Day 653: The Trial of a Time Lord Part 14 - The Ultimate Foe Part 2

This episode isn't great. There's a good reason for that though. Script editor Eric Saward is not one of Producer John Nathan-Turner's greatest pals. They disagreed fundamentally on the direction in which the series would be going, and this all came to a head when the conclusion to The Trial of a Time Lord came to be written. Saward envisioned something written akin to Holmes's original vision for the ending of the story, which would involve a cliffhanger ending where the Doctor would be trapped in a battle with the Valeyard for all eternity. Nathan-Turner disagreed with this, which proved to be the final straw for Saward, thus he tendered his resignation and left the programme entirely whilst bad-mouthing the production office to anyone who will listen. It's a shame to lose Saward, as he's been getting progressively better as the series has been going on, but there's no denying the fact that the stories have been less consistent in terms of quality over his time as script editor, so I guess that maybe his decision will force some new life to come into the programme.

Unfortunately, that new life is Pip and Jane Baker, who were rushed in to complete this story. They aren't the most imaginative of writers, generally striving for mediocrity instead of quality. And aside from a nice sequence at the beginning featuring the Valeyard and some clever editing, and another scene involving a bait-and-switch and the Trial sequence, there's not too much to recommend this story about.

And yet, I still love this story with every fibre of my being. I love it because it's a story that's all about remembering how to write good Doctor Who stories after four series with such uneven quality as to make me consider throwing in the towel and stopping this blog altogether (I'm looking at you, Time-Flight). We've got a story in The Mysterious Planet that reminds us of how Doctor Who can be fun without being a terrible story. We've got a story in Mindwarp that reminds us of how Doctor Who can be scary without resorting to a blood-bath. We've got a story in Terror of the Vervoids that reminds us of how Doctor Who can rise above design problems, provided that the idea is strong enough. We've got a story in The Ultimate Foe that reminds us of how Doctor Who can be weird, without being incomprehensible. And above all else, we've got a story in The Trial of a Time Lord that reminds us that Doctor Who can be utterly fantastic. All I can say is, I cannot wait until tomorrow, to see what's in store in this absolutely fantastic series.

Day 652: The Trial of a Time Lord Part 13 - The Ultimate Foe Part 1

I used to have a plan for how I was going to cover this story. You see, my original plan for this story was going to be along the lines of looking at how much I adored this story upon first viewing, and mounting a spirited defense of it. This would, of course, fall apart towards the end of the story, due to the fact that I did not like The Ultimate Foe on first viewing. Then The Armageddon Factor came along, another story which I disliked on first viewing, and I found myself quite enjoying it. Annoyingly, this meant that I had to chuck out all of those plans because there was now the chance that I would enjoy The Ultimate Foe. And sure enough, it's not that bad.

It's got an awful lot of things in it that bear mentioning. For a start, there's the revelation of the nature of the Valeyard where we discover that he is in fact a future incarnation of the Doctor, from somewhere between his twelfth and final incarnations. It's a clever and remarkably insane twist, that's surprisingly underplayed when it's revealed. The only shame is that it's revealed with only two episodes lieft to go, meaning that there's a feeling of a missed opportunity. We could have had a story dealing on the nature of evil within the Doctor, or the duality of the two men facing off against one another, but instead we get the character as just another villain for the Doctor to face off against as the story comes to a close.

There's also another, sadder fact to mention. This episode is the last thing that Robert Holmes wrote before he died. He's been a fantastic writer for the series, concentrating on brilliant and well-drawn characters as well as wonderfully witty dialogue and fantastic stories. His episodes have been consistent highlights of the series and he remains sorely missed. But still, time marches on, and we'll have to see what was done to resolve the issue of the fact that they now have Part 1 of a 2 part story with no ending and no writer to write it tomorrow.

