In transitioning from the irreplaceable Sarah Jane to Leela, we seemingly start to get caught up in the formula of the Baker era.
The Review
Here’s the scores for the stories:
The Face of Evil: 10/10
The Hand of Fear: 8.75/10
The Deadly Assassin: 8/10
The Talons of Weng Chiang: 8/10
The Robots of Death: 7.5/10
The Masque of Mandragona: 7/10
Maybe the season did not really start trailing off as it went along, but I simply got a bit tired of the formula. A strike against this hypothesis is the low score given to the season’s opening story, The Masque of Mandragona, a pretty dull affair in 1500s Italy. We did get one stone-cold classic in The Face of Evil, whose plot about the Doctor going up against a group of people who believe him to be their Satan truly exciting. We did get our first stuffy look at the politics of Gallifrey, in an only fine story. I know we can do better.
Story 91, Episodes 448-453, Season 14 Episodes 21-25
Doctor: The Fourth Doctor
Companion: Leela
The Talons of Weng-Chiang takes us to Victorian London for an all-around solid adventure.
The Review
That’s Jago on the left, Litefoot on the right
The Fourth Doctor and Leela continue to make a good pair on this adventure, and in about 300% more clothing than she usually wears Leela happily is less sexualized and just as strong and independent. The plot starts with a mystery at the stage show of Li’Hsen Chang who, you called it, is played by a white guy in yellow-face. There is little overt racism, but the undertones are permeating the entire story. If it was trying to do a commentary on how racist the Victorian era was, that might be something different, but it just isn’t. It’s all pretty standard stuff, and features two above-average supporting characters who will get tons of their own audio stories: Henry Gordon Jago, a blustery theater promoter, and Professor George Litefoot, a well-manned professor who was brought up in China. Maybe more explorations of British imperialism and its effect on Chinese society would’ve been interesting, but ah well. The two don’t meet until the fifth episode, but the chemistry between them points to why I presume the audio series worked.
Chang, who is a stereotype and a half
The plot continuing to reveal more and more is bread and butter Doctor Who. At first the villain is clearly Chang, then it’s revealed to be his master, the mysterious and perpetually yelling Weng-Chiang. Weng-Chiang turns out to be no ancient Chinese god, but despotic war criminal Magnus Greel from the 51st century. One of the most inventive pieces is is ‘Peking Homunculus’, a supposed ventriloquist doll that is actually some unholy toy created with a human-hating pig brain. The details starting flying a bit fast near the end, Greel needed the time cabinet taken by Litefoot’s father back from China (see, I want to know more about that!) and was experimenting with some form of energy. I suspect the rich setting may be why this one tops many people’s lists, but I never quite fell in love with the tension or just another ranting villain. Give me Sutekh’s quiet fury over screaming Greel any day.
It’s a fun, if problematic, romp through Victorian London, but is not the classic that was promised. I bet those Jago and Litefoot audios aren’t half bad though.
Story 90, Episodes 444-447, Season 14 Episode 17-20
Doctor: The Fourth Doctor
Companion: Leela
The Robots of Death is a send-up to Isaac Asimov and Agatha Christie that comes close to being an all-time classic.
The Review
Poul is like a classic Alan Cumming character
The people in this story are all humans or robots, and that is crux of the tale. Fashion tastes have gotten a little out of whack in a way that feels appropriately futuristic but means you have to spend that much more time parsing what’s going on because it all has to be mentally processed. The robots are committing murders on a sand harvester, and it’s like sci-fi Agatha Christie. This sounds like a perfect set-up for Doctor Who, but it never quite clicks into motion. David Coolings as Poul gives an Alan Cummings-esque performance until he inexplicably suffers from robophobia and collapses. He is behind D84, a smart robot investigating and auditing the robots there. The captain Uvanov is inherently untrustworthy, but then just vanishes for most of the third episode. Leela has some insight such as Paul looking like a hunter, but there’s not specific about her being here. At least the crew has two whole women!
Capel painting his face green is pretty neat
The villain is the raised-by-robots Taren Capel, masquerading as the chief engineer. We do not hear his name uttered until the third episode, and while is story wanting to lead a robot revolution is interesting I would’ve liked him to be the boy who suffered from robophobia and ran out a sand cruiser ages ago. I’ve seen that a lot of people think this story is a pulse-pounding thrill ride, and definitely has a mounting sense of dread behind every corner. However, I don’t feel that it truly goes anywhere. I do like D84, his interactions with everybody makes you truly feel for him as a person, not just as a robot. The Doctor suggests robots are nothing without humans, but D84 might be evidence against that. As for Tom Baker, he has settled in so perfectly to the role of the Doctor that you almost forget there was anyone else. He subtly has wormed his way into my head, and is going to stay there.
Robots of Death has too many frills and not enough focus on pacing. It’s unfortunate for me, but so many others love it that’s a-ok.
Story 89, Episodes 440-443, Season 14 Episode 13-16
Doctor: The Fourth Doctor
Companion: Leela
In a story that is simply genius, the Doctor has to untangle a mystery that has been haunting a far flung planet.
