Monday, July 29, 2013

Resurrection of the Daleks

Dear Gary—
Resurrection of the Daleks is pointless. They gathered a bunch of Daleks and men with guns in a warehouse and a spaceship and just said have at it, every man for himself. They set Turlough up with one of these paint ball guns and let him loose in the game, gave Tegan a conk on the head to sideline her, and told the Doctor to just try to sort things out as best he could. Oh, and they gave him a playmate in Davros.
They did provide a couple of objectives to secure so the players weren’t quite running willy nilly about the place. Once in a while a group does make it as far as one of the objectives, but only to be slaughtered by a rival gang. Then the gangs start to break down and they all turn on each other, those that are left that is. UNIT members shooting humans; Daleks shooting Daleks; it all gets mighty confusing.
I guess it is appropriate that the Daleks are the instigators of this plot; the name of the game after all is ‘Exterminate.’ Some of the players have cheats though, able to turn opponents from one side to another. The Daleks are able to duplicate people, so I guess technically they are not turning them. I assume they are exterminating the originals and substituting their own. I’m not sure why they don’t just exterminate and be done with it, but then that wouldn’t be much fun. As a result, the UNIT members who are helping the Doctor end up trying to kill him.
Not to be outdone, Davros has a handy little green thing that he pokes people with and they instantly become his minions. This even works on Daleks, so soon we have Dalek against Dalek. Because Davros isn’t on anyone’s side but his own. He’s not working for the Daleks, he’s not working for Lytton and his crew of mercenaries, and he certainly is not working for the Doctor, UNIT, or the members of his prison ship.
Davros, in fact, is one of the objectives of this little war game, only no one can decide what to do with him once secured. Initially the Daleks need him to come up with an antidote for the virus that the Movellans have been using against them, but then they start waffling, let Davros start calling some shots, and finally decide to kill him, but not before Davros has created his own little army and determines to eradicate the Daleks and start from scratch. Even the Doctor, when finally confronting Davros, can’t commit to executing him, for which Davros mocks him, “If I were you, I would be dead.”
Lytton is obviously annoyed by the vacillating Dalek orders; I’m not really sure why Lytton is working for them, or indeed why they are employing him. But then not much makes sense in Resurrection of the Daleks. Ultimately Lytton has enough of the confusion and takes his own minion killer cops and walks away from it all.
Perhaps one of the reasons the Daleks can’t make up their mind is because they simply have bitten off more than they can chew. They not only are overseeing this romper room war game and trying to get Davros into a lab to divine a cure to the virus only to switch course and seek his extermination, they are also operating a time corridor between themselves and 1984 Earth, producing duplicate humans to take over key positions within Earth’s government, and kidnapping the Doctor in order to send a Doctor clone, complete with cloned companions, to Gallifrey to eliminate the High Council. No wonder they can’t decide on their next move.
The Dalek controlled Stein is the personification of this indecision. Stuttering and sputtering his way through Resurrection of the Daleks, Stein yo-yos between helping the Doctor and torturing him. This does lead to a nice little flash back of past Doctors and companions (sadly sans Leela), but is as gallingly pointless as the rest of the story. Stein’s only redemption is in stumbling in death to fall upon the prison ship self-destruct button, which was another one of the objectives set forth in this game of bloodletting.
The Doctor, meantime, after getting up off the torture table and failing to kill Davros, escapes through the Dalek time corridor back to the warehouse where for some random reason canisters of the Movellan virus are housed. The Doctor and Davros are on the same wavelength here, both releasing the virus to kill the Daleks. In a strange little twist, the virus works against Davros as well since he also starts bleeding shaving cream like the rest of them.
In the end the Doctor, Tegan, and Turlough are the last ones standing, so I guess they are the winners; Lytton and his killer cops having become fed up and conceded victory by walking off into the sunset.
Tegan doesn’t want any part of it anymore either. “It’s stopped being fun, Doctor.” Now Tegan has spent most of her time during Resurrection of the Daleks in bed and has not been witness to the majority of the killing. She has seen more death in other serials, so I don’t swallow her argument about the casualty count. The “stopped being fun” angle, however, I can buy.
And I have to say, Gary, that the Doctor has had his share of irresponsible TARDIS take offs with others on board, but this is possibly the most irresponsible take off he does leaving someone behind. At least the last time he ran off on Tegan she was at Heathrow where she was always hectoring to go. In Resurrection of the Daleks, however, he leaves her in the middle of an abandoned warehouse littered with the corpses of the recent carnage and with three killer cops still on the loose; she’s wearing a leather mini skirt and high heels, suffering from a concussion, and has no money or identification on her person. I know she is leaving of her own accord (although that bang on the head might have something to do with it), but even still the Doctor could at least escort her to a place of safety. I can imagine, though, that he ducked into the TARDIS as fast as he could saying to Turlough, ‘quick, close the doors before she changes her mind!’ Oh well, I suppose Tegan has been in worse situations during her tenure with the Doctor.
And so it is goodbye to Tegan. “Brave heart, Tegan;” but oh, Gary, I’m cringing at the thought of the torture that is to come . . .