Day 651: The Trial of a Time Lord Part 12 - Terror of the Vervoids Part 4

The end of Terror of the Vervoids has the Doctor killing all of the Vervoids, mainly in self defense, for if any of them were to survive then they would destroy all animal life on Earth. It's an ending that doesn't feel that out of place, considering the generally darker tone that stories have been taking over the past few series, as well as the fact that the Doctor is able to immediately justify his actions. That said, it still feels out of place, and is quickly followed up on in the trial scenes.

Here, it is clearly pointed out that the Doctor has committed genocide, and that that is a bad thing. He's going to be punished for this, and it's quite clear that the trial will find the Doctor guilty of a number of offences. And, in a way, he deserves it. The series has been getting too focussed on action for its own good, and that's leading to all sorts of problems for various stories, as we see the Doctor act out of character time and time again. The series needs to desperately reinvent itself, and although we're beginning to see elements of that reinvention in The Trial of a Time Lord, it's perhaps going to be a little while before that reinvention finally takes place...

Day 650: The Trial of a Time Lord Part 11 - Terror of the Vervoids Part 3

The Vervoids are strange creatures, plants that have become sentient and now wish to destroy all humans. They also look ridiculously rude. It's easy to see why, they wanted to go for an image of a flower in bloom, but accidentally invoked more of an image of genitalia. And whilst it's easy to look down on this moment and say that it's another example of the series going horribly wrong, I choose to look at it in another way.

We've just come off a couple of series where, if something in the story isn't up to scratch, then the entire story falls on its face. We've had disasters like Time-Flight, Arc of Infinity, The Twin Dilemma, Warriors of the Deep and Timelash where one small little problem seems to cascade into a lot of larger problems. But Vervoids doesn't go that way. Instead, we just have this problem of design of the costume, and not much else. It's not a perfect story, but it's still quite enjoyable, and that's more than can be said of the previous stories, all of which were unambiguously awful. So we're now able to see a production team finally get back on its feet, ready for all new challenges that face it and hopefully with less stories of uneven quality.

Day 649: The Trial of a Time Lord Part 10 - Terror of the Vervoids Part 2

One of the interesting things about this story is its genre. It's a simple mystery story, where the villain has not yet been revealed, so we follow the Doctor and Mel as they try to find the culprit behind the series of murders that have been ocurring on this spaceship. And in a time when I occasionaly yearn for Doctor Who to try new things and new story ideas, I'm going to be a bit hypocritical and say that this isn't that bad. It's written well, by Pip and Jane Baker, who make a nice pacy adventure that's quite enjoyable, if a little average.

But it's also a return to the heart of storytelling in Doctor Who. The series is allowed to work in any genre that it likes, but in the past few stories, it feels like it's just been action-adventure science fiction stories. So it's nice to have a change, and to see something different being done by the series, so as to remind the audience that Doctor Who can do a lot of things, not just generic science fiction stories.

Day 648: The Trial of a Time Lord Part 9 - Terror of the Vervoids Part 1

The interesting thing about this story is the way in which it is told. The eponymous trial that the Doctor is undergoing is using evidence from the Doctor's adventures, with the previous two being taken from his past. This adventure, however, bucks the trend and chooses to go for an adventure from his future. We thus get a new companion, Mel, who we've never met before (and indeed will never properly 'meet'; we will never get a 'proper' introduction story for her character), as well as a few other things, such as a calmer temperament for the Doctor, showing that his character has evolved since the time which the trial has taken place.

But more than that, it also shows how the production team have chosen to take advantage of the format of the overall story arc. Instead of just confining themselves to the events of the past, they have decided that, since this is a show about time travel, they can nip into the future and tell a story that way. Granted, aside from the addition of Mel, there's not much to distinguish it from any other story that could have been told, but it's the thought that counts, and I appreciate this story for that fact.

Day 647: The Trial of a Time Lord Part 8 - Mindwarp Part 4

The general conceit of Mindwarp is that, at the end of Part 1, the Doctor undergoes a sudden brain trauma that leaves him on the side of evil rather than good. It's distressing to watch, particularly as events proceed in such a manner to suggest that we may have passed the point of no return, and that all might be lost. Fortunately, however, halfway through Part 3, the Doctor regains his full mental faculties and begins to create a resistance movement. He also has to now save Peri, who is now facing the prospect of having her entire mind wiped and replaced with that of Kiv, Sil's boss.