The Review
The Doctor really does not have time for this dude
If there’s one thing I’m a sucker for on this show, it’s mysteries that deepen and deepen and take you in places you don’t expect. We first meet the tribe of the Sevateem being haunted by invisible phantoms beyond a barrier, when warrior Leela is exiled for defying their god she runs into the Doctor who exactly resembles the ‘evil one’. The god of the Sevateem is Xoanon, and surprisingly enough he communicates to them through his servant. The tribe worships the detritus of an advanced race, their holy greeting is actually how you check the seals on a spacesuit. Even more worrying: when the Doctor talks to Xoanon, he realizes that Xoanon has his voice. This is a mystery that just gets deeper and deeper the longer it goes on, and I was completely swept in by it. We eventually get to a crashed spaceship and meet the Tish, the other tribe (survey team and techs) that are pale telepaths. Turns out Xoanon had been running one hell of a eugenics experiment.
Tom Baker as Xoanon is pretty disturbing to see
Ages ago, the Doctor tried to help the humans on this ship repair their computer, but his personality somehow got grafted into it causing it to have split-personality disorder and go insane. (I love that the twist is that these human-lookalike aliens are actually humans). The Doctor removes his personality from Xoanon, and an uneasy alliance develops. The highlight of this story is definitely Leela, a very capable companion who is always asking the right questions and has moments of practical insight better than the Doctor’s. Her skimpy clothing is offset by the men wearing similarly little attire, but she is inexplicably the only woman we see around. Some may say the ending is a bit unlikely, but the fact that the story gets us from a primitive tribe to the Doctor discussing reality with the world’s best supercomputer just hits me in all the right places. There is a true sense of mystery, and seeing the Doctor be indirectly responsible for the situation shows us the consequences of his journeys. As Leela bounds in the TARDIS against the Doctor’s will, I see a bright future ahead for this team.
This story is exactly what I look for in Doctor Who, and I loved every second of it. Praise be to Xoanon.
10/10 Felt pretty cool to be watching Leela actually on my screen!
Story 88, Episodes 436-439, Season 14 Episode 9-12
Doctor: The Fourth Doctor
In a sense, The Deadly Assassin is one of the biggest, most ambitious stories in Doctor Who history. It’s almost overwhelming how much we learn about the Time Lords. On execution though, a bizarre third episode drags it down.
The Review
Marked for death
From the beginning, an opening scroll detailing the history of the Time Lords lets you know something is up. The Doctor has a vision, the Time Lord President, gunned down. Even more shocking: he appears to the pull the trigger! The TARDIS lands unauthorized in Gallifrey, and guards unfamiliar with the Doctor attempt to track him down. The amount of world-building for Gallifrey is simply staggering, with us seeing the Panopticon where the high council meets, the very unique and now iconic Time Lord style of dress, learning the Doctor is in the Prydonian chapter. Not to mention we get an amusing look at Gallifreyan cable news and the skittish anchor Runcible. The ending is stunning: the President is killed, and the Doctor apparently shot him! The Doctor is caught and interrogated, but convinces Castellan Spandrell that he didn’t do it. It becomes apparent that the Master has, and the Doctor has to descend into a matrix of dead Time Lord consciousness to get at him.
The Master is sickening
What follows is a bizarre episode where the Doctor is in the woods trying to avoid being hunted by the acolyte of the Master, who is revealed to be Chancellor Goth, worried that he would not be named to the Presidency. This episode just completely threw me out of what was going on in Gallifrey, and really screwed up the pacing. In the fourth episode we finally get the showdown with the Master, played by Peter Pratt as a hideous decaying creature at the end of his regeneration cycle. The Master despises the Doctor and wishes him dead, something that doesn’t really square with the suave Delgado Master. Sure he tried to kill the Doctor a few times, but was just as eager for his help. Perhaps he blames the Doctor for his disfigurement, but this is never went into further. There’s even more lore as the Master tries to use the power of Rassilon, the ancient founder of the Time Lords, to restore himself before being stopped.
The Doctor isn’t President…yet
What’s really interesting about this story is how Time Lord society is portrayed. The leader that emerges from this is Borusa, a smart-tongued Time Lord who is a bit harsh but a capable leader. Capable is the least that can be said for most of the Time Lords, the Doctor blasts the Co-Ordinator’s technology as still primitive, and the Time Lords seemingly have forgotten all about Rassilon’s inventions that power all of Time Lord society. Time Lords are portrayed as so self-focused on their banal political dealings that they hardly care to know of the universe or even their own history. Perhaps if we met the ‘Celestial Intervention Agency’ or CIA that has been giving the Doctor missions such as to stop the Daleks we’d se more proactive Time Lords. Of course this isn’t to mention the entirety of Time Lord elite being white and male, the only female voice this story comes from a computer. For a show that so long has had the Doctor shrouded in mystery, even after The War Games, The Deadly Assassin changes everything.
The middle episode is a completely left turn from the rest of the story, and the amount of revelations and new information is almost overwhelming. This was a seminal event in Doctor Who, but part of me couldn’t wait to return to the standard show.
