fear factor. As with "73 Yards", this story is frightening in a way that is different from previous eras, in a very successful way. The sequence with the time window goes from spooky, to utterly chilling - Colonel Chidozie's fate in the first episode, with his ghostly voice blankly saying 'I am in Hell' is incredibly effective.

Every performance is excellently judged. Jemma Redgrave gives the best of a series of excellent performances. Kate is in awe of the Doctor and loves him, but is not above silently rebuking him for his complicity in Colonel Chidozie's death. Bonnie Langford delights again - it is only the voice that reminds us that the strong, assertive character of Mel is the same as one of the least beloved companions of 20th Century Doctor Who. The key supporting character is Susan Triad, played by the nominally deterministic Susan Twist in a low-key, yet very charismatic performance. Lenny Rush and Genesis Lynea do good work. I must give a special mention to Faye McKeever whose non-verbal reaction to the return of her lost child is fantastic.

It never ceases to astonish me that Millie Gibson is 19 years old, such has been the depth of her performances. I really look forward to any future appearances of the wonderful Ms Sunday. Ncuti Gatwa continues to astonish. He may have let go of his demons, but the Doctor still has his experience and his responsibilities. Displaying this, together with his joy, seems natural to our latest leading man and it has been truly exciting seeing this very fresh Doctor dominate the screen.

Despite some plot problems, the finale is in the hands of a wonderful writer who has crafted a truly memorable climax. We are left with a few mysteries, notably the mysterious Mrs Flood (and I, for one, am interested in the premiership of Roger ap Gwilliam. It may be a while before we get any answers. In the meantime - roll on Christmas!

NEXT: "Joy to the World"

"The Giggle"

Chris Chibnall's swansong for the programme was made to celebrate the BBC's centenary, and, at the close of Doctor Who's 60th Anniversary trilogy, we are taken to the birth of television itself, two years after the founding of the Corporation. John Logie Baird was an inventor that seems too wacky to be anything but fictional – and yet, look him up! Baird's natural eccentricity is a perfect fit for this story, as is Stooky Bill. As a puppet became the first face on television, we learn that there was more than one puppet master. Russell T Davies has tried to capture the zeitgeist several times before, but nowhere has he succeeded more than in this story. A century after Stooky Bill's debut, humanity is tearing itself apart because everyone is convinced that they are 100% right, heeding only the echo chambers that mass media has provided. Our imagination has to do very little work to see a world where people demonise those who hold views opposed to their own, where the notion of a left-winger and a right winger being friends seems like something from a bygone fantasy age. Even Trinity Wells seems to have made the leap from MSNBC to Fox News!

The nods to the past are not as crowd-pleasing as in past celebrations, but we have the return of an awesome adversary almost from the dawn of the programme itself. The Toymaker is reborn in the incredibly charismatic form of Neil Patrick Harris, whose playful prestidigitation, juggling and dancing can be undercut with a chilling glower. We are left in no doubt that he is omnipotent within his domain and he has overcome the Guardians and even perhaps God in his gameplay.

The very talented Chanya Button brings all of this magnificently to life, whether it be the Hollywood blockbuster level UNIT base to the jaw-dropping "Spice Up Your Life" section. Catherine Tate's performance is incredibly skilful – selling the unease of the Stooky Sue sequence, before the sharpest tongue in Chiswick counter-attacks. Kate is back and such is the instant rapport, that we forget that she has never shared a scene with that particular Doctor. Also returning is Mel. Aeons ago, I said that Bonnie Langford didn't agree with me, due to irritation, rather than incompetence. It's strange what a few decades can do. Mel is still buzzing with energy and facts, but it is so much more easy to take from Bonnie in her 50s and it is truly joyful having her back. The regulars are having a ball running the show and David Tennant rules the roost – until something rather unexpected happens. The Toymaker insists that each game has to be played by a different Doctor; First, Fourteenth – and Fifteenth. As the fantastic rules of the Toymaker's realm still apply, we have the first ever bi-generation and the coming of the new Doctor without the death of the old one. Ncuti Gatwa is born to play the role and commands the screen from the moment his head pops out. If the final test being a game of catch loses something of the challenge, the concept of the Toymaker being beaten in the most primal game is very satisfying as a concept – before the games got more complicated, now they become simpler.