And, 10 minutes from the end of Part 4, it would appear that all is proceeding as planned. But then the Time Lords capture the Doctor, and take him away to be put on trial. And, after that, everything goes wrong. Peri dies. The transplant between Kiv's mind and her mind was successful, and her entire consciousness ceases to be. There are rare moments when the series gets as dark as this, where the Doctor's companion and friend dies as a result of the Doctor's negligence and inability to save them.

But this moment had to happen, to show the impact of the Doctor's actions, and how it could perhaps lead to moments such as this. And, for a brief second, we understand fully why the Doctor is on trial, and leads us to the conclusion that perhaps he should be found guilty, because if he caused this, then maybe he should be punished.

Day 646: The Trial of a Time Lord Part 7 - Mindwarp Part 3

A small thing grabbed my attention when I first watched this episode, and is, in my opinion, one of the most absolutely lovely parts of the story. Now, there exists a character called Crozier, who is currently trying to perform a brain transplant for Kiv, an alien creature who acts as Sil's boss. Now, at one point in the story, Crozier is standing around in his lab, having a cup of tea, whilst observing Kiv. His assistant then notices something odd and asks for Crozier's opinion. Crozier, remaining spookily calm, begins to say what the problem is, finishes his cup of tea, and then completes his sentence, saying that Kiv is going into cardiac arrest.

It's a small moment in the story, but it's an example of why I'm so fond of the character of Crozier. He's clearly a mad scientist, but he underplays his insane side so much that one could see him as perfectly normal. The only problem is, the work that he is doing is so abnormal that it reveals his true madness. It's all thanks to the performance by Patrick Ryecart, who underplays everything so well that it creates a truly believable mad scientist (unlike, say, Professor Zaroff in The Underwater Menace), which greatly improves the quality of this story and helps me to enjoy it again once more.

Day 645: The Trial of a Time Lord Part 6 - Mindwarp Part 2

Yesterday, I mentioned how unnerving this story is, and how I struggled to find much fun in it. For the most part, this continued for this episode, as I was frequently unnerved, and on one occasion thoroughly frightened by what was on screen in front of me. But, there was one thing which I'd somehow neglected to think about when considering whether this story had much fun within it. That thing is, of course, BRIAN BLESSED.

BRIAN BLESSED is one of those actors who instantly improves anything that he appears in, through his charismatic and loud portrayals of various characters such as Prince Vultan in Flash Gordon, Boss Nass in The Phantom Menace (a thoroughly underrated film, in my opinion) and of course King Yrcanos in Mindwarp. Every scene that he is in involves him shouting his dialogue before threatening violence on someone. And whilst this may not be a fully fleshed out 3-dimensional character, it is still something that you can't quite draw your eyes away from. It vastly improves this story, and helps to remind me of why I fell in love with it in the first place.

Day 644: The Trial of a Time Lord Part 5 - Mindwarp Part 1

There's a large part of me that finds the process of watching Mindwarp rather odd. Because, after watching it for the first time at the age of 18, I believe that this was my favourite Doctor Who story of all time. Now, this isn't the case at the moment (I'd give that honour to either Kinda, The Ribos Operation or Frontier in Space), so I'm watching this story being fully aware that I once loved it, and I'm struggling to see why.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think that this story is bad. I actually think it's rather good, it's just that I can't really see the parts of this story that made me love it a couple of years ago, compared to now. For a start, everything is remarkably dark in tone, with everything feeling just that bit more serious and slightly unnerving, such as Peri's reaction to meeting Sil again where she gets noticeably more worried and frightened of this creature. And whilst this is well played, it doesn't quite make me love this story, instead it leaves me rather distressed. But I'm still curious to see more of this adventure, and I'll see whether I can rediscover the point where I fell in love with this story.