8/10 The companionless story changes everything…if only that Matrix business wasn’t there.
In the last standard adventure for the definitive companion in the Doctor Who mythos, Sarah Jane finally has enough but realizes that the Doctor was her world after all.
The Review
Sarah with the stone hand. Honestly her and the Doctor surviving the rockslide is pretty amazing
The beginning of the story featuring an unidentified figure presiding over the failed demise of Eldrad makes sense in context, but is a bizarre opening. The hook for the story is immediately engaging, in rock 150 million years old Sarah finds a stone hand and a ring. Possessed by it, she takes it to a nuclear reactor where it absorbs unheard of amounts of radiation. The image of the hand coming to life and moving around is disquieting to say the least. After some intrigue at the power plant, Eldrad is revealed, and is played with perfection in a mesmerizing androgynous performance by Judith Paris. She is so charming as Eldrad, and Eldrad’s threat so high that the Doctor abides by her requests to take her to what’s left of her home of Kastria. Eldrad manipulates the Doctor into achieving his true form who becomes just a generic chewing the scenery Doctor Who villain. Eldrad sees that his race committed suicide then live underground in fear of him, and the Doctor knocks him into a ravine. It’s a unique plot line that goes in unexpected directions and has Paris’ pitch perfect performance.
Until we meet again Sarah Jane
But, alas, it is the final outing for Sarah Jane, and her relationship with the Doctor finally comes to a head. Sarah starts off the story just as spunky and full of life as ever, while wearing another adorable outfit. Her character wouldn’t fit the modern dynamics of the show, but is the ideal embodiment of a classic companion. As has been the case throughout her time on the show, Sarah Jane is put through the ringer with being possessed by Eldrad and repeating her desire to live. Her final outburst at the Doctor for never really listening to her while she gets frustrated at the experience on Kastria is really great, but needed more foreshadowing: she seems pretty pleased to be traveling with the Doctor to that point. The Doctor doesn’t hear her quit, and then gets a call he must go where she cannot: Gallifrey. Sarah Jane suddenly realizes that leaving the Doctor would’ve been a mistake, but it’s inevitable now. As he drops her off at ‘home’, she looks around realizing that she blew it. In a kind of manic laughter, she yells at a dog and walks off whistling. For once, neither the Doctor nor the companion really wanted to part ways, but they had to. She’ll be missed.
Despite a bad screaming villain at the end, The Hand of Fear is a genuinely intriguing story, and a fitting one for the greatest companion of them all.
8.75/10 Eldrad Must Live…even if Sarah Jane must leave.
Story 86, Episodes 428-431, Season 14 Episodes 1-4
Doctor: The Fourth Doctor
Companions: Sarah Jane Smith
We head to the late 15th century in Italy where ancient helix forces are attacking because of some astrology stuff. At least masks are cool!
The Review
Giuliano on the left has a lot to do with it
Compared to a lot of the excellent stories in Season 13, Season 14 gets off to a mediocre start. The idea of the consciousness of a thing called ‘the Mandragora Helix’ trying to stunt the growth of humanity with the help of an ancient Roman cult…is pretty neat! The faux-Hamlet plot of the story is less interesting. Giuliano is the heir to the dukedom of San Martino, but his father dies at a time predicted by court astrologer Hieronymous (and all-time name). Of course he poisoned the Duke with the help of the Duke’s jealous brother, the Count Federico who looks like Lord Farquaad. Fedirico is pretty interesting a figure at least, but the two pure for this world Giuliano is not. Hieronymous is actually the leader of the Brethren, a cult to the ancient Roman Demnos (but in actuality the power of the Mandragora Helix). I do like the design of the Brethren with their bizarre gold masks in robes, of course it is reminiscent of the clockwork androids from The Girl in the Fireplace. I feel the setting would’ve been better if it was in Florence, or Rome, or something definite.
The Doctor choosing his mask
The best moment in the story comes when Federico rips off Hieronymous’ mask as the power of the Helix goes through him, revealing only pure energy underneath. (The Doctor explains the Count’s death saying he ‘gave [the Count] a blank look). The Doctor is the same as he ever was, working hard to prevent certain doom for the planet. Sarah Jane tells him his jokes get worse when the danger gets worse, and is just as perfectly capable and adorable as ever. The Doctor tries to justify a bit of astrology, which is something the new series will never ever do. We get a great scene, ‘the eponymous masque’ where the brethren dramatically reveal themselves and kill half the revelers. There’s a little plot line with the Doctor trying to meet da Vinci but their paths keep missing. This story could have been a classic, but there is not enough of the actual world-destroying danger until too late in the story. It does start out with a tiny TARDIS tour and seeing the old dusty second control room which is fun, it’s the first time since the early 60s we’ve gone past the control room. More to come!
A return to history is not quite as exciting as it could’ve been in Sarah Jane’s last happy day out.
7/10 Helix energy! After a power of the pyramids mention last season getting all kinds of debunked science.
Reviewing Doctor Who from Start to Finish 