Friday, July 26, 2013

Frontios

Dear Gary—
We’re on a mini roll with Frontios, another solid script with good guest actors. The sets are passable too; it’s only the costumes that leave something to be desired. It’s not the monsters; they are acceptable if somewhat limited, and given budget and past disasters, the Tractators will do. No, it is the clothing worn by the citizens of Frontios. The outfits themselves are OK if somewhat drab and uninspired, but they are uniforms. These are colonists—did not one of them think to pack a suitcase when leaving Earth? Why are they all still wearing the standard issue two piece from their space journey? Even if they have stood up well to 40 years of wear and tear in the harsh conditions of planetary life. I wouldn’t mention it, except that the Doctor Who universe seems to be populated by unimaginative dressers; regardless of planet, race, or occupation, all inhabitants tend to dress alike and it is beginning to wear a bit thin. I guess there are no fashion designers in space.
Although, hooray for Tegan; she finally gets a change in wardrobe. I quite like it, too, even if it does seem a tad impractical for dodging asteroid storms and climbing around through underground tunnels. Now if only Turlough can ditch his school boy suit and tie.
Enough of wardrobe; let’s get on with the story because it is very good, even if I am left scratching my head at the beginning when the Doctor insists on adhering to the Time Lord policy of non-interference. I think he is just fed up with Tegan and Turlough and is simply being contrary. They want to see what’s happening on Frontios so he digs in his heels and says no, hiding behind his Gallifreyan heritage to thwart his companions. Fate overrules him, however.
Pulled by a mysterious force of enormous gravitational pull, the TARDIS materializes in the middle of an asteroid storm on the planet Frontios where a colony ship from the doomed Earth crash landed some 40 years prior.
I think what initially pulls me into this story is the practical pursuit of caring for the wounded and the mundane act of providing adequate lighting in the makeshift medical center. This grounds the story in reality. There is an immediacy and relevance to the action that I can relate to. The Doctor does not emerge from the TARDIS and first thing start investigating what went wrong, nor does he step out into the middle of some weird alien threat, nor is he instantly drawn into political intrigue. Those are to come. First we have Flight Attendant Tegan directing the removal of the injured (how she knows authoritatively where to take them is another matter) and we have the concerned Doctor looking after the patients (one of the more overt references to the medical aspect of his title, but why does he assume that Range is not capable, and for that matter, why does Range not take more charge of the situation?).  And then (thank you) we have the acknowledgment of the everyday concern of how the heck one can work under these conditions, and let’s do something about it. And it is not just a passing reference but an actual plot point.
A plot point that allows Turlough to shake up an unstable phosphor lamp, much to the Doctor’s annoyance (those unruly kids), and then later for the Doctor to do the same thing over Turlough’s protest of, “You told me not to do that.” It is these small touches providing warmth and humanity to the story that have been sorely missing for a long time.
It is also a plot point that leads Turlough and Tegan to the discovery that something is wrong with the TARDIS (something that the distracted Doctor is curiously uninterested in), and then leads them to the off limits research room and ultimately to the core of the story—the Tractators.
“And there’s a word that goes with it. Tractators. That’s it.” It is a word that strikes terror in Turlough’s heart. After a promising introduction in his first serial Mawdryn Undead, Turlough has been woefully underutilized as a companion. Frontios makes up in some small measure for this neglect. And it is all that more meaningful because it is so totally unexpected. Previous stories have flirted with tantalizing tidbits and depths to Turlough only to have them forgotten or swept aside as the plot progressed. Now we have a long repressed race memory surfacing out of the blue on a planet with no heretofore suspected link to Turlough or his past.  
“The earth is hungry.” It’s a horrific thing to suddenly assault one’s psyche.
Tegan, meanwhile, starts piecing together evidence of her own. “Curiosity is dangerous on Frontios,” Range tells her, but she has seen the file marked ‘Deaths Unaccountable’ and she can’t help asking questions. Then when she sees the Plantagenet swallowed in front of her she rushes off to find some answers.
It is a good story for both of the companions, again something we have not seen in quite a while. Both have significant parts to play, both have depth of character explored, and to round things out, both have their Doctor moments. From Turlough brandishing the TARDIS hat rack to rescue the Doctor to the Doctor passing Tegan off as a ‘servicing machine’ to fool the Gravis: “I got it cheap because the walk’s not quite right. And then there’s the accent.”
Frontios delivers in more than just the depth and range for the companions, though. The concept of the fledgling colony striving to keep the human race from extinction under harsh conditions combined with the hair raising idea of insects sucking the weak and injured colonists one by one under the ground and converting the remains into cogs of their machinery is gripping even if not exactly as gruesome in practice as it is in theory.
“Frontios buries its own dead.”
The imagery is frightening. Like with many a Doctor Who monster, however, it is hard to picture the actual Tractator as menacing. They don’t have any weaponry. Those purple lines of gravitational pull that can suck people under the ground and force them to move against their will is about the only threat they pose, and I’m sure this could be countered given time. The colonists turn out to be their own worst enemy with a conspiracy of silence concerning the mysterious disappearances. If they had only gotten to the bottom of things early on I’m sure they could have devised a way to overcome their enemy (helium balloons perhaps?).
I do have to love the Gravis, though, the little grub with a poetic soul (“The power of travel is beautiful, Doctor.”) and feel just a tad sorry for him when he is cut off from his little grub friends and passes out on the TARDIS console. The poor little guy is going to be lonely on Kolkokron where the Doctor dumps him. And I have to wonder what will happen to his little Tractator chums, “the appetite beneath the ground,” now that their fearless leader is gone. They are harmless without the Gravis according to the Doctor, but can they get along on their own? I worry about them.
The supporting cast is decent; not particularly memorable but reliable. I especially like the scenes between Norna and Turlough when she calls him out on his somewhat malingering ways. The Plantagenet is sufficiently fresh-faced boy struggling with the mantle of power thrust upon him. Range and Brazen are OK but a bit inconsistent. Brazen in particular can’t seem to make up his mind if he wants to cover things up or uncover them. With the Tractator threat dealt with, these colonists can get back to the business of survival, but given the brief glimpse we’ve had of them (cover-ups, lack of initiative, lack of curiosity, executing deserters, looting in the absence of authority) I can only hope there are other colonists who have escaped the doomed Earth and are representing the human race in space. (Other Doctor Who serials seem to bear this out.)
One last thought. The Gravis states that he knows of the Doctor by reputation. Several William Hartnell serials also had aliens who had heard of him and in fact had been tracking his adventures. After hundreds of years I suppose even all of time and space seems a small world.
I send this out into that vastness of time and space, Gary . . .