We are, therefore left with two Doctors permanently, it seems, but with a purpose. The Doctor has earned a rest, but must always move on. Now, he can do both and, whilst a beloved face sits down to relax with his family, a new one launches itself, smiling at the cosmos...

NEXT: "The Church on Ruby Road

"The Power of the Doctor"

"The Power of the Doctor" is one of the longest individual episodes of Doctor Who ever made. As the story was made in the year that the BBC celebrated its centenary the story has one eye on the past, with more callbacks to the programme's 59 year history, than in the previous 17 years combined. This is also an ending, with the final regular appearance of Jodie Whittaker and Chris Chibnall's swansong as showrunner. It is designed to be a spectacular, a brief that it certainly fulfils, with memorable sequences aplenty to feast the eyes on. The problem is, it appears that Chibnall appears to have written arresting sequences – The Master as Rasputin, the raid on the space train, the child/Qurunx, the volcano plot – and then contrived a plot to connect them together. As the Master's Dalek Plan is to blow up the Earth with volcanoes, everything else is really only window dressing. Some sequences are cribbed from better stories produced under the aegides of his predecessors and with less effect.

As a nostalgic look back, the story is somewhat more successful. The return of Tegan and Ace are very welcome – as someone whose memories of the original run are from the 80s, they were my Jo and Sarah Jane. Both Janet Fielding and Sophie Aldred put their all into their roles and it is truly wonderful to see them together for the first time. Then there are the returning Doctors. Colin Baker's role is rather small but Paul McGann again puts more Doctorliness into his performance in a few minutes than he did in his début. The interaction between Davison, McCoy and their old companions is something special. The scene with the companions' support group is sublime and it is a true joy to see so many familiar faces, with Ian being a particularly wonderful surprise. Kate is back, hopefully to be as constant a presence as her father.

The current roster are not to be forgotten. Dan has a more considered version of Tegan's leaving scene and we have a great performance from our other leading lady. Mandeep Gill has taken Yas way beyond the way she was written and the indescribable contradictory feelings stirred up by the shot of Yas and the Doctor eating ice creams sitting on the TARDIS, is a moment to treasure. Sacha Dhawan has an absolute blast as the Master, bonkers plan or not.

The production is startlingly good, masking the haphazard jigsaw of the plot. Jamie Magnus Stone is probably the stalwart director of this era, so it is fitting that he closes it. Rehashed though some of the concepts are, Stone and the production team make them work.

The Chibnall era was not the utter disaster that I was fearing and yet it can't be denied that the programme is not a patch on what it was from 2005-2017. There were some very good stories, but no real classics which, in hindsight, makes one appreciate all the more that in the RTD and Moffat eras, there were at least two stories per series that were amongst the best examples of television produced in that year. This curate's egg of a story is watchable, but doesn't stand up to repeated viewings, which is typical of Chibnall. Plotting is not his strongest asset as a writer, neither in resolving them or keeping an eye on the subplots. His strength was in quieter character moments and, in his choice of lead, he was helped immeasurably. Jodie Whittaker's charisma and talent papered over many cracks and, in her final moments, Chibnall's writing and her performance harmonise to perfection. After a sequence of potential portentous last words, her parting shot is a flippant quip and the gorgeous visuals of that regeneration give the viewer the ASMR it deserves.

However, I look forward to the return of one of the finest writers in the world to the helm, as he steers Doctor Who into uncharted waters with the casting of the utterly unique Ncuti Gatwa – after he goes into very familiar territory with Whittaker's immediate successor!

NEXT: "The Star Beast"/"Wild Blue Yonder"/"The Giggle"

Dragonfire

Dragonfire concludes Sylvester McCoy’s first season in style. Again, the basic premise displays a degree of vagueness- Kane is imprisoned with the key to his salvation in (what looks like) easy reach and takes 3000 years to find it, never knowing that his planet has been destroyed in a supernova- despite the fact that he has constructed the interstellar version of an airport terminal on his planet of imprisonment. However, the script contains some wonderful dialogue and some good characters. The actual plot is the hunt for a semi-mythical dragon, which is simple enough for any child to enjoy, but contains such great scenes as the Doctor finding a surprisingly erudite guard (the philosophical conversation that follows, despite some slightly misunderstood terminology, actually makes sense). The names of the characters are taken from figures in film theory (ones who knew what they were talking about) directors (Pudovkin, named after the director of the hugely influential Mother) and films (Kane, named after a character in Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. Haha). In addition, Briggs creates a dragon quest with ‘singing trees’ and ‘ice gardens’. In many ways, this is a throwback to the Doctor journeying into the unknown that we had in the Hartnell era, which is very welcome.

