Warriors’ Gate

Warriors’ Gate has to be the centrepiece of the Doctor Who Renaissance that was season 18. It is a visually stunning and thought provoking story that can be discussed endlessly, but is not alienating for children- it certainly mesmerised the four year old me when it was broadcast. The premise is a simple one- the TARDIS is at the gateway between E-Space and N-Space, a featureless white void, in which they are trapped with a slave ship. However, Stephen Gallagher manages to tap all the potential of this premise- the slaves are Tharils, time sensitives who can phase in and out of space/time and navigate through hyperspace. The Tharils are ruthlessly exploited now, but they were one the oppressive masters of an empire of their own. The nature of the Tharils brings to mind some of the rudiments of quantum theory, and the influence of and references to the I Ching complement this wonderfully. The Doctor is saved by doing ‘the right kind of nothing’- in the gateway, it seems, making a choice reduces the space and one is trapped there the more one acts. Rorvik and his crew are doomed as they continue to act, even beyond the point when it would be rational to stop. However, this story is not just a musing on cosmology- it is full of fantastic dialogue and memorable characters with a plot that is dispensed with not a hint of padding.

To complement this is one of the most astounding televisual presentations of twentieth century television. Director Paul Joyce is influenced by Cocteau (the sets of La Belle et la Bête, visual imagery from the Orphic Trilogy) Welles (the long tracking shots that open the story) and creates a truly unforgettable experience. The story is full of memorable images- the spinning coin, Biroc’s entry into the TARDIS, the Gateway and what lies beyond, the axe-wielding Gundan robots. The lighting is skilfully atmospheric , with excellent set design and costumes. Joyce also marshals the cast into a truly fantastic set of performances. Not one actor is anything less than first rate, but special mention has to be made of Clifford Rose as Rorvik. Gallagher’s script makes everyone believable and Rose is excellent as a sadistic slave trader whose crew, nevertheless, have genuine respect for him.

This is Lalla Ward’s last outing as Romana and she is astonishing in it and earns her right to be E-Space’s equivalent of the Doctor. Tom Baker is genuinely galvanized by the very strong material he has to work with and even Adric does not offend in his (very limited) role here. This is also the last appearance of K9. Although the character has been somewhat marginalised in this season, he is great in this, spouting probabilities like prophecies. John Leeson always made K9 charming and it is sad to see him go.

This is a truly unmissable story that will stay with the viewer long after it has ended.

NEXT: The Keeper of Traken

State of Decay

It is surprising that the Hinchcliffe/ Holmes ‘Gothic Horror’ era never did a vampire story (actually there is a boring production based reason) but we finally get one in the form of State of Decay, from the ever present pen of Terrance Dicks. Dicks’s script takes influences from the classics of Vampire fiction (well, two of them anyway). We have the ancient castle where the vampires live and the peasants who cluster around it ‘like ducklings’ and who live in fear of their vampire lords and owe them tribute. Of course, this is adapted into a Doctor Who context, with the castle being a spacecraft and the traditional vampires that are seen are a mere shadow of the ancient evil beneath the castle, an ancient enemy of the Time Lords. The script blends horror with musings of the decline of civilisations and evolution of language and the effect of the collective unconscious on legend. There is some deft characterisation, especially in the portrayal of the dynamic of the ‘Three Who Rule’, although the rest of the characters are less well drawn- the peasants and their society are not portrayed with the same degree of care as the vampires. There are some things left unexplained- what is ‘The Wasting’ (are they the bats, if so the Three Who Rule are running a protection racket!) and what exactly is the significance of the Chosen Ones?

However, the story is further strengthened by its very impressive realisation. The sets, especially for the castle interiors are gorgeous, with some very effective matte shots being used for the throne room and the blood-red brickwork for the castle corridors are a welcome touch. The miniature shots for the castle are superbly detailed, unlike other miniature efforts in the past. The only production let downs are some of the shots of bats attacking and the realisation of the Great Vampire. I can just about forgive the giant hand, but the terrible shot of the creature on the scanner is awful. Peter Moffat directs the scenes with an elegant simplicity, although he is rubbish at fight scenes.