Monday, July 22, 2013

The Awakening

Dear Gary—
“Unexpected aura for a quiet English village.”
The Awakening, with its two episodes of unexpected aura, is the perfect story to follow up Warriors of the Deep to help us forget.
The quiet English village of Little Hodcombe is in the middle of a rather nasty war game, and the tension is set up nicely from the beginning as the local school teacher Jane Hampden is menaced by costumed men on horseback. These men who are harassing her are known to her; some of them are her friends. That is what makes this so disturbing.
“Just a bit of fun,” Ben Wolsey assures her. But the fun is starting to get out of hand. The boys next door are caught up in the frenzy of the gang just having “a bit of fun” and, human nature being what it is, not all are tempering their actions like Ben Wolsey. Evil will out, regardless of the Malus.
“We’re in the wrong century,” Tegan moans when they step out of the TARDIS in the midst of this reenactment of a 1643 civil war. Given the TARDIS’ history, this isn’t an unreasonable doubt, but for once the TARDIS has materialized in the exact time and place requested.
The time and place is at the request of Tegan, who has been calling the shots in the TARDIS of late; first they go to 2084 Earth because Tegan wants to see some of her planet’s future, and now they arrive in Little Hodcombe to visit her grandfather. And I have to take a moment here, Gary, to comment on the Fifth Doctor and his companions. Initially he was a father figure with a bunch of unruly kids he had to keep in line; now, with Tegan and Turlough, he has turned into a reluctant tour guide. With the exception at times of Nyssa, Peter Davison’s Doctor has not had a companion that he doesn’t seem to resent.
With Tegan the Doctor has never tried to hide his irritation; with Turlough he is more subtle. “What was that?” Turlough asks as they explore a church that is falling down around them. “A ghost,” the Doctor replies. The Doctor knows it isn’t a ghost; he doesn’t believe in ghosts; he prefers playing games with Turlough’s mind at the expense of explanations and investigation.
“Behave yourselves; we have company.” And the Doctor is still the playground monitor.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake.” Tegan, informed that her grandfather has disappeared from Little Hodcombe and nobody has done anything about it, runs out on the gang of play actors who are taking their roles too seriously. The Doctor sends Turlough after her while he remains behind at gunpoint. (Kamelion, meanwhile, is shunted into a back room of the TARDIS and forgotten.)
Divested of his regulars (big sigh from the Doctor), the Doctor takes on two temporary companions in the school teacher Jane Hampden and in the 17th Century urchin Will Chandler who has been brought forth through time by the Malus.
“I’ve escaped from one madman to find another,” Jane says as the Doctor tries to explain the presence of tinclavic metal off a space ship from another world, the Malus, and psychic projections, all of which are linked up to Sir George and his war games going on in the village. “It pains me to say it,” she ultimately admits when confronted with evidence of all three, “but I’m sorry I ever doubted you,” to which the Doctor responds, “We all learn by our mistakes.” This Doctor has a much more comfortable rapport with strangers than he does with his own companions.
Meantime, Turlough has been captured and locked up (the perpetual fate of Turlough) along with Tegan’s grandfather, and Tegan has been forced to dress up as the town’s Queen of the May. Being as this is July, I’m not sure what this has to do with the town’s battle reenactment. Seems these Little Hodcombites are mixing their celebrations.
The Malus is also mixed up, mingling 1643 and 1984, possibly a few other years as well (that ancient robed mystic apparition who appears to Tegan looks to be from another time if not another place). I’m not always sure why the Malus needs all of the psychic projections it calls forth. I mean, why waste the energy just to steal Tegan’s purse? But then it has been dormant for over 300 years, perhaps it is still a bit groggy. And why exactly did it fall asleep after that original battle in 1643?
Asleep it has been, however, just waiting for the mad Sir George to awaken it and feed it with all of the psychic energy generated by his war games. Again I have to say that it is the villagers, at least the handful of villagers who have flung themselves into their roles, who provide the scariest element to The Awakening and not the Malus. Willow forcing Tegan to dress as the May Queen and then taking her discarded dress away is especially creepy. Sir George is the only one who can legitimately use the excuse of an alien influence. The others can hide behind, “just obeying orders,” but then as Ben observes, “that’s what they all say.” In the end when Ben and Jane offer the hand of friendship to Willow with a promise of no recriminations, I have to cringe and wonder if there aren’t some wronged villagers out there who would beg to differ.
I have to say that the Malus takes failure rather hard, preferring to destroy himself once the Doctor severs his link to his merry band of psychic energy. Although in doing so the Malus conveniently tidies up after himself. Those couple of dead bodies (one being Sir George) can easily be blamed on the obliterated church. It would otherwise be difficult to explain to the authorities how a peasant from 1643 pushed the local magistrate into a giant stone alien head (“It better he be dead”).
It’s a short little story that is packed with action and suspense and played out by a good cast of extras in some wonderful locations and costumes. There are even touches of humor and some sparkling dialogue, something that has been missing from quite a few scripts of late. In addition, Peter Davison seems particularly on his game in this one. “You speak treason,” Sir George accuses the Doctor at one point. “Frequently,” the Doctor replies. He is sharp and quick witted throughout.
My favorite moments, however, go back to the Doctor’s frustration with his fellow travelers.
“You didn’t close the doors,” the Doctor exclaims to Tegan when he returns to find the TARDIS wide open. I have been noticing of late that this Fifth Doctor and his companions are particularly lax when it comes to TARDIS security. They continually leave the doors open and all manner of people and aliens have wandered in. I therefore applaud this scene acknowledging their carelessness, and I love Tegan’s come back: “There was no point. Something was already inside it.” (And how did that something get inside to begin with, Tegan?) Sticking with the TARDIS door theme, I love the tiny little exchanges between the Doctor and Jane as they vie for the controls.
Finally we have a delightful parting scene of the TARDIS cluttered with people. I can’t help feeling that this closing is appropriate as well as a deliberate nod to the crowded nature of the Console Room during Davison’s run. And with seven characters to choose from, it is fitting that it is Tegan who speaks up with, “Aren’t you forgetting something?” Tegan just gets under the Doctor’s skin, and his annoyance shows as he replies, “Probably. It isn’t unusual. I’ve had a very hard day.” Ultimately it is seven against one: “I’m being bullied; coerced; forced against my will.” It is very much like a tea party taking place right there in the TARDIS, which perhaps is why Turlough thinks of it, prompting this description supplied by the Doctor: “A noxious infusion of oriental leaves containing a high percentage of toxic acid.” And Will’s reaction to it: “Sounds an evil brew, don’t it?”
And so I raise a cup of the evil brew and send this out, Gary, wondering if that crowded Console Room has room for one more . . .