Chris Clough directs well, but the all-studio realisation of the story does make the settings look a bit too artificial, but there is some clever design work here, such as the realisation of the ‘singing trees’. The scenes in the milk bar actually come off rather well, despite being a low-rent version of the Mos Eisley Cantina from Star Wars. The costumes work very well, with the white Pickelhauben worn by Kane’s officers being a nice touch. The special effects are quite good, from the well-realised dragon to the outstanding shot of Kane melting, influenced by and nearly as good as the scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark (incidentally, the only scene in anything that has genuinely given me nightmares). The actual failures of the visualisation are very few- the ‘literal’ cliffhanger to part one can be seen as postmodern (as there are perfectly good cliffhanger moments preceding it) but just comes off as silly. The model for the planet Svartos is nicely designed and filmed, but if Svartos is an Earth-sized planet, the Iceworld complex looks the size of Africa. Surely, a continent-sized craft taking off from a planet would destroy it? However, the production works well, although the fact that Dominic Glynn is doing the music no doubt contributes to this.

The performances are never less than good. Tony Selby makes a very welcome return as Glitz and Patricia Quinn is excellent as Belazs. However, Edward Peel’s Kane is outstanding, making the character very memorable (in a completely different way to Don Henderson’s equally impressive Gavrok in the previous story). This is also the story where we say goodbye to Mel. When she first appeared, I had never seen a companion so annoying. It has to be said, however, that she improved dramatically in her last two stories and she is given a cracking leaving scene. We also say hello to Sophie Aldred as Ace. Aldred is not the best actress in the world, but she truly inhabits the character making Ace instantly memorable- although the attempts to colloquialise her dialogue have mixed results, sometimes creative and amusing, sometimes embarrassing. Sylvester McCoy is in complete command of his character, even making his comic sliding (which no-one else does!) work.

Dragonfire is flawed, but contains much that is great, ending a very interesting season that promises much for the future.

NEXT: Remembrance of the Daleks

Delta and the Bannermen

Delta and the Bannermen is a relatively simple tale of the Doctor helping an alien queen escape the genocidal army that has massacred her people. This is, strangely, mixed with a trip to Wales in 1959, a wayward American satellite and lots of Rock n’ Roll. However, what could be an unholy hodge-podge actually works out as a rather charming little tale. There is a degree of vagueness in Malcolm Kohll's storyline- we never find out why the Bannermen are so intent on wiping out the Chimerons. The baby food that Billy takes might be the Chimeron ‘royal jelly’ (The Chimerons seem to be eusocial) but that does not mean that it will turn Billy into a Chimeron, any more than him eating actual royal jelly will turn him into a bee. However, the scripts are nicely written and contain good characterisation- Ray, for example is based on a very recognisable stereotype, but the script makes her seem fresh.

One potential pitfall is the varying tone of the story (something that was a problem on Paradise Towers). The Navarino ’50s nostalgia tour is a rather light-hearted concept, whereas Gavrok has to rank as one of the most despicable villains ever seen on the programme. It is easy, therefore, to underestimate the skill of the production team in making the story work in terms of tone. The story was made entirely on location (apart from the TARDIS scenes) which lends an organic reality to the settings. The idea to set the story in a Welsh holiday camp is inspired- Hi-de-Hi is a clear influence on the look, and also manages to convey the British ‘50s without exposing us to the rather drab reality of Britain in that period. Chris Clough’s direction is good and the story is generally well realised- the opening battle sequence is very impressive as are most of the model shots, with the exception of the shot of the TARDIS towing the Navarino bus. There are also the rather poor destruction of the bus and Gavrok himself, but these are exceptions. Keff McCulloch’s ‘50s pastiche music is actually rather good, although his use of the Devil’s Galop/Gallop is about as effective nowadays as using Souza’s Liberty Bell for a military march. In addition, McCulloch’s own chase music would be more suitable for Chucklevision.