The cast are first rate- the Three Who rule are terrifyingly cadaverous, but it is clear that they are inhibited and controlled- witness their ritualistic hand-washing. Moffat has the Three arranged in tableaux for several scenes, which seems ‘stagey’ at first, but becomes more appropriate as one understands the story more. Zargo and Camilla are king and queen but Aukon is the one who communes with the Great Vampire. The Three are excellently performed, with special mention for the wonderful Emrys James as Aukon. Tom Baker is wonderful, with the Doctor driven by more than his usual desire to right wrongs. Lalla Ward’s Romana performs the role of Mina Murray very well, although, with Camilla, the influence shifts from Dracula to Le Fanu’s Carmilla (Camilla shows signs of being a lesbite, or lesbian vampire). Matthew Waterhouse is wisely kept in the background and doesn’t manage to be too annoying.

Despite its faults, State of Decay has something in it for all Doctor Who fans and is great fun.

NEXT: Warriors’ Gate

Full Circle

Full Circle marks the beginning of the Doctor's adventures in E-Space. This is the first time a script has been written by a Doctor Who fan and, happily, Andrew Smith does not wade in with continuity-obsessed wish fulfilment, instead contributing an intelligent, well written science-fiction story. The script is typical of Christopher Bidmead's more scientifically literate outlook on the programme, and the story deals with questions of evolution and development and stagnation of societies. We are shown a group of humanoids living on a crashed Starliner who are seeking to leave the planet Alzarius for what they believe to be their planet of origin, Terradon. However, Alzarius goes through a cycle called Mistfall, when the air becomes suffused with gases from the Alzarian marshes, from which emerge the Marshmen, an amphibious race of humanoid reptilians- and the Doctor and Romana find that the inhabitants of the starliner are more closely linked to Alzarius than they thought.The script is full of good dialogue and the plot is developed well over the four episodes (if a little slow paced at times). The Marshmen are not depicted as monsters- indeed there are no real villains in the story- but as an intelligent, if very different life form.

The characterisation is not bad, but there are no real stand-outs. There are, however, some very effective performances from James Bree, Alan Rowe and the wonderful George Baker. However, this story is also famous for introducing a regular character who has not had the best press. Matthew Waterhouse's performance can best be described as watchable, but amateur. His line delivery is acceptable, but he seems unsure of what to do when he is not speaking. To be fair, the other outlers are not much good either- although Richard Willis has a good screen presence as Varsh and Bernard Padden is fascinatingly lugubrious.

Where this story triumphs is in its visuals. Alzarius is realised by beautifully shot locations and atmospheric set designs and Peter Grimwade uses long takes with interesting camerawork in the studio. It's not visually dynamic, but certainly shows a deep understanding of the material. The scenes with the spiders are genuinely shocking and Grimwade's treatment of the Marshmen is inspired. Of special note is the tragic figure of the Marshchild, which is shown as a terrified innocent ripped out of its home to die in a strange place.

Tom Baker puts in one of his best performances in this story- keeping his sense of humour but livid at the callous treatment of the Marshchild. Lalla Ward supports ably, although her scene of possession (the first time a companion had been possessed in years) could have been better played.

Full Circle is, incidentally, the first Doctor Who story I watched in full at the time of transmission, with the spiders bursting out of the fruit being my first 'behind the sofa' moment (although my family's sofa was against the wall, meaning I had to face my fears). Twenty-eight years on, I still found it a highly enjoyable story, well worth a watch.

NEXT: State of Decay

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

The Leisure Hive

The Leisure Hive marks the biggest stylistic change in Doctor Who since Spearhead from Space, something which is obvious from the start. For the first time, someone other than Delia Derbyshire has realised the theme tune. Peter Howell’s arrangement is the earliest one I remember and I still think it is a very good reinterpretation of the Grainer/Derbyshire original.