Friday, July 19, 2013

Warriors of the Deep

Dear Gary—
Warriors of the Deep is another well-worn base under siege plot coupled with the equally familiar base being sabotaged story. Neither in this case works. Blame it on a rushed production; blame it on a tight budget; blame it on over lit sets; blame it on misguided principals; just don’t blame it on the Myrka.
I can only wonder what the actors thought as they went through their hurried paces, no doubt being handed pages of script just before going on camera.
Commander Vorshak: I wonder how macho I can look in all this eye makeup. At least mine isn’t as bad as Bulic’s. (Heh, heh, heh.)
Doctor: Let’s see how much I can play with Turlough’s mind.
Silurians: How . . . slow . . . can . . . we . . . go? (Yea, verily, yea.)
Maddox: Sigh. (I wonder if all this sweating will make my mascara run.)
Solow: These guys and their eye makeup. They have nothing on me. Could do with a bit more blush, though.
Tegan: I do wish I wouldn’t have to keep falling against this darn consol. What’s with the space threat anyway? I thought we were supposed to be under the sea in this adventure.
Vorshak: Destroyed reconnaissance probe, unidentified flying object, wait . . . are we in space or under the sea again? OK, just bark some orders and try to look manly. What’s happened to the lights? Spotlight!
Maddox: Press some buttons; hand on big red button; collapse. Whew, that’s over with.
Nilson: Programming Disc, all right, that sounds impressive. Look as sinister as you can, this must be important.
Turlough: Call the lift or not, Doctor. Make up your mind.
Maddox: I feel fine . . . what was in that disc you gave me?
Doctor: Now let’s play with Tegan’s mind. A little radiation never hurt anybody. Just set this reactor to overload . . . no harm in that. Uh oh, guess my little plan didn’t work as well as I thought; here come the guards. “When I say run, run.” Just love saying that. Now, fall over this rail, let them all think I’ve drowned.
Turlough: “Face it, Tegan, he’s drowned.” Don’t really believe that, but let’s get out of here!
Extra in background: Hello, anybody there? Why am I knocking on this door, anyway? And why exactly do I need to wear this head-in-a-bag helmet?
Silurians: That’s . . . an impressive array . . . of Sea Devils . . . . I like . . . their warrior costumes . . . . I wonder . . . if . . . they can move . . .  any faster . . . in those?
Turlough: “Run, Tegan, save yourself!” Not really sure why I’m yelling that to a closed metal door.
Doctor: Oh look, how convenient. An unconscious guard right here on the floor so I can get out of this blasted cricket outfit at last. Oh, I guess this guard’s uniform doesn’t smell any better, though. “What have you been eating?”
Tegan: Yelp; oh look, the Doctor’s alive. “I want to help find Turlough.”
Doctor: Guess I’m saddled with her for the rest of the serial.
Silurians: No . . . the Sea . . . Devils . . . can’t move . . . any faster . . . than . . . we . . . can.
Turlough: These explanations are better left to the Doctor. Ah, here’s his entrance; and he’s got a gun. That’s unusual, but I’m not kicking. Didn’t like the sound of that mind delving they were talking about.
Preston: Oh look, here’s a police box with a door wide open.
Doctor: “Perhaps it’s time for a little mutual trust.” Never was comfortable with guns.
Vorshak: Well, if Preston found a police box I guess the Doctor must be OK.
Doctor: OK, here come the Silurians. Maybe we can finally get some action around here.
Vorshak: “It’s not what they want, it’s what I want, Doctor.” That’s telling him.
Silurians: “Release . . . the Myrka.”
Tegan: The Doctor says these Silurians are honorable; only want to live in peace. Hmmm, now he’s telling us they think we are “an evolutionary error they obviously mean to correct.” How peaceful are they again, Doctor?
Solow: “Nilson, we must speak.” I haven’t been on camera for a while. What’s going on with our sabotage subplot? Can we somehow intersect with this whole Silurian siege storyline?
Nilson: All right, I get to use this little box to control Maddox. Just push this button here  . . .
Maddox: What was in that disc you slipped me?
Doctor: “Oh dear . . . the Myrka.” How in the world am I going to make this seem convincing?
Nilson: OK, guess this little button makes Maddox kill. Cool. I’ll have to remember that.
Doctor: “I’m afraid the Myrka takes quite a lot to impress.” Quite a lot of suspension of disbelief, too, maybe some dim lighting and quick cutting; I do hope the director is keeping that in mind.
Tegan: Let’s see how gracefully I can sit down and pretend this door fell on me. Oh look, Turlough has some clown socks on.
Doctor: “Brave heart, Tegan.” We’re at the cliffhanger; we’ll be out of this scene soon enough.
Turlough: Here’s my chance to show off my bravery. I can handle a gun with the best of them.
Myrka Cam!
Myrka: Oh, I’m kind of dizzy. What’s going on out there? If I can just bat my arms around a bit . . . Ha! I think I hit something.
Solow: Man I’m out of shape; hiding that dead body really took it out of me.
Four base personnel running through the corridor: Quick, let’s stand up against this wall so we can be electrocuted by the Myrka all in one go!
Preston: Orders to kill, jackpot. Plus I get to go with the Doctor. I’m bound to be in the middle of the action now.
Bulic: “They’ve got us outgunned, Commander.” Wow, do I feel foolish saying that. Surely they’ll somehow make that pathetic fight against six slow-mo Sea Devils look impressive in post-production.
Turlough: “Sorry?” Now I’m contributing to the defense of the base? OK, just tell me where to go and what to do. Huh, I wonder what Vorshak and Bulic are on about? Sea Base Command? Radio silence? Must be some plot point I’m not involved with. Try to look interested.
Preston:  “I suppose you know what you’re doing?” Thought I’d see some action going with the Doctor. Instead I’m standing around watching him tinker with some tinfoil covered prop.
Tegan: "Can you be sure?" This is getting kind of tedious.
Doctor: “No Tegan, perhaps you should just ask it nicely to go away.” Where’s Nyssa when I need her?
Two base personnel: Let’s just sidestep our way through camera range while the Myrka is coming. So what if we’ve got these head-in-a-bag helmets on? Some of our friends will be sure to recognize us.
Tegan: “Ready now?” Sooner or later something’s bound to happen.
Solow: Nothing, nothing, I’m not up to anything . . . nothing behind my back . . . just passing through . . . carry on . . . don’t mind me . . . . Whew, that was a close one. Hmmm, there are those two camera hogging extras; I’ll just duck in here for a moment . . . . OK, here’s my big scene. I can take this Myrka down, I know I can . . . a one and a two and a kick . . . !
Myrka: What the . . . ?!
Silurians: Are you Sea Devils . . . not through the . . . bulkhead . . . yet?
Sea Devils: Don’t look at . . . us. What . . . took you . . . so long . . . to get . . . here?
Tegan: “What happened to Turlough?” I’ll bet he’s seeing some action.
Camera hogging extra: Hey, I get a line. This disc must be important.