There are some very fine performances, most notably, Don Henderson as Gavrok. Henderson gives the character a real aura of bestial evil, at one point chomping on a haunch of raw meat and spitting it out at the Doctor. Sara Griffiths is great fun as Ray as is Richard Davies as Burton. There is also the wonderful Hugh Lloyd as Goronwy and Broadway legend Stubby Kaye as Weismuller. Unfortunately, the key characters of Delta and Billy are less than ideally played. Belinda Mayne is not very expressive as Delta, but she is better than David Kinder, who is perilously close to awful as Billy (who, for some reason doesn’t have a Welsh accent). More seriously, their romance is rather unconvincing, both in terms of how it is written and how it is performed.

However, the regulars are on fine form. Sylvester McCoy is brilliant throughout, imposing his authority on the Bannermen and dancing with, consoling (and very nearly groping!) Ray. More astonishingly, Bonnie Langford is actually very good here- especially well played is the scene after the destruction of the Navarinos’ bus.

Delta and the Bannermen is by no means perfect, but it is great fun with some wonderful moments and is well worth a spin.

NEXT: Dragonfire

Paradise Towers

After the mess that was Time and the Rani, Paradise Towers is certainly an improvement, due in no small part to Stephen Wyatt's script. Wyatt tells a tale of an entire society that has grown in a giant tower block, but uses that setting to explore how a society that has had a large section of it surgically removed survives and adapts. The adults have gone off to fight in a war, leaving the others behind. The old ('rezzies') seem to have reverted into a very genteel cannibalism. The girls form gangs ('kangs') and the Caretakers seem to have developed into a fascistic police force. Paradise Towers itself was designed by Kroagnon, 'The Great Architect', who loved his creations so much, he saw their use by anyone else as desecrating his work. The hiding of the living brain of Kroagnon in the basement is a bit odd, plotwise, but I suppose that the story needed a villain. Nevertheless, Wyatt's script is full of great lines and an inventive use of language: 'alleviators', 'brain quarters', 'taken to the cleaners' and the like show a real love and interest in semantics.

The production makes good use of studio sets and is well directed by Nicholas Mallett with some great set design and camera work. True, the cleaning robots and the pool robot, which fulfil the 'monster' functions, are hardly very threatening, but they do not pay a large part in the story. Keff McCullough again shows that subtlety is a wholly alien concept to him, with another brash score.

The acting is variable- while there are no bad performances, Mallett doesn't seem to be able to get his performers to gel. We have some nice unshowy performances by Julie Brennon and Annabel Yuresha as the two main Kangs, but Howard Cooke's performance as Pex is heading very close to bad kids TV. Richard Briers is an actor of tremendous ability but, while his performance as the Chief Caretaker is rather good, his performance as Kroagnon is a bit dodgy. However, Sylvester McCoy is starting to really find his feet as the Doctor- his talent for obfuscation really coming to the fore. Bonnie Langford is actually quite watchable in this, which is refreshing.

It is this uncertain tone which is Paradise Towers biggest disadvantage- we have the disturbing sight of the gnawed bones on the plate, but caretakers who look like The Village People. Paradise Towers is clearly a step in the right direction, but it still has one foot in Time and the Rani territory.

NEXT: Delta and the Bannermen

Time and the Rani

The 24th season of Doctor Who saw a considerable change in style, evident at the start by yet another arrangement of the theme tune (the least successful one so far) plus a whole new title sequence. Most notable of all is the presence of a new Doctor, with the Sixth Doctor unceremoniously regenerating at the beginning, for no apparent reason. However, that is only the beginning of this story’s problems.