But onto the story. David Fisher shows us Argolis, a world that has been ravaged by nuclear war, whose sterile survivors have constructed the titular Leisure Hive- a recreation complex that aims to teach the value of tolerance to the Galaxy as a lat gift to the ages. However, the Leisure Hive is on the brink of bankruptcy, just at the time when the Hive’s pioneering science of tachyonics might provide hope for the doomed Argolin race. How much of this is Fisher’s is unclear- the tone is somewhat more serious than his previous contributions, probably due to Christopher Hamilton Bidmead being the script editor. However, the script is by no means mirthless, showing that Bidmead knew the value of carefully used humour. Whoever was the main force behind the script, it is very effective. There is very little padding (this is, incidentally a rather short four parter, running only 90 minutes in total) and there is some very effective world building. We have the dying Argolins, whom the war have mutated into a race with a long youth and middle age, but a very rapid old-age. They were the aggressors in the war and are now attempting to atone. Their former enemies, the Foamasi, are a somewhat socialistic reptilian race who have, nevertheless, have fringe groups devoted to capitalism. The characters are very well written, with Pangol, the bellicose youngster Argolin contrasting well with Mena’s dignified elder.

However, what really distinguishes the story is the direction, from the very first scene which begins with a very long tracking shot of Brighton Beach. Lovett Bickford seems to have abandoned the usual method of studio direction – sitting in the gallery and cutting from camera to camera. Here, every shot has been planned and individually lit, meaning that the editing was done mainly in post-production. The story tries to find a new way of doing even the most basic shot- for the first time, the camera moves when the TARDIS materialises. However, The Leisure Hive is not merely a simple montage of ambitious techniques. Bickford has not forgotten the power of an arresting image, with the memorable tachyon dismemberments and the way in which the Argolins rapidly age. The scene where Brock is unmasked is edited in a genuinely terrifying way. Bickford also manages to get superb performances from the guest cast. A young, but still instantly recognisable, David Haig is superb Pangol and Adrienne Corri is very memorable as Mena. I must also comment on the relationship between Hardin and Mena, a relationship that might blossom into love in different circumstances, beautifully played by Corri and Nigel Lambert. Tom Baker’s performance is the best in what seems like ages. He is more subdued, but by no means serious and his portrayal of the aged Doctor is wonderful. Lalla Ward is wonderful as Romana, from her petulance in the early scenes to the sense given that she has grown closer to the Doctor since the previous story.

This is the beginning of John Nathan-Turner’s tenure as producer. There are still a few fans who see JNT as the ruination of Doctor Who. Whatever else he would do, it is blatantly obvious that The Leisure Hive is far superior to most of Season 17 and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

NEXT: Meglos

Shada

Shada is a tricky one to review as, obviously, what we are looking at is very much unfinished. Because bits of it were never shot it is hard to get a sense of the pacing and coherence of the thing. However, it is still possible to watch it and get a sense of the story, which is why I have decided to include it in my retrospective, in spite of the fact that it was never broadcast.

Shada was, in a sense, the end of an era and probably would have been (stylistically) the definitive example of the Douglas Adams era. The script would be instantly recognisable as Adams’ work even if it wasn’t reused seven years later as the basis for Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (the similarities are even more pronounced than in City of Death, with entire scenes being reproduced almost verbatim). As it stands, the script is a good one. It takes an idea- a scientist who wants to be God and runs away with it, with some inspired concepts such as the mind-stealing sphere and a spaceship computer that nigh-on worships its master. There is a good deal of the comedy characteristic of the era, but a fair bit of it is funny, fortunately. The dialogue is good throughout with a few exceptions: ‘They stole our brains!’ is never a good line, no matter how necessary to the plot it is. The characterisation is reasonably good, even though the key characters of Chris Parsons and Clare Keightley aren’t exactly fleshed out- apart from Arthur Dent, Adams was never very good at making his everyman characters three dimensional. However, we have the wonderful character of Professor Chronotis and the insanely arrogant and ruthless Skagra to keep our attention. The script seems to justify the length of six episodes, which is pleasantly surprising.

The standard of the production is hard to judge, as only one of the studio sessions were made, giving the studio scenes a very uniform look. However, the location scenes in Cambridge are wonderful and the Professor’s study is a fantastic set. Pennant Roberts puts in some fantastic work behind the camera (something I’d never thought I’d type)- of special note is the opening scene, where the camera circles round the seated figures of the Think Tank, which is intercut with a countdown in Roman numerals. The Krarg is a wonderfully realised monster, making a strong impression even in its brief appearance on the surviving footage. The performances are excellent, with Denis Carey being wonderful as Chronotis and Christopher Neame’s Nordic glower being used to good effect as Skagra. Tom Baker and Lalla Ward are clearly invigorated by this story and perform excellently.