Vorshak: These extras think they’re so important. I’ve got the disc now. And this little tube thingy I can bark orders into.
Preston: Oh man, just when I know the action is about to heat up I have to leave the Doctor.
Sea Devils: Advance . . . advance . . . advance . . .
Base personnel: Try not to back track too quickly against this molasses onslaught.
Turlough: Can’t I at least fire once?
Nilson: More box action. Hold it up so everyone can see how I’m controlling Maddox. Heh, heh.
Silurians: Do . . . you . . . bobble headed . . . Sea Devils . . . have everything . . . under . . . control?
Preston: Hmmm, I wonder which one of these two macho men I could go for? No, they both wear too much eye makeup. Oh, wait, Maddox is up to something, but I have to stand by and call the commander over to deal with it. Lame. Nilson’s holding up some box like it’s the be all and end all and Vorshak is falling down like a baby. Am I ever going to see any action?
Vorshak: I think that fall messed up my hair. Where’s the touch up lady when you need her?
Doctor: “Close your eyes, make a wish!” That’s the only way this Myrka is going to appear any less laughable.
Myrka: Why does everyone hate me? I only want to be loved.
Silurians: “The Myrka has been . . . destroyed.” I . . . wonder . . . if we can get . . . these Sea Devils . . . to move . . . any . . . faster.
Nilson: Hah, I not only get the little box, I get the little gun as well. Who’s in control now, Vorshak? Ah, and I get to reveal my evil master plan. “The power bloc opposed to this Sea Base . . .” wait, that’s it? Who writes this stuff? At least I’ve got an escape pod. Maddox and the Doctor think they can take me? Not a chance; I’ve got the little gun; and now I’ve got Tegan. I’ll be well out of this in no time.
Turlough: “We’ve got to get out of here.” Isn’t this thing over with yet? If I was an extra at least I could be happily dead by now instead of locked up with an entire episode yet to go.
Nilson: Oh, come on! Blinded? Killed by these lumbering Sea Devils? What about my little control box? What about my sabotage? What about the missile attack? What about the power bloc opposed to the Sea Base? I had so much more to give.
Doctor: “How do you do. I’m the Doctor. Haven’t we met before?” At last, let’s get a little plot going.  “I know that you are Ichtar, the surviving leader of the noble Silurian Triad.” (Ichtar . . . Ichtar . . . no, doesn’t ring a bell, but let’s go with it.)”When last we met I tried to mediate between you and the people of Earth.” OK, about time we got into the heart of this story.
Tegan: Hmm, these bumbling Sea Devils look awfully inquisitive, or do they just have a crick in their neck?
Ichtar: “Defensive war . . . Doctor. There is a distinction . . . . Silurian law forbids any other.”
Quizzical Sea Devil in background: Hmmm, I wonder what the distinction is?
Vorshak: ‘Ape primitives’ indeed. These Silurians seem cowardly to me, hiding behind their morals, denying culpability, but talking genocide all the same. And what’s with these inquisitive Sea Devils? They’re getting curiouser and curiouser by the minute. Come on, Doctor, enough of this talk. When can I get in on the action? If they’re going to trigger the war our base was designed for, let’s get on with it already.
Bulic: You won’t catch me going through that tiny ventilation shaft. Oh wait, a couple of girls have arrived. Maybe if they go up first . . .
Vorshak: “You’ll get no help from me, Silurian.” Yeah, that’ll show him. Well . . . alive or dead . . . if you put it that way . . .
Turlough: Sigh. Tegan, Tegan, Tegan. It was my idea to go through the shaft, now you want to barge in and take credit for a rescue attempt. Let’s just go back to the TARDIS and sit this one out. “What is it about Earth people that makes them think a futile gesture is a noble one?”
Bulic: I don’t know about you, Turlough, but I’m following the girl in the mini skirt.
Preston: Guess I’m stuck with the boy. Am I never going to get to see any action?
Doctor: OK, Ichtar has laid out his plans of genocide, killing all, even the base personnel, sparing only me and my companions. Hmmm, wonder if I can deny Tegan?
Vorshak: “Yes, I know.” I know, I know. You don’t have to tell me. Humpf; it’s my hand they need; I’ll milk this for all it’s worth.
Bulic: Pssst. Doctor. You, me, corridor, two minutes.
Doctor: Huh, wonder what Bulic wants. I’ll just mosey over here. Those Sea Devils aren’t looking too inquisitive at the moment. They’ll never notice if I just slip out.
Vorshak: So you sea monster creature things have lost the prisoners and the Doctor. That’s none of my concern. I’m not talking to you, so there.
Preston: Come on, Turlough. Let’s go back to join the action.
Silurians: Ah . . . the magic pop-o-matic . . . that will undo all the Nilson/Solow/Maddox sabotage.
Preston: Oh, that’s a particularly gruesome green slime effect on that dying Sea Devil. But Doctor, even if it is a bit gruesome, it is effective. Can you tell me again why you don’t want to use this Hexachromite gas on these creatures who are bent on destroying us and are showing no signs of the noble hand of peace that you keep going on about?
Doctor: “I Sometimes wonder why I like the people of this miserable planet so much.” Here’s my chance to showcase my noble self-righteousness.
Turlough: Calm down, Doctor.
Doctor: OK, you’re right. I’ve had my say. Now let’s get down to ending this thing once and for all.
Vorshak: “I said you wouldn’t succeed.” Told you so! Oh, how can they expect me to act with these rubber suited monsters. I’m just going to stand here and look macho while they play with their magic pop-o-matic .
Preston: Sigh, back to the TARDIS. I knew I was never going to see any action in this. Oh good, here comes a Sea Devil. I’m going to see some action yet or die . . . try . . . ing . . . oh man . . .
Vorshak: Darn. Their magic pop-o-matic has dimmed the lights. How do they expect me to act in the dark?
Tegan: Doctor, do we always have to run through corridors?
Vorshak: Wait, what’s going on? Sea Devils and Silurians dropping like flies, the Doctor running around, now I have to deal with not only the dim lighting but some smoke pouring in and obscuring my camera shots. OK Doctor, I’m going to get into this somehow. Here, we have a magic bubble helmet thing of our own. Time for me to tell the Doctor what to do. I’d be the brave one, but I’m afraid that bubble helmet would mess up my hair, not to mention what it would do to my eye makeup.
Turlough: Finally, a countdown to death. This must mean we’re getting close to the end.
Vorshak: “Now concentrate, Doctor . . .” (Grimace) “Let nothing distract you.” Must make the most of this death scene. It’s time for my close up . . .
Turlough: “They’re all dead, you know.” I kept saying we should have just gone back to the TARDIS and skipped this train wreck.
Doctor: “There should have been another way.”
End Credits.
(Bulic: Hey, what about me? I’m still alive somewhere in the Sea Base. Don’t I get a final scene?)
Sorry, Gary. That’s about the only way I could get through this one. It’s a little something I think I’ll call my Joel-Bot Eye View. (Push the button, Frank . . .)