Pip and Jane Baker have received a lot of flak from Doctor Who fans, some of it wholly unjustified. The Mark of the Rani was one of the highlights of Colin Baker’s first season and their contributions to The Trial of a Time Lord were worthwhile. It also has to be said that, whatever their faults as writers, they appear to be genuinely lovely people. However, it appears that they were working well outside their comfort zone with this story- The Mark of the Rani was a historical, Terror of the Vervoids was a Christie mystery in space. Time and the Rani is pure sci-fi and, as I have pointed out, another criticism that can be levelled at the Bakers is that they fail to see the distinction between quirky and silly. The basic plot is the Rani wishing to detonate an asteroid composed of strange matter in order to create a giant time manipulator so that she can play God. To do that, she has gone to the planet Lakertya and subdued its population with the aid of the Tetraps, bat-like humanoids. So far, so good. However, the story progresses in increasingly preposterous ways- the Rani dresses up as Mel to make the Doctor fix her device, Beyus shouts the combination to the outer door because he overhears the Doctor expressing sympathy for the Lakertyans, the Doctor tying up the Rani with a scarf. Episode 3, in particular, is totally superfluous and one of the longest 25 minutes of my life. Characterisation is very basic, with stock types like ‘collaborating leader’ and ‘hot-headed youngster’ being deployed. The story is based on some very poor science- this would not matter normally, but it is crucial to the plot. Firstly, you would never have an asteroid made of strange matter, you would have a spherical ‘quark star’, as it would be so massive that its gravity would make it spherical. Secondly, it would probably have a gravity at least equal to the Earth’s sun, meaning that it would be impossible to ‘miss’ it with a missile- in fact it would probably attract Lakertya itself towards it. Even if you ignore this, the dénouement is still very lazy plotting. There are some nice script touches- the Doctor’s chaotic personality causing schizophrenia in the Rani’s super-brain, for example. However, they are few and far between in the script, which is certainly not improved by the Bakers penchant for writing florid, overblown dialogue really coming to the fore here- my favourite being ‘A hologram! As substantial as the Rani’s scruples!’ Still, it could have been worse- have a read of Andrew Cartmel’s book Script Doctor to see the full horror of what they wanted to do!

In the story’s defence, it certainly looks very good. Visually, Andrew Morgan directs with great energy and, apart from the cartoony nature of the early CGI shots at the start, the special effects are excellent, particularly the wonderful bubble traps. The Lakertyans are quite well realised- I like their alien running poise, in particular and the Tetraps are also impressive. However, there is still the gaudy look typical of the Colin Baker era- his coat is present in the first episode- which means that Lakertya has a pink sky. The performances are as good as they can be, considering the overblown dialogue the actors have to say, indicating that Morgan was not as proficient with actors. Of the guest performers, Kate O’Mara stands head and shoulders over the others. Despite her being Dynasty’d up and being written as a more stock villain, she clearly loves the part. The one saving grace of the Rani impersonating Mel is that she makes a better Mel than Bonnie Langford. I have to say that Langford is more at ease in the role, and a little less annoying- but she still grates. I can’t stand the fact that she is supposed to be a strong woman and then stops and screams at monsters (unless the Doctor told her about the events of Fury From the Deep and she is, in fact, deploying her larynx as a weapon!) So, to the Doctor. Sylvester McCoy pratfalls, spoonerises and plays the spoons, but there is something refreshingly homespun about his portrayal. It is a great relief to see him ditch that abomination of a coat and things on this front, look good.

Time and the Rani is not the total disaster some have said it is- there have been many stories that are worse. It is well made and reasonably entertaining, but it is wholly without any real substance and full of moments of sheer preposterousness.

NEXT: Paradise Towers

The Trial of a Time Lord

Indictment
For whatever reason, Doctor Who was off the air for over a year before returning in 1986. The season was shorter and the episode length was back to the usual 25 minutes. It has often been said that the programme itself was on trial for its life- so the wisdom of making a comeback season of one fourteen episode story seems a bit flawed to me. Of course it is not really one story, but four, but is does have a linking theme- the trial of the Doctor. I said, many moons ago in my review of The Keys of Marinus, that courtroom drama is, perhaps, the most constricting genre of all. Courtroom sets are constructed very similarly, the dynamics are similar, even the plot is dictated by the mechanics of the trial. The best courtroom dramas rely on performances and truly inspired direction. Even so, the best courtroom scenes I have watched occur in other types of drama- a good example are the astonishing court martial scenes in Kubrick's Paths of Glory. Which brings me to this season. A multi-camera videotaped production is almost certainly never going to match a feature film as far as visual creativity is concerned and, indeed, as soon as the lights go up, we see a perfectly average set and three main participants- the Doctor, the Inquisitor and the Valeyard. Whatever else the season might reveal, visually exciting courtroom scenes are not on the menu. I shall return to this aspect periodically but, I think it is useful to examine each of the separate epistopic interfaces of the spectrum before looking at the story as a whole. So…