Shada would not have been the best story of the season, but it would certainly have been very memorable if it had been completed. What is left of it can actually be enjoyed as a story and it is a real pity that it was not allowed to rescue what was the weakest run of Doctor Who stories for some time.

NEXT: The Leisure Hive

The Horns of Nimon

The Horns of Nimon follows in the far-from-august footsteps of Underworld, in taking inspiration from Greek myth. This time, the unfortunate Hellenic tradition to be so honoured is the story of Theseus and the Minotaur. Again, the script is not a completely uninspired reworking of the story. The Nimon are not a race insincerely promising to grant their knowledge to a benevolent but naïve population, but to the remnants of an empire that will use that knowledge to conquer and subdue. The idea on the Nimon as ‘space locusts’ is also a good one and the fact that the ‘labyrinth’ in the story is actually a circuit to channel the energy in the Power Complex is intriguing. However, the script as a whole lacks the verve that is required to make it truly memorable and lacks the payoff that it should have had.

However, that is the beginning of the problems of the story. The set design is tepid, as is the costume design. The Nimon costumes consist of bull masks, lycra bodysuits and platform boots, which means the actors wearing them have to walk in a ridiculous way to stop themselves from falling over. This is a pity, as their voices are fantastic. Kenny McBain’s visual direction is totally uninspired- at no point does he convey the ‘labyrinth’ as even a maze, let alone a shifting circuit. The performances are very disappointing- Simon Gipps-Kent is totally unconvincing as Seth (Theseus) and Janet Ellis (for whom it is mandatory for British men over 40 to have had a crush on) shows that she was no great shakes as an actress. But, of course, there is one performance that everyone remembers. Graham Crowden is...unforgettable as Soldeed, but, it has to be noted, although he is florid and sometimes completely over the top, it is not a bad performance- in fact it is one of the few things that makes the story worth watching. The regulars seem to be enjoying themselves and Tom Baker and Lalla Ward put in good performances throughout.

The main problem with the story is tone. Apologists will claim that it is not meant to be taken seriously, yet it seemed to me that the story does exactly that, but has bizarre moments of silliness, the worst of which is when the TARDIS breaks down, making a sound that makes use of every sound effect in the Goon Show arsenal. As with many stories in this season, there are ‘jokes’ but the only time I actually laughed was whenever the Skonnan Co-Pilot hisses ‘Weakling scum!’ as the Anethans. Some have pointed to the broadcast date have stated that this is Doctor Who the pantomime but, unless you were shouting out ‘he’s behind you’ in the scene where the Doctor and co are hiding in plain sight from a Nimon, the story has little to offer as festive entertainment.

In the end, this is a story that, were it not for one very entertaining performance, would be dull in the extreme.

NEXT: Shada

Nightmare of Eden

Bob Baker’s name looks very lonely in the credit sequence without the ‘and Dave Martin’ but his first solo script is probably the best he has been involved with for the programme. There are very imaginative ideas- conservation involving storing whole ecosystems on a ‘Continual Event Transmuter’, narcotics that are formed from the decay of an alien’s body and ‘warp’ flight causing two ships to become embedded in each other. The characters are believable and act in interesting ways, even if some are not that well drawn. The villains are not truly evil- Tryst has turned to drug-running to finance his conservation efforts and Dymond is more worthy of contempt than hatred. There is some excellent dialogue and the fact that the plot revolves around an ongoing crisis gives it a sense of urgency. The narcotics plotline is dealt with in a genuinely adult way- although it’s hardly Traffik or The Wire, the plot doesn’t merely broadcast the message that ‘drugs are bad’; instead it shows what motivates people to deal in them and how willing they are to deny their responsibility for the destruction of lives the that drug trade brings.

As many have said before me, BakerMartin scripts wildly overestimated what was possible on Doctor Who’s budget. This is not the case with this script, where the script demands nothing unrealistic from the budget. However, tragically, this story was evidently allocated a far smaller budget than was usual. The sets are hardly the best the programme have had- a special dishonourable mention must be given to the ‘economy class’ section of the ship, which is just a room with chairs in it. The other sets are more convincing, but it is very obvious that there aren’t many of them. The only reasonably good set is the one for the Eden environment in the CET. Then there are the monsters. The Mandrels look pretty ridiculous even before you see that they have flared legs (1979 is a bit late for flares, surely?)