Day 643: The Trial of a Time Lord Part 4 - The Mysterious Planet Part 4

The dichotomy at the heart of the climax of The Mysterious Planet is one which reflects the nature of Doctor Who at the moment. Around five minutes in, Queen Katryca gets horrifically killed, with the end result being that her entire body gets covered in blood in a rather nasty experience. This is contrasted later on in the story when Balazar, another ally of the Doctor's gets covered in a green gunge, as if he's just won the Kids' Choice Award on Nickelodeon. The dichotomy present is that between the two ways in which Doctor Who is produced at the moment: a world of blood and a world of gunge.

You see, the world of blood is often violent, serious and gritty, while the world of gunge is far lighter, with more fun and happiness thrown into the mix. Both of these methods can produce good stories, but it's apparent that these two methods cannot co-exist, in particular because a portion of the audience wants more stories like The Caves of Androzani, while others want more stories like City of Death, and there isn't that much crossover between those two adventures. So the production team has to decide on the style of programme that they wish to make, one that's serious and gritty or one that's light-hearted and fun. On the basis of The Mysterious Planet, I'd say that they're leaning towards the gunge option, although the next adventure, if memory serves me right, is really very bloody indeed.

Day 642: The Trial of a Time Lord Part 3 - The Mysterious Planet Part 3

One of the major criticisms levelled at The Trial of a Time Lord is its trial. The general conceit of the story is that the Doctor has been placed on trial by his own people for breaking various laws. As part of this trial, evidence is being shown from some of the Doctor's adventures, as claims are made as to his conduct. Criticism is levelled at this idea for generally intruding on the adventures, as every five minutes a scene where the Doctor is forced to explain himself is added into the story, which doesn't improve the 'flow' of the story.

And yet, I actually really like it. I like it because the writers have the sense to use this concept and play with some aspect of it. Holmes, for instance, chooses to have certain parts of this story removed, as they are not deemed safe enough to be put on the public record and thus are censored for the purposes of the trial. This introduces a small mystery to the events, and makes for a slightly more intriguing adventure. It's a nice introduction of a story arc and gives a sense of continuity across the whole story, which improves the story immensely, in my opinion.

Day 641: The Trial of a Time Lord Part 2 - The Mysterious Planet Part 2

One of the things that I really love about The Mysterious Planet is the above screen grab. This story was made in 1986, and thus things like computer graphics weren't that great. But, they were better than nothing, and people would jump at the chance to use them, even in situations where a practical effect would work just as well and give a better result. In this instance, computer effects have been used in order to add a wooden stick into the frame, giving the impression that you are looking out from the window of a hut. But this effect doesn't entirely work as intended, unfortunately.

It looks like someone has taken a picture, imported it into MS Paint, and then gotten their 5 year old child to draw a stick on top of it. It looks unrealistic, cheap, and completely fails to achieve this relatively simple effect (indeed, on first viewing, I was perplexed as to what it was meant to be representing). And yet, I love it for all of those reasons. These are people who aren't afraid to try new things, and who don't shy away from their failures. Sure, it's not the best effect in the world, but it has a fair amount of charm behind it, and at the very least, it gives me a lot of nostalgia for when I was 5 years old and mucking about on MS Paint, creating alien vistas, majestic buildings, and unrealistic sticks.

Day 640: The Trial of a Time Lord Part 1 - The Mysterious Planet Part 1

I love The Trial of a Time Lord. It's actually one of the stories that I was most looking forward to covering in this blog, as I really enjoyed the experience of watching it the last time I saw it, which was just after finishing my final exams in high school. I needed something to get my mind away from all of the doom and gloom that's associated with waiting for results. Thankfully, 'Trial' delivered that in spades, providing stories that were about having fun, as well as more complex stories that grab the audience's attention with some interesting character moments.

