Day 561: Four to Doomsday Part 4

This is an odd story to look at, quality-wise. The first few episodes are, in my opinion, not very good. They take too long to get to the heart of the plot, and they deal with some of the characters in appallingly bad ways. But the last half of this story is so fantastically bonkers that it almost makes up for the first half.

We learn that Monarch, the villain of the piece, is going to invade Earth for its silicon resources, as well as colonising it so that he can help to enslave the human race so that he can discover the secret of faster than light travel. He wishes to travel faster than light because he hypothesises that this will allow him to go backwards in time such that he can witness the creation of the Universe. Once he reaches the creation of the Universe, he expects to meet himself, as he is also operating under the belief that he is God. That's a really weird evil plan to have, and you have to admire Terence Dudley, the writer, for developing this plan as it certainly adds a lot more creativity than a simple "we wish to be all powerful" plot, instead going for a "I am God and I wish to meet me and rewitness the creation of the Universe" ploy.

What follows after that point is an oddly action packed couple of episodes as the Doctor rushes about trying to formulate some way of stopping Monarch, culminating in an impressive sequence as the Doctor leaps into space to reach the TARDIS. It's all surprisingly good, and makes the entire story feel a lot better. So whilst this story may have some problems, for the sheer scope of the concept that it tries to pull off, you have to admire it for what it achieves.

Day 560: Four to Doomsday Part 3

Adric is rather annoying in this story. And by rather annoying, I mean that when he was knocked unconscious halfway through this episode, I may have breathed a sigh of relief that he wouldn't be gracing the screen for another couple of minutes at least. There are several reasons as to why he's so annoying, but we can easily start with the fact that he begins the episode by being a chauvinist and proclaiming that Tegan is a horrible person because Tegan is a woman. As first impressions go, it's not terribly great. But how can he improve on this, I hear you ask? How about actually teaming up with the villain of the story who proclaims that he is going to control the human race to Adric. Adric agrees with him, and thinks that this is a wonderful idea, ignoring little concepts like love and free will, that will of course be removed once the villain gets his way. I suppose that this plot element has been introduced in order to introduce an amount of conflict between the regular characters, which makes the story more interesting as we have to ponder the moral dilemma of which one is right or not. However, because the dilemma is so blatantly one sided between good and evil, it's clear that Adric is in the wrong, and so we grow to detest him as an audience. Hopefully things will improve for the character though as the series continues, but for now we have to focus on the conclusion to Four to Doomsday.

Day 559: Four to Doomsday Part 2

This episode reminds me of Marco Polo. Watching Marco Polo for the first time around a year and a half ago, I remember being intrigued by the different way in which television was written in that time, mainly due to an extended dance sequence that took place at some point in the episode revolving around Aladdin and assassins. It spoke of a time in television that wasn't afraid to stop and show something different, and not need to revolve around little things like action, special effects, or advancing the plot. I got a similar feeling for this episode of Four to Doomsday. We get an extended sequence where the Doctor and Tegan view various representations of different cultures (albeit inter-cut with Nyssa and Adric exploring the surrounding area and trying to figure out what is happening here). The sequence features a traditional Mayan dance, followed by an exhibition of Chinese Dragons, a fight between two Greek soldiers, and as they leave a corroboree from the Aboriginal Australians begins. It's quite nice to sit back and enjoy these other cultures, but you can't help but wonder whether television has moved on from this point. We're no longer as accepting of sequences created to pad the episode out with no real intention of advancing the plot, and so it's a bit easier to get bored by what's taking place in front of you. Which is interesting, because if this had taken place in a William Hartnell story, I wouldn't have batted an eyelid. I suppose that it's just an example of the changing way in which television programmes are written.

Day 558: Four to Doomsday Part 1

This is different. The first episode of Four to Doomsday concersn itself with the Doctor and co. exploring the spaceship that they find themselves on. They meet some aliens, discover some technology, and meet some humans who are from to some of the most ancient cultures on Earth (e.g. Greeks, Australian Aborigines, etc.). There's something about this episode that feels a little bit wrong though, that differentiates it from everything else.

In my opinion, it's due to a lack of conflict encountered in their surroundings. Everything that they come across is relatively peaceful, with no real cause for alarm (aside from one or two brief mentions ofslightly  worrisome things). Even the cliffhanger, which reveals that the aliens are, at least to some degree, shapeshifters, comes across less as a massive revelation and more of a small surprise. We don't know what the consequences are of this, and prior interaction with these aliens has shown them to be fairly nice so we don't see them as a threat. All of this lack of conflict means that the story lacks a driving force that is able to truly engage the audience.