The main problem with the story is the direction and, it should be said at the start, this is not director Alan Bromly’s fault. He clearly knows what to do with the camera and has an idea who the characters are and how they should interact. However, the very tight budget obviously meant the actors were under-rehearsed and there were clearly few, if any, retakes- something that is obvious in the number of fluffs and the set wobbles (nothing like as common an occurrence in the programme as a whole as lazy commentators would have you think) and monster costumes not zipping up at the back etc. The story was, in fact, produced in a similar way to the Hartnell episodes without the production team having the experience and skill of working within those restraints. Had the story been given the same level of attention as, say, Planet of Evil, this story would have been seen as a classic.

The cast is rather good, in spite of the rushed execution of the story. David Daker does good work as Captain Rigg and conveys as effectively as a family programme can a man going through a high, a comedown and withdrawal. Geoffrey Hinsliff is wonderfully officious as Fisk. Lewis Fiander’s performance as Tryst is watchable, but his attempt to do a futuristic ‘Creole European’ accent unfortunately reminds me of Stephen Fry’s Eastern European characters in A Bit of Fry and Laurie- I was half expecting Tryst to exclaim ‘You are shatting right that is what I am going to do!’ The regulars are excellent, with Tom Baker being clearly invigorated by the script and Lalla Ward ably assisting.

It’s cheap and shabby but if you forgive the many production disasters, there is an excellent story to be found here.

NEXT: The Horns of Nimon

The Creature from the Pit

Season 17 moves from art to arse in with the dread coming of The Creature from the Pit. The production is not a resounding success by any standard, but it is the script which is the real reason why this story is so awful. The premise is not a bad one- the planet Chloris is rich in vegetation (David Fisher obviously following the Terry Nation school of planetary nomenclature) but lacking in metallic ores. The only mine on the planet is owned by the Lady Adrasta and Chloris is kept at a mediæval level of development and bandits roam the land scavenging and killing for metal. Adrasta protects her monopoly ruthlessly and condemns dissenters by throwing them into the Pit to the dreaded Creature. However, the creature is not a monster, but Erato, ambassador from the planet Typhonus, which has little vegetation but has a great deal of metallic ore.

There are some nice concepts, like the egg-like Tythonian ship and Erato's method of communication. However, this is one of the very rare stories where a simple plot has been padded to bursting point and still fails to make it to four episodes, meaning that a second ending has to be clumsily grafted on. The second ending consists entirely of technobabble and mediocre special effects, which is about the worst thing it could have done dramatically- it is comprehensible, but is disconnected with most of the story preceding it, making it very unsatisfying. This is not helped by the fact that the preceding storyline is full of wandering around caves, McGuffins being lost or stolen and very basic characterisation.

Christopher Barry fights valiantly to make the story at least watchable, but he fights a losing battle. There are some nice sets, but the costumes are mainly leftovers from other BBC productions and Adrasta looks like a character from a children's version of Derek Jarman's Jubilee. Worst of all is the realisation of Erato, a giant green bin-liner with some very dodgy looking appendages in various states of tumescence. The nadir of the story (and possibly the entire programme since The Time Monster) has Tom Baker actually blowing into one of these protuberances. There is a time and a place for such visual images and, however open one's mind is, this isn't it.

The cast is either bland or overwrought, with Myra Frances strangely wavering between totally convincing as a ruthless grandee and a woman pretending to be a pantomime dame. The bandits are inexplicably attired as cavemen, but talk like low-rent Fagins, which borderlines on the offensive. The only decent performances are the, always watchable, Eileen Way and Geoffrey Bayldon's entertaining Organon. Tom Baker and Lalla Ward are clearly as unimpressed as the viewer and seem only to be interested in mollifying their own irritation.

This is road accident Doctor Who- if you do watch it, it's hard to take your eyes off it, but you still want to avoid it at all costs.

NEXT: Nightmare of Eden

City of Death

If there is one story that justifies the appointment of Douglas Adams as script editor, it is this one. It is one of those stories which I have lost count of the number of times I have seen, and it is a pleasure to revisit it. The plot itself is rather good (in fact, Adams would shamelessly reuse it in Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency!) but it is only the skeleton on which a truly wonderful script has been built. The dialogue is as sharp as a sushi knife, with quotable lines being spouted at every turn. The characters are well drawn and believable. Best of all, the humour is actually funny, rather than the clumsy attempts at hilarity in Destiny of the Daleks. As I have said before, Adams does get his science wrong sometimes, but not in a really egregious way.