Of these two story types, The Mysterious Planet is chiefly in the 'fun' section, in my opinion. It's written by Robert Holmes, but it's not the serious Holmes that wrote The Caves of Androzani, instead it's a lighter tale, akin to The Ribos Operation. The distinction can be best shown in the way in which the characters are drawn. For Caves, all of the characters were written with a slightly evil streak to them, and whilst this made them more complex, it also meant that you could never find yourself to really like any of them, which, given the tone of Caves, works to the story's advantage. For The Mysterious Planet, on the other hand, all of the characters are given a wit and warmth that, even if they appear to be antagonists, you can still clearly enjoy their company. Two examples of this are Glitz and Dibber, where they are rogueish characters who may have tried to kill the Doctor, but we're also allowed to make jokes with them about prison psychologists or the phrase "Take me to your leader".

It all creates a nice atmosphere, that I actually really appreciate. And whilst it may not be the best thing for the series at the moment, I still utterly love it.

Day 639: Revelation of the Daleks Part 2

There's a lot to talk about with regards to Revelation of the Daleks. There's the brilliant idea behind Davros' plan to save the Universe, where he solves the problem of food shortage in the Universe by selling human bodies as food. There's the questionable acting of Jenny Tomasin, who portrays what could have been the slightly worrying character of Tasambeker too over the top, making her scenes less tragic and more laughable. There's also the implication of a Dalek Civil War, which will be elaborated upon in the next Dalek story, which we'll cover in around a month or so. But in the end, the main thing that draws attention is the ending.

The Doctor and Peri are having a discussion of where they'll go next. He suggests somewhere peaceful, she wants somewhere fun. He's about to suggest a location for the next story, when the camera suddenly freeze-frames and we cut to the credits. There was, it turns out, going to be an ending to that sentence but the audience was destined never to hear it as this was to be the last Doctor Who episode broadcast for eighteen months. This is the first break that the series will undergo, before another one four years later, effectively killing the series. This is the beginning of the end for Doctor Who.

And it's a shame to see it go. Over the past few stories, there have been some misfires of great magnitude (Timelash, The Twin Dilemma) but there have also been some stories that I personally adore, such as The Two Doctors, Vengeance on Varos, The Caves of Androzani, or even this very story, Revelation of the Daleks. There have been some great ideas that have been well executed, but the only problem is that sometimes thing can slip through the cracks, leaving stories that are less than desired. And it's hard to watch Warriors of the Deep and say that this is a television series that deserved to be made.

But the important thing to remember is that this is a break, and maybe it will allow for the production team to come back, refreshed and ready to take on new challenges with a new desire to do well. And even is the show is doomed, I'd much rather see it go out in a blaze of glory with some truly fantastic and ground-breaking stories, than let it fester with some less than desired adventures. We can but hope.

Day 638: Revelation of the Daleks Part 1

Revelation of the Daleks is a story that feels like it should be something else. It's a Dalek story written by Eric Saward (Resurrection of the Daleks, Earthshock), so you get the idea that it's going to be a simple action story, without too much plot but with enough going on to prevent the audience from getting bored. But it subverts those expectations massively, and proves to be something quite different.

What we get is Eric Saward trying to write a Robert Holmes story, and actually succeeding. It's filled with witty dialogue and memorable characters such as the assassin Orcini, who states of his squire, Bostock, that "the only philosophy practised by Bostock is to do as little about his personal hygiene as possible". It shows that Saward is showing an interest in changing what he does as a writer, and also the real influence of The Caves of Androzani, that allows for him to realise that perhaps what the audience wants is a well written story through characters, plot and dialogue, and not through action scenes, special effects and returning monsters.

I mention that last point because, even though this story does feature the Daleks, it really doesn't at all. The focus of the story is clearly on Davros and his plans, and not on the work of the Daleks. Indeed, I can't recall them even firing their guns at anyone in this episode, least of all the Doctor, who hasn't even met them yet. It all comes across as the Daleks being somewhat of an obligation to have in this story, and that what Saward really wants to do is focus on the character of Davros and his motivations. And, you know what, all power to him. Because I'm actually rather enjoying the direction that this story is taking and it's making me look forward to the future work by Saward in Series 23. But we've still got one more episode to go, so we'll wait a little bit to see what happens in tomorrow as Revelation of the Daleks comes to a conclusion.