Monday, July 15, 2013

The Five Doctors

Dear Gary—
The Five Doctors is a grab bag of Doctors, companions, and enemies; the plot is merely an excuse to throw them all together.
“It’s a game within a game,” Borusa, the mastermind behind the plot, states as he caresses a tiny figure of the Master. Using the Time Lord’s long forbidden Time Scoop, the Lord President of this vaunted society has gathered his cast of characters in the sealed off Death Zone.
“I am being diminished; whittled away piece by piece,” the Fifth Doctor states as his previous selves are being snatched from out of their own time lines. “A man is the sum of his memories, you know; a Time Lord even more so.” Doctor Five has no choice but to leave the tranquil Eye of Orion for the inhospitable landscape of his home planet in order to reunite his shattered self.
“Wonderful chap; all of them.”
All five of them. Except only three appear in The Five Doctors; the Fourth is trapped in the time vortex and represented by some unaired footage from Shada, and the First, William Hartnell, had sadly passed away several years before and is represented by a stand in (although there is a wonderful clip of the Original that introduces this twentieth anniversary story).
In the absence of One and Four, it is the Second and Third Doctors who steal the show, along with the Brigadier and Sarah Jane Smith.
“Ah, yes,” Doctor Two tells the Brig of his own replacement (Doctor Three), “mine was pretty unpromising, too.” Two and Three have met before, in The Three Doctors, and they have a great friendly antagonism, rather like sibling rivalry, although I guess this is more like self rivalry only much more complicated. It’s a pity Three and Four never met, based on the brief Sarah pantomime and Doctor Three translation of “teeth and curls,” this, too, could have been a classic confrontational chemistry.
As it is, the story only allows for the fake One and Five to come together early on; leaving Two and Three to follow their separate paths with the Brigadier and Sarah Jane in tow as they each make their way to the Dark Tower (the Tomb of Rassilon).
“Who unto Rassilon’s Tower will go, must choose above, between, below.”
Three and Sarah choose above; Five chooses between but gets sidetracked so One takes his place along with Tegan; Two and the Brigadier choose below.
Three and Sarah: After first being rescued by the Third Doctor from a fall down a less than treacherous looking cliff, and being pursued by Cybermen, Sarah shakes off her vertigo with her usual pluck. “If I don’t fall off that path, I’ll probably die of fright,” she says as she and the Doctor take the high road. Having a fear of heights myself, I admire the terrified Sarah; I’d never be able to zip line across to the top of the tower as she does.  But she puts her complete faith in the Doctor as always while he does what he always does, as he says, “improvise.”
One and Tegan: Someone somewhere along the way thought it would be funny to pair a chauvinistic Doctor with the feminist Tegan. Problem is: they forgot that the First Doctor was never a chauvinist. Paternal, yes; chauvinistic, no. He also wasn’t full of simmering venom as this substitute First Doctor seems to be. The only reason the First consents to allow Tegan along in the first place—get this Gary—is because Susan twists her ankle. I simply can’t believe that Carole Ann Ford agreed to come back just to have this gag pulled on her. (At least she gets more screen time than poor Turlough; he would have been better off staying behind in the Eye of Orion sketching until the Doctor could return to pick him up.)
Two and the Brigadier: “Charming spot, Doctor.” The Brigadier is as delightful as ever. “You attract trouble, Doctor, you always did.” The Second Doctor is in rare form as well: “Age hasn’t mellowed you, Brigadier.” Dodging Cybermen of their own, Doctor Two and the Brigadier scramble through underground passages while the Doctor empties his copious pockets of numerous items in search of a Galactic Glitter to scare off a stray Yeti.
The three paths all leading to the Tower.
Meanwhile Doctor Five has found a shortcut to the Citadel via the Master’s transmat device and is intent on ferreting out who is the traitor within the Time Lord High Council, and Susan and Turlough passively watch as Cybermen prepare to blow up the TARDIS.
It is a grab bag and an excuse and a game; and predictably, it is hit or miss; but inevitably it is great fun to see a reunion of familiar faces. How wonderful to see phantom Jamie and Zoe warning Doctor Two off (although the Doctor’s claim that he realizes they are fake because they had their memory erased is faulty since they did retain the memory of their first adventure with him—it would only be the memory of the Brigadier that would no longer exist). Equally pleasant is the sight of phantom Yates and phantom Liz Shaw confronting Doctor Three. Not to mention creepy.
Old friends and old foes, too. A Dalek, easily outwitted by Doctor One and Susan into blowing itself up; the Cybermen in hot pursuit of them all (but really, why do they let the Doctor live in order to pilot the TARDIS for them when they only mean to blow the TARDIS up?); the Yeti; and of course, the Master. The scenes of the Master first trying to establish his identity with those Doctors who have never met his current incarnation and then trying to convince them that he is actually on their side are among some of the best and most effective Anthony Ainley Master scenes.
Ultimately it is all a bit shaky, though. Borusa engineered the whole thing simply to get inside the Dark Tower to learn Rassilon’s secret of immortality. The only rational explanation for him going about it the way he does is that he is insane (the sight of him fondling the miniature figure of the Master only confirms this). Why else would he use a fractured Doctor? Why else would he set the Cybermen in the Doctor’s way? Why else would he provide a homing beacon for the Cybermen in the Master’s transmat device? Why else would he provide various companions and enemies to help and hinder? Why else would he change into his evil mastermind outfit of black when he enters the secret chamber to play with his toy statuettes? It is all a game to him; an insane game.
Further proof of his insanity—his goal is to be immortal, to be Lord President of the Time Lords forever. That sounds like a sentence to eternal hell; which in the end is what he gets.
“To lose is to win, and he who wins shall lose.”
Rassilon’s game of torture. Rassilon, yet another insane Time Lord. Of course, that is the dirty little secret of Time Lords—they are prone to madness and evil. Omega. The Master. Morbius. Goth. Rassilon. Borusa. The two guards who delight in gunning down the Castellan. (I’m not always certain about the Doctor, either—he occasionally skirts the edges, and sometimes I think he regenerates in the nick of time to avert the tragic fate of others of his race.)
Rassilon’s game is more sadistic than Borusa’s. Borusa is taking some childish glee in his game; Rassilon is merely being malicious. Borusa plays with deadly foes; Rassilon plays with fears and forebodings. Borusa plays with Daleks and Cybermen; Rassilon plays with Jamie and Zoe and Yates and Liz Shaw.
I have to say, if Borusa had not set up his obstacles, the two Time Lords that had been sent in before the Doctor probably would have succeeded in lowering the barrier around the Tomb and Borusa could have waltzed in (as he ultimately does once the Doctors arrive) and claimed his prize. I’m sure Borusa is well versed in Old High Gallifreyan and could have done his own translating.
The only real threat to overcome within the Tower is the deadly checker board; although, Gary, “easy as pi” indeed. What rubbish. There is no ‘safe path’ across that board except at the actors’ and director’s convenience. Other than the unfortunate Cybermen, they all seem to simply walk across at their leisure; there is no mathematical application or intricate maneuvering involved.
Once all of the Doctors and companions meet up in the middle we are treated to some more wonderful character interactions, however brief. These are the moments that shine. The final entombment of Borusa is also quite effective and macabre. However, I can’t bring myself to believe that the First Doctor would so thoughtlessly condemn Borusa to such a fate and then gleefully twitter at the meaning of “To lose is to win, and he who wins shall lose.”
And then they all make their departures; “I must say, I’ve had the time of my lives;” “Goodbye, Fancy Pants;” “Scarecrow;” "Splendid fellows, all of you;” “I’m definitely not the man I was, thank goodness.” One by one they leave and all that is left is the mopping up.
 Flavia arrives and assumes Borusa’s treachery without being told and offers the Presidency to the Doctor. The Doctor has run out on that before, however, and he does it again, leaving Flavia in charge. (I would suggest that as her first act she invest in some good psychiatric training facilities.)
“You mean you’re deliberately choosing to go on the run from your own people in a rackety old TARDIS?” Tegan enquires.
“Why not?" the Doctor replies. “After all, that’s how it all started.”
And that, Gary, is quite a nice note to end on . . .