The Mysterious Planet
The season opens with a four parter by Robert Holmes himself. Although it is by no means a 'Holmes classic' it contains much good dialogue and tells a reasonably effective story. The script is, indeed, skilful enough to make one forget that it is basically a retread of The Face of Evil- a human society split in two by an artificial intelligence, with a pallid group of humans living under the control of the AI and a savage group living outside it. Holmes creates some good characters; however, Glitz and Dibber (on the page, at least) are very similar to Garron and Unstoffe from The Ribos Operation. Despite having quite a few quibbles with the plot (water jars on display, two light years being nothing in galactic terms) the story manages to paint a believable environment and believable people to go with it.

The season as a whole opens with the most spectacular effects shot the programme had in the twentieth century. The shot of the space station is breathtaking and still impressive today. However from this story on, both location and studio scenes (bar a few effects shots) are shot on videotape, which gives a greater sense of visual unity to the programme. Unfortunately, Nicholas Mallett's direction, although not bad, is hardly inspired, with the overlit scenes in Marb Station being particularly unimpressive. The costume for Drathro is superb, but Mallett fails to shoot the robot with the requisite skill to make it appear like the vast automaton it should have appeared to be.

The best guest performance in the story is easily Tony Selby's Glitz and it is entirely due to his performance that the character is so memorable. Most of the other performances are sound, especially Adam Blackwood as Balazar, but Joan Sims is a major disappointment as Katryca- much as I love Maid Marian and Her Merry Men, it is not the thing I should be thinking of every time Katryca issues an order!

Colin Baker continues to impress as the Doctor. His greater affection for Peri and his more moral outlook is a joy to behold. Nicola Bryant is given some strong character material and she attacks it with relish.

The Mysterious Planet is a good run-of-the-mill story- something we hadn't seen for some time.

Mindwarp
Phillip Martin returns to Doctor Who with this fun story with a shocking twist. Like Vengeance on Varos, there is the slight feeling that Martin might drop one of the plates he is spinning- the script covers economic exploitation of less developed civilisations, genetic engineering, brain alteration, revolutions etc, whilst incorporating the possibility of an unreliable narrator. However, as before, Martin just about manages to pull it off- although there is the subplot about the Alphan rebels which is unnecessary (and probably not the work of Philip Martin). The central thread is the imminent death of Lord Kiv, leader of the Mentors and each plot thread is somehow connected to that. To bolster the plot, Martin brings back Sil, perhaps the greatest character of the Sixth Doctor era and he is accompanied by other great characters such as Kiv and Yrcanos. There are some instances of rushed scripting- Crozier’s move from brain transplants to mind transfers is rather sudden- but the story works well, with some choice dialogue- the financial conversations between Sil and Kiv, and later Sil and the Doctor are a delight.

The story is further helped by its excellent visualisation. This is the first use of paintbox image manipulation in the programme and the resultant Thoros Betan landscape is impressive (if typically gaudy for the era). There is great use of matte work and some highly effective lighting and the camerawork is very impressive. Ron Jones has been very inconsistent as a director but, with a good production team behind him, he does a good job here. The costuming and make-up are also first rate- the work for the Mentors is even more impressive than it was for Vengeance on Varos with great attention to detail- it is easy to forget that Christopher Ryan wears two similar, but not identical costumes. There is also the terrifyingly effective make-up for the Lukoser, a truly horrific creation. Jones clearly knows how to disguise the production’s shortcomings- the Raak doesn’t look very good, so it is never fully glimpsed. Overall, this is a highly impressive production.

It goes without saying that Nabil Shaban puts in another wonderful performance as Sil, a character he clearly loved playing, but he is ably supported by Christopher Ryan as Kiv, who amusingly treats Sil like an annoying illegitimate sprog who he has some regard for, finds occasionally useful, but is not above ordering the death of. However, there is one guest performance which cannot help to stand out- Brian Blessed as Yrcanos. Blessed is one of the very few actors who can go completely over the top and still make the character believable, which is exactly what he does with Yrcanos. There are wonderful little touches he gives to the role, like the throat singing he employs as a farewell. There is not enough room to fully do justice to Blessed here- he is a force of nature and the world will genuinely be a poorer place when he passes on. There are some other nice performances- Patrick Ryecart as Crozier is worth a mention- and a strangely poor one from Gordon Warnecke. Mind you, Ron Jones is no Stephen Frears.