However, great scripts have been let down before by inadequate realisation, so it was thankful that this story benefited from Doctor Who’s first ever foreign location shoot. The Parisian locations are beautifully shot and add an ambience that permeates the other scenes (helped by the fantastic set designs). Michael Hayes again worked with film cameraman John Walker, who has a great talent for getting very beautiful shots on 16mm film (as previously seen in The Androids of Tara) and his talent behind the camera is very much in evidence throughout. Hayes makes this story one of the most gorgeous ever made. The production is excellent throughout with some very imaginative sets and model work. Even Dudley Simpson is drawn out of the rut of woodwind flatulence he has been caught in and contributes a beautiful score- I always felt Simpson was happier with a keyboard than an orchestra.

He is helped, of course, by a superlative guest cast. The team of Tom Baker and Lalla Ward really come into their own here and their performances are truly joyous, getting everything possible out of the wonderful script and clearly having the time of their lives. Julian Glover returns to Doctor Who in the role of Scaroth the Jagaroth in all his human guises. Glover makes Scaroth a chilling alien monster, urbane gentleman thief, aristocrat and desperate survivor and makes them all believable as being part of the same character. He is ably supported by Catherine Schell as his wife, willingly taking on the role as consort to a thief and murderer (incidentally, to address all you wags out there, if Scaroth can make a human mask with blinking eyes, facial expression and believable hair, a convincing willy would not have been beyond him!) Tom Chadbon is great as the clueless, violent, but otherwise good-egg, Duggan and, indeed, every role is brilliantly played, even a great little performance from Peter Halliday as the guard in Leonardo's study. Then there are the two art critics…

This is truly unmissable Doctor Who- but then, you probably guessed that already!

NEXT: The Creature from the Pit

Destiny of the Daleks

Terry Nation’s final contribution to Doctor Who has a very simple premise. The Daleks are locked in a stalemate with another race, the Movellans and are looking for a way to break it- as are their enemies. To do this, they are looking for Davros, who has been in suspended animation since the events of Genesis of the Daleks. This is a good enough premise, which alone makes it more worthwhile than Planet of the Daleks. However, the problem is there is very little more to the script than its ‘high concept’ summary and it is mercilessly padded with repetition, captures and repetition. The only line of dialogue I can remember is ‘Oh look! Rocks!’ and the characterisation is practically non-existent. Douglas Adams puts in some jokes to liven the script, but they hardly raise a chuckle and sometimes work against the story- it is unwise to mock the apparent limitations of the Daleks in the script, for example. The guest performances are adequate, with the most memorable roles being the Movellans. Although they are a poorly thought out arch enemy for the Daleks (all one needs to do to immobilise one is to remove its power pack) the performers are striking to look at. Peter Straker as the Movellan commander might not be the most gifted actor, but he has incredible screen presence. It is odd that Tony Osoba is given such a minor role, however, and Suzanne Danielle has little to do except look nice (which she does extremely well, admittedly).

To compensate for this, Ken Grieve’s direction is very stylish, with Steadicam shots, long takes and interesting angles. The sets are atmospherically lit and the locations used are very evocative. The cliffhanger with Romana in a chamber with the nova device is made far better thanks to the expert camera work. The Movellens do look a bit ‘disco’, but the look is certainly memorable. In fact the only let down on the production side are the Daleks themselves, who look very shabby.

Then, of course there is Davros. David Gooderson is not exactly bad as Davros, but his performance is nothing like as good as Michael Wisher’s (as has been said by practically everyone reviewing this story). However, the fault is not entirely Gooderson’s- his voice has barely been treated with a ring modulator and he obviously has not been instructed in how to move a Dalek body- his trundling is very obvious and is quite distracting. Tom Baker is pretty much on autopilot throughout, but Lalla Ward does good work in her debut as Romana, despite the terrible regeneration scene at the beginning.

Is it worth watching? Not really, but it’s not a complete waste of time.

NEXT: City of Death