Day 637: Timelash Part 2

Meanwhile in this story, there
is an actual sock puppet acting as
an antagonist.

20 minutes into Timelash Part 2, Paul Darrow gets killed. Given that he is the only good thing about this story, it is clear that the rest of this episode isn't going to be that great.

25 minutes into Timelash Part 2, the Borad gets killed. Given that he is the main villain of the story, you could be forgiven for thinking that the story ends there. But unfortunately, it doesn't. Instead, there's around 20 minutes left of Timelash to go. 20 minutes of padding and waiting for the credits.

There's also the Timelash, which is
made out of tin foil. Clearly a lot of
effort went into this story.

I'm not going to say that these are the worst 20 minutes of Doctor Who ever produced. But I will say that I was shouting at the TV throughout it and begging for it to end. Every single fault in the story becomes so much larger when it becomes apparent that there's no story to base anything on. The Doctor becomes even less likeable, at one point picking Peri up and almost throwing her out of the TARDIS control room. That said, he's nothing compared to Herbert, who brings a sense of irritation to Doctor Who that hasn't really been felt since Matthew Waterhouse's performance as Adric in The Visitation.

Once entering the Timelash. we
discover that it's made of
styrofoam and tinsel. You can almost
taste the effort that went into the story.

And there's even worse yet to come. There's a thoroughly unconvincing explosion that makes you wonder whether any thought was given to the very notion of special effects in this story, but you believe that the Doctor is dead. Then the Borad shows up, where he reveals that the one that was killed earlier was just a clone. This plot development is given virtually no prior warning and is never expanded upon, making it even more painfully clear that this scene has been shoehorned in at the last moment because there are still 5 minutes left to fill. Then the Doctor shows up, where he reveals that he survived the explosion. He doesn't bother elaborating on why this is the case, which acts as a further example of how lazy the writing is in this story. But he saves the day, and reveals to the audience that Herbert was actually HG Wells. This, in turn, reminds me of how much of a missed opportunity this was, and how there could have been a really good story where the Doctor meets HG Wells. But instead we get Timelash, a sorry excuse for a story that I'm thoroughly glad is over.

Day 636: Timelash Part 1

There's not much to like about Timelash. The script is uninspiring, the acting is generally non-existent (with the exception of Paul Darrow, who makes it reasonably watchable), and the direction is somewhat flat. More to the point, it fails to engage the audience with any sort of hook, instead it just has events happen and it expects the audience to be interested in them.

An example of a lack of any sort of hook for the story is how they attempt to bludgeon in some continuity by saying that the Third Doctor and Jo have previously visited here. But it fails to do anything interesting for the plot, aside from providing the villain with a motivation for revenge. There is potential in the idea, if the script decided to have a far greater showing of the Doctor's influence. But as for now, it feels like a 'fun fact' about the planet, which whilst somewhat diverting, fails to be of any substance whatsoever.

Still, at least it's not offensively bad like The Twin Dilemma. Although, at least The Twin Dilemma was interesting in its awfulness, whereas this is just completely uninspiring.

Day 635: The Two Doctors Part 3

Whilst I do rather enjoy The Two Doctors, I will admit that it does have a few issues with it that prevent it from being a truly great story. Looking at the issues in detail, however, it's clear that one of them is oddly one of the story's highlights, whilst the other represents a low point for the series.

The first thing that I wish to talk about is the Sontarans. Their role in this story is to generally act as another party with respect to the work being done by Dastari and Chessene, with a keen interest in their work with time-ships. However, they don't really make that much of an impact on the plot. Aside from an attack on the space station at the beginning, the vast majority of work that the Sontarans do in this story is stand around and plan to double cross their allies, until they find that they themselves have been double crossed. It's kind of a waste of a good race of aliens, and leaves me with the impression that the story might have been better without them.