Colin Baker has a very tough challenge- he must make the Doctor look more dislikeable than he has ever done before which, considering The Twin Dilemma is really saying something. The juxtaposition of the Doctor acting his worst on Thoros Beta and his noblest in the trial room is very nicely done and baker acquits himself well. However, this does mean that the story is Doctor-less for long stretches and it is Peri who steps up to the challenge. This, Nicola Bryant’s final story as Peri, is also one of her best performances- and she is given one of the most shocking exits for any companion ever. It seems that her mind has been destroyed and the intelligence of Kiv now inhabits her skull. The last words heard from her lips are ‘Protect me! I am your Lord and Master’ with her staring at Yrcanos with infinite menace. The Doctor’s realisation of what happens is wonderfully effective- Baker is understated and then coldly furious.

Mindwarp may not be 100% successful, but it is extremely enjoyable throughout- a fine story!

Terror of the Vervoids
Pip and Jane Baker's second contribution to Doctor Who is a return to the simple monster tale, with a heavy helping of Agatha Christie. This is nothing new- The Robots of Death also had touches of the Dame of Detection. However, the earlier story used a Christie type plot merely as the framework for a thoughtful script that aspired to so much more and succeeded. Terror of the Vervoids is a very watchable story, but the trouble is, it is too much like Christie- puzzles are more important that emotion or characters and there are numerous badly thought out ideas- notably, why the Vervoids have a lethal capability if they were genetically engineered. There is also the question of the dialogue. The Bakers showed they had no ear for naturalistic dialogue in The Mark of the Rani, but that is nothing compared to some of the appalling lines the poor actors have to say! Also present are little educational nuggets- there were thousands of children who would forever know the difference between an agronomist and a thremmatologist, that plants had chloroplasts and what a Judas Goat was.

The money is obviously running out- the space sequences obviously look bad compared to the opening shot of the season. However, the design is very clever and the story doesn't actually look cheap. Even the costumes for the Vervoids are rather good- although I'm sure their look caused all sorts of adult neuroses for anyone who saw them as a child! Chris Clough does the best that he can with what he is given and does a pretty good job, helped by some effective lighting. He also helps give the story some excellent cliffhangers, most notably the terrifying revelation of Ruth Baxter, brilliantly shot and lit, with some superb make-up.

The performances are generally good, although Honor Blackman seems a bit listless as Professor Lasky. Maurice Tierney as Doland deserves special praise for making his character seem real, with a surprisingly nuanced performance. Mind you, considering what they had to say, it is a testament to the skill of all the actors that they emerge with dignity intact. Colin Baker is wonderfully energetic in this story, a true pleasure to watch. However, there is another regular present. Bonnie Langford is obviously a hugely talented individual but Mel is, to be frank, fingers-on-the-blackboard irritating. True, she's energetic and seems to be enjoying herself, but her voice and line readings are too mannered. Then there's her screaming… Still, early days.

Terror of the Vervoids is an enjoyable, if shallow entry which ends with the Doctor being accused of genocide…

The Ultimate Foe
So, the trial comes to its conclusion with a script that was only half complete when its author, the great Robert Holmes, died. Moreover, Eric Saward, who wrote the final episode based on what Holmes had told him, refused to allow its use, meaning that Pip and Jane Baker had to write a replacement in less than a week. So it is, in fact, a miracle that The Ultimate Foe works as well as it does. Holmes returns to the nightmare virtual reality of the Matrix and creates another memorable dream realm- the Christmas Carol influence of the whole Trial season is, appropriately, concluded with a heavily Dickensian setting. Upon the shock revelation of the Master (which is rather well done) it is revealed, in a very atmospheric moment, that the Valeyard is an entity created from the distillation of the dark side of the Doctor's personality and he can only gain a truly independent existence with the Doctor's death. Although the story lacks the depth and impact of The Deadly Assassin, episode 13 is a startling piece of television and, it has to be said, that the Bakers do quite well with their concluding episode (with the obvious caveat concerning their dialogue). Holmes creates the wonderful character of Popplewick, a Dickensian clerk whose belief in a circumlocutory 'procedure' is part of the Valeyard's evil plan. There are some problems, most of which I will address later, but there are a few things that annoy me- for example the Master thanking Mel for calling him 'utterly evil' undermines the character somewhat.