Friday, July 12, 2013

The King's Demons

Dear Gary—
Am I missing something? I had described Enlightenment as half of a good story, but at least it had another half to go with it. The King’s Demons is just half a story. I even checked my copy to make sure I didn’t have another abridged version like I had found with The Brain ofMorbius, but no, that’s all there is.
“Do our demons come to visit us? Bid them attend us,” King John greets the Doctor, Tegan, and Turlough as they first emerge from the TARDIS in 1215 England.
“A king welcoming demons,” the Doctor muses to himself. It’s all a very promising start. Even Tegan comments, “Makes a nice change for you not to take everything in your stride, I must say.” (“Must you?”) Too bad it doesn’t live up to its full potential.
There have been two part episodes before, but they were always a complete story. The King’s Demons, on the other hand, is almost just an excuse to introduce the character of Kamelion. Needing a reason to bring him on board, they simply dressed up some good actors in some splendid period costumes and set them at it on a wonderful set. The result is a jolly good story, but then Kamelion is revealed and I guess they decided, ‘that’s a wrap,’ and they shut down production even though I think Ranulf, Isabella, and Hugh were anxious to keep going.
Hugh especially seems eager to keep up the fun. “You’re always threatening me,” a wonderfully exasperated Turlough says to the overzealous Hugh, “and without the slightest justification.” I suspect Hugh is trying to make up for his defeat in the joust early on in our story. He doesn’t much care who he fights, he’s just aching for a scrap, and Turlough always seems to be on hand.
Wouldn’t that be great—if Hugh was the new companion instead of Kamelion? Hugh and Turlough would have all of time and space to spar in. Or the two could eventually ally and team up against Tegan. Those would have made for some fantastic TARDIS moments. The contentious Tegan, the devious Turlough, and the excitable Hugh.
Actually, Tegan isn’t so much combative in the King’s Demons as she is weary. She continues to voice resistance, but it is a resigned, half-hearted effort. Complaining bitterly about the cold, more to herself than anyone, she just shrugs deeper into the various coats and rugs she is handed. Or when John assumes her to be the Doctor’s squire, she pauses momentarily before deciding it’s not worth the protest and meekly trails along after the Doctor. And when the Doctor begins asking his inevitable questions regarding the suspicious king, Tegan unenthusiastically replies, “Do you seriously expect me to answer that?” Her heart just is not in this adventure, perhaps because she knows it is all just about filling screen time until Kamelion can be introduced.
Hugh, on the other hand, knowing his performance will be fleeting, fervently throws himself wholeheartedly into the proceedings. Meanwhile poor Turlough stops to check out the scenery through a window and is immediately carted off to the dungeon where he spends most of his time out of commission.
What we do get with The King’s Demons is some quality Master time. Although really Doctor, you can’t recognize the Master when you see him? Granted, he is in disguise, but he has repeatedly masqueraded during their acquaintanceship, you’d think the Doctor would have been better prepared, especially given the fact that the Master doesn’t go to any great lengths on this particular cover.
“You may disguise your features,” the Doctor states when the Master unmasks himself, “but you can never disguise your intent.” Perhaps the Doctor wasn’t fooled after all, or perhaps he’s just trying to save face for being so completely blind yet again.
Accommodating the perfunctory nature of this serial, the Master has scaled back his plans. “He wants to rob the world of Magna Carta,” the Doctor explains. “Small time villainy by his standards.” Indeed, it seems something more along the lines of the Meddling Monk, except the Monk was more benevolent and might have instead speeded along Magna Carta rather than impede it. But that is academic.
The Master, having escaped his entrapment on Xeriphas with the help of Kamelion, has come to 1215 England with the intent of blackening the name of King John. It’s rather murky to me how this will prevent Magna Carta. Wouldn’t it instead fuel the flames of the rebellion that pushed for the signing of this momentous document? But again it is all academic because the real intent of The King’s Demons is simply to get the Doctor and Kamelion together.
Kamelion, a C-3PO wannabe who doesn’t quite work, is in his own words “a complex mass of artificial neurons,” or to quote the Master, “a decoy, capable of infinite form or personality” that is controlled by “nothing more than simple concentration and psychokinetics.” Dominated by the Master, Kamelion has been giving a delightful performance as a deliciously diabolical King John.  I don’t really know why the Master isn’t worried about the Doctor attempting to wrest control away, because that is exactly what he does once Kamelion is revealed. And for some bizarre reason the Doctor transforms the chameleon Kamelion into the spitting image of Tegan (who has just arrived in the TARDIS—Tegan seems to have quite a lot of opportunities on her own to bang away haphazardly at the TARDIS console).
Grabbing the Tegan impersonator, the Doctor and Turlough duck into the TARDIS. Turlough, having been sidelined for the majority of the serial, takes the opportunity to grab a sword first to threaten the Master. “I’ve had quite enough of you, whoever you are, so don’t try me too far,” he says, expressing his pent up frustrations.
“I don’t believe it, can you see it too,” an incredulous Tegan asks as she confronts her double in the TARDIS.
“Yes, I’m afraid so,” Turlough responds. Oh great, I’ sure he’s thinking; just what we need, two Tegans.
But Kamelion quickly changes over to his true android form, and over Tegan’s objections he is welcomed on board as a new member of the crew.
“You can have my room for all I care,” a defeated Tegan tells Kamelion, which leads into an inexplicable sequence of a pouting Doctor informing Tegan that he is returning her to her own time and place despite her protestations that she doesn’t want to leave.
“It’s a shame, of course; there were many wonders I wanted to show you,” he tells her.
But, “No,” she insists; she does not want to go home. Instead: “Show me the Eye of Orion, please.”
The Doctor reveals that his little act of a hurt snit was all a sham and he had the coordinates set for the Eye of Orion all along.
This scene, coupled with his choice of Tegan as Kamelion’s form, leads me down all kinds of paths that I don’t really want to follow.
Turlough, in the meantime, is a bit miffed that the plan for taking him back to his own planet has been put on hold, and Kamelion, who up until now has been the whole point of The King’s Demons, is shunted aside with no say in the matter.
And Hugh, along with his mother and father Isabella and Ranulf, are left behind in a bewildered cloud, while the Master’s continuing threat to all of time and space is pooh poohed by the Doctor—he has done yet another brilliant maneuver to decommission the Master’s TARDIS using the Master’s own tissue compressor eliminator; never mind that the Master has overcome each and every obstacle the Doctor has ever put in his path.
“Medieval misfits,” the Master shouts after them as the TARDIS takes off, abruptly putting an end to our story. That might make a great title for the untold story of Hugh, Isabella, and Ranulf; it’s rather a lame curse for the Master, though.
I send this out, Gary, into the Doctor’s bewildering cloud, hoping that you are visiting a multitude of wonders along with our band of medieval misfits . . .