Which is a bit of a shame as it's actually one of the best depictions that we've had of the Sontarans. This is to be expected, given that they are being written by their creator, Robert Holmes, who brings them a return to their militaristic roots. It feels like all of their discussions are of battle plans, fighting and war. This is carried through to the production, with Peter Moffatt directing the Sontarans to be full military caricatures, having them march into scenes and continue to stand up straight like the officers that they are. It's also present in the music by Peter Howell, as can be heard above, which is a nice effective march, getting across the general notion of the Sontarans in around 30 seconds of music. So what we end up with is a story that doesn't need the Sontarans, but ends up having them as one of the highlights.

The same cannot be said, however, for the other major downfall of this story. Towards the climax, Shockeye, the villain desperate to taste human flesh, begins a hunt for the Doctor. This culminates in the Doctor putting a cloth that has been doused with cyanide over Shockeye's mouth, causing him to convulse, before dying. The Doctor then delivers a quip about the death and moves on. This is another awful moment for the Doctor, as he kills another being in cold blood, and although Shockeye was unrelentingly evil, it still doesn't excuse the fact that he killed him. It leaves a sour taste in the mouth after a rather good story, and serves as a constant reminder of why I can't really look upon this era of Doctor Who and say that it's one of my favourites.

Still, at the very least, at least there's been nothing too bad so far this series. The Two Doctors has certainly been very fun, Vengeance on Varos had a good concept and at least Attack of the Cybermen and The Mark of the Rani were watchable. What could possible go wrong?

Day 634: The Two Doctors Part 2

I think that the writing of The Two Doctors is easily the strong point, and that's thanks to Robert Holmes, a returning writer for Doctor Who, who has worked for the series off and on since The Krotons, and previously wrote the acclaimed story The Caves of Androzani. Here, he's given a challenge, where he has to shoehorn in two Doctors, two companions, a returning enemy, a new enemy, a foreign location and make it all into a palatable piece of television. He succeeds, in part thanks to the return of an old friend to the series, or what could be seen as an old enemy, the longer story.

Longer stories have been part of Doctor Who since the second serial, which was 7 parts long in duration. That said, they aren't perfect, and they can occasionally grow boring as it becomes apparent that there's only enough plot to fill an episode for four episodes and now it is being stretched out to six or more (e.g. The Daleks, The Monster of Peladon). However, they tend to allow for a story of more depth, allowing more time for character development or more complex plots (e.g. Doctor Who and the Silurians, The War Games). In this case, it is quite apparent that it is needed for a story of this scale, in order to make it worth watching and not a large mess, but there's also the underlying issue of keeping the audience interested throughout the adventure.

Holmes manages this with aplomb, through various methods. For a start, he ensures that the characters are all worth watching and have their own motivations that are interesting enough to hold the story in their own right. There's Chessene, a genetically modified being with delusions of grandeur, or Dastari, the person who augmented her and wishes for her to be made into a godlike creature. There's also Oscar Botcherby, an actor who has a dramatic turn of phrase but a wish to not really get into trouble, or Shockeye, the alien cook who wishes to taste human flesh.

The villains are also given enough menace to make them believable and somewhat frightening as well, such as can be seen in the cliffhanger to this episode where Shockeye's hands move towards Peri in a point of view shot, giving a truly creepy and disturbing feeling to the cliffhanger and making him feel like a tangible threat. This is clearly one-up to The Mark of the Rani, which felt that you could make a good villain by just giving them good dialogue. That's not to say that there's any shortage of good dialogue here, with plenty of witty exchanges between the characters, that are given just the right turn of phrase by the actors playing them that they can turn from a slightly odd thing to discuss to something weirdly hilarious, such as Shockeye's desire to eat human flesh. It all keeps the story interesting, which is something that is certainly needed as this is an awfully long story.

But, I'm rather happy to spend all of this time with this story, as it's clear that it's being written by a master of his craft, in the form of Robert Holmes. I'm actually quite glad that he's now seemingly returned to the programme for the long term, and I look forward to future work from him, as it seems like he's never been away.