Chris Clough, while he is no David Maloney, works wonders with the Matrix scenes. The Dickensian courtyard is wonderfully atmospheric and the scene of the Doctor being dragged under the beach by chthonic arms is also very memorable. There are a few silly bits (Mel being tripped up by the Keeper, for instance) but they are minor. The performances are good, with Glitz making a welcome return and an excellent performance by Geoffrey Hughes as the Popplewicks. Anthony Ainley is also very effective in his return as the Master. Bonnie Langford is still annoying as Mel, however.

So, we have watched each separate story. But that is not all that needs to be said…

Verdict
If you ignore the linking theme of the season, what you have is four respectable stories. There are many moments of near greatness in them, in Mindwarp, particularly. However, the linking theme cannot be ignored as the trial scenes permeate the entire narrative. The first point that must be made is the bizarre nature of Gallifreyan justice- the prosecutor can add charges at will, the Doctor is held responsible for things he hasn’t done yet. It would appear that the most the writers had done was half-watch a courtroom drama and get a very basic idea of legal practice. This makes the actual stories far more streamlined, but it becomes increasingly obvious that trial sequences are sometimes inserted to pad out the running time. With its theme of unreliable narration, the trial scenes in Mindwarp are the most ’necessary’, but are far from the best part of the story. By the time we get to Terror of the Vervoids, the trial scenes are pointlessly intrusive- most notably the silly part where the Doctor is revealed to have trashed the radio equipment. As a whole, the trial sequences weaken the story. A notable example is the Valeyard using a series of incidents that directly point to the secret plan of the Time Lords and, rather than removing incriminating scenes, clumsily bleeps over them. In Mindwarp it is immediately obvious that anything that occurs after the Doctor is taken out of time is a fabrication, as there is nothing there to record incidents for the Matrix. And in Terror of the Vervoids, surely the fact that the incidents in question are from the future either means that the Doctor definitely gets off and the Trial is pointless, or it is only a potential future and therefore can hardly be seen as admissible.

As I predicted, the trial scenes are visually dull- it is a big step down from the stunning opening sequence to when the lights are turned on in the trial chamber. And, speaking of the opening sequence; it is stunning, beautiful- but strangely pointless. There is no sense of the trial taking place on a giant space station- indeed it could be on Gallifrey for all that it matters to the plot.

Apart from the Doctor, the only characters to appear in every segment are the Inquisitor and the Valeyard. The Inquisitor is basically characterised and her motivation, level of authority and, indeed, knowledge of the events shown is totally inconstant- most notably when she suddenly has full knowledge of the events leading to Peri’s apparent death. Lynda Bellingham deserves credit for making the character seem believable, considering what she had to work with. Michael Jayston’s voice makes him immediately memorable as the Valeyard and it is his masterful performance that makes the character so memorable. It certainly isn’t the writing- in fact, although we are told what the Valeyard is, we are never actually told who or what brought him into being and how (in the story’s defence, this is because the original idea- that the Valeyard is a future incarnation of the Doctor- was discarded at the eleventh hour). Nicola Bryant is, eventually denied her dramatic exit, but I am glad that Peri got to live, despite that- it would have been the most miserable exit possible, her mind being destroyed believing that the Doctor betrayed her. As I indicated before, Bonnie Langford does not agree with me, more due to irritation than incompetence.

This is, of course, the anticlimactic end of the Colin Baker era. One thing that I can definitely say in the story’s favour is how much I enjoyed his performance in this season and that he would have gone from strength to strength. Whatever the quality of the stories, he had what it took to play the Doctor and his firing (the first unwilling departure since Hartnell) was totally unwarranted.

There is a common cliché used when evaluating The Trial of a Time Lord, which I cannot improve on- it is much less than the sum of its parts. If you watch it, there is much goodness- but you will have to bite through layers of fat and gristle to get there.

NEXT: Time and the Rani