But that's not necessarily a bad thing. This first episode is clearly all about exploring the scenario that we find ourselves in, and it allows for us to have a slightly slower paced story than what we've been used to over the past couple of stories. And, as we've seen with this regeneration, change does not necessarily have to be a bad thing.

Day 549: The Keeper of Traken Part 4

The Melkur's true identity is revealed, showing him to be the Master. It's recognisably the Master, not so much from the look where he's a variation on the husk that we saw in The Deadly Assassin, but in the manner, as we see the more charming side of the character. He seeks power, and uses it for terrible things, yes, but he goes about it in such a way that you can't help but admire the man behind the actions. There's also a deperation at the heart of this Master, as he seeks a new body to replace his now cripplled one. It's an interesting motive for him to have, not to take over the Universe, but instead to just live. He fails in this venture though, as Adric somehow manages to save the day with the help of Nyssa and science. Left to die as his TARDIS burns around him, we are left wondering if the Master escapes.

But not for long. We get a small scene at the end where the Master kidnaps Tremas, one of the major characters in this story and a man who has shown himself to be generally kind and wise, and then takes over his body. Tremas is no more, killed by the Master such that he might live. It's uncomfortable to see, particularly as we have grown rather fond of Tremas over the past few episodes. But it's also uncomfortable as we see what he leaves behind. As the Master's TARDIS dematerialises, Nyssa wanders into shot, wondering where her father is. It's a moment that reminds the audience of how cruel the Master is, because he has now not only killed Tremas, he has deprived his daughter of ever seeing him as he truly is again, only his face with a new mind behind it.

Day 548: The Keeper of Traken Part 3

Another new companion is introduced in this story. Her name's Nyssa, and the incredibly obvious question that comes up as we look at her character is 'why does she become a companion?'. Her role in the story is relatively minor. She spends much of the time running around with the Doctor, Adric and and her father Tremas in order to prevent the plans of the Melkur from bearing fruit, with most of the story going towards the work of the Doctor and Tremas, with Adric fulfilling an assistant's role. Nyssa is worth pretty much nothing in this story, only existing to be nice and help everyone else.

And here's the interesting thing. Nyssa wasn't originally going to be a companion. She was brought back into the series, because the production team felt that she was a good enough character to work well enough to become a regular, even though she's had virtually nothing to do in the entire episode. It's like if Princess Astra from The Armageddon Factor became a companion. They may have worked well as a side character in their own story, but you wonder whether they'd be suited to run off with the Doctor at the end of the episode.

But still, we mustn't pre-judge, and maybe the character will work well in the future. Only time will tell though, as the serial draws to a close.

Day 547: The Keeper of Traken Part 2

The Melkur is the villain in this story, a statue of pure evil that has landed on Traken and has slowly been injecting impurities into their otherwise pure society. It's interesting to see this character, mainly because of the way in which it's portrayed between Part 1 and Part 2. In Part 1 it is a silent menace, remaining perfectly still and only moving towards the latter half of the episode. Up until that point, the only indication that life was inside it were some ominous red eyes that glowed at various intervals. Part 2, on the other hand, gives the creature voice through the actor Geoffrey Beevers. Beevers has a smooth, rich voice that gives the Melkur a slightly sinister quality, and one that adds an extra dimension to the character. And yet, the portrayal of it being silent works better in my opinion, as it makes it far more of an unknowable and worrying quantity, which creates a better villain. But, the Melkur may not be as it seems as we delve deeper into the story of The Keeper of Traken.

Day 546: The Keeper of Traken Part 1

There's a certain quality to this story as we begin it. It's set on a world that has transcended all forms of evil, a place were everyone "held together by...people being terribly nice to one another", to quote the Doctor at the beginning of the story. This transcends to the way in which the story plays itself out. Everything feels slightly more relaxed than what's come before, with the threats not being too imminent at the moment. This is done by slowing the pace of the story down, so that we're allowed to breathe and enjoy the story, by exploring the back stories of some of the supporting cast members or the planet itself. We also get a more natural set, filled with well maintained plant life that gives an air of serenity to the proceedings. All in all, it's just a lovely beginning to the story, but this is subject to change as the story slowly progresses. The Doctor has entered the story now, and brought with him a dangerous amount of chaos...