Monday, July 8, 2013

Enlightenment

Dear Gary—
Enlightenment is half of a good story. In fact, the half that is good is remarkably good and therefore it is not dragged down too much by the half that is not.
“This is the sort of excitement that makes eternity bearable.” The Eternals, as portrayed by Striker, Marriner, and crew, are excellent aliens. Empty beings existing in perpetuity; parasites feeding on the minds of ephemerals; infinitely bored immortals craving the diversion only mortals can give them. This is Enlightenment at its best.
“Have you ever seen a man flogged to death? Or keelhauled? Very painful. You Ephemerals have such inventive ways of inflicting pain.” Then there is Wrack, her right hand man Mansell, and her gang of pirates. Enlightenment at its worst.
These can’t be the same creatures; the one detached, empty vessels; the other cackling fiends.
The best and the worst; the good and the bad; an unintended (I am sure) and unfortunate parallel between the White and Black Guardian forces at work in our serial.
For once I don’t mind the Growling Guardian storyline (although I do wish he would make up his mind—does he want to trap Turlough in eternity or kill him?). Here it is not an intrusion but rather the impetus for the plot. At last the Black Guardian is getting down to the nitty gritty of what he has intended all along; and at last I can accept his choice of Turlough as pawn. The Black Guardian wanted to stop the Doctor from interfering in this Eternal race. Knowing that the time was drawing near, he simply picked the handiest non-Earthling trapped on Earth seeking a means of escape and not much caring how he does it (Turlough) who happened to be at the same time and place as the Doctor. And at last I know that this annoying three serial story arc is coming to an end so I am celebrating just a little bit.
I do find it strange that the White Guardian has to use up all of the TARDIS’ power to communicate with the Doctor and even at that is cutting in and out, talking in half sentences, and ultimately disconnected, almost as if he had some bad cell phone reception. The Black Guardian, on the other hand, can come and go at will, always on full power. (He must be using the standard land line; old fashioned and outmoded, perhaps, but reliable all the same.)
(Also, is it just me Gary, or despite all of the claims about the invincibility and impregnability of the TARDIS, do an awful lot of aliens seem to be able to enter and control it?)
“Must not win. Tell the Doctor, winner takes all.” If he knew he was losing reception, couldn’t the White Guardian have been clearer than that? The who at least would have been helpful. The Doctor can figure out the “winner take all" portion, what with a race going on and all, but who exactly is not to win and why?
Enlightenment is the prize for winning the race Striker informs the Doctor and explains, “The wisdom which knows all things, and which will enable me to achieve what I desire most. Do not ask what it is. I will not tell you.”
Wrack, on the other hand, explains this way, “Everything conceived in time, from the beginning to the end, will be clear to me. I shall create and destroy as I wish. I’ll never be bored again.”
I don’t think I’d want either one of these beings to win; and what of the other Eternals in the race? The Doctor learns nothing of them. So I guess the answer is no one should win, as the Doctor ultimately works out. “I’m not ready for it,” the Doctor says of Enlightenment. “I don’t think anyone is; especially not Eternals.”
So why exactly did the White Guardian make this silly bet with the Black? And then realizing what a stupid thing he just did he decides to enlist the Doctor’s aid without giving him the full facts. Who is this White Guardian anyway?
Striker describes mortals in this way, “It is true that Ephemerals, dwellers in time, do have a certain entertainment value.” “You talk as though they were toys,” the Doctor says to which Striker responds, “To me, they are.” But if the Eternals are using people as their playthings, the Guardians, both Black and White, are using the Eternals as their own. Doesn’t strike me as much different; Black or White, Light or Dark, Guardian or Eternal; all of them are acting as superiors manipulating their inferiors for their own amusement. The White Guardian just had a twinge of conscience and pulled in the Doctor to right his wrong.
Luckily for us he does, because now it is being played out for our amusement.
After receiving the garbled message of danger from the White Guardian, the Doctor and Turlough explore what they soon learn to be a sailing ship of Edwardian England while Tegan stays with the TARDIS to be terrorized by an extremely creepy Marriner.
But things are not exactly as they appear, and slowly the mystery deepens as the Doctor and Turlough interview the crew that has been below deck for two days and can’t seem to remember boarding. Next the Doctor and Tegan, escorted by Marriner, meet the blank faced Striker and his officers.
It is all very well done as bit by bit the puzzling revelations are pieced together. The anachronistic wet suits in the corridor, the screams of the crew as they go topside for the first time, the darkness when daylight is expected, the electronics on an Edwardian sailing ship. And then the panels are opened to reveal the magnificent sight of sailing ships racing through the stars with the planets of Earth’s solar system as their marker buoys.
The Eternals themselves, as first depicted by Striker and his officers, are intriguing. Functioning in “the endless wastes of eternity,” the Eternals read the minds of Ephemerals, stealing every bit of knowledge and ideas and technology for their own enjoyment, and the exchanges between Striker and the Doctor are engrossing.
“You are a Time Lord,” Striker says as he reads the Doctor’s mind. “A lord of time; are there lords in such a small domain?”
But the vast, unending, timeless path that the Eternals walk is empty, and the relationship between Marriner and Tegan skillfully expands on this theme.
“It’s as though somebody’s been rummaging around in my memories,” Tegan says as she looks about the cabin to find elements from her rooms on the TARDIS and in Brisbane. While Striker has been concentrating on the Doctor, Marriner has been delighting in the innermost thoughts of Tegan. “I find it such a fascinating place,” he says of her mind. “Full of niches. Life. It fascinates me.”
He is as gentle and devoted as the most ardent lover from Edwardian England. “I am empty,” he confesses to Tegan. “You give me being. I look into your mind and see life, energy, excitement. I want them. I want you. Your thoughts should be my thoughts. Your feelings, my feelings.” Except he has no concept of love: “Love? What is love? I want existence.”
He is truly touching, in a creepy stalker kind of way. “The sparkle has gone from your mind,” he mourns when Tegan believes the Doctor to be dead. And then his plea for help at the end as he fades away, “I need you . . .”
However this intriguing, touching, creepy aspect of the Eternals gets lost once we meet up with Wrack and crew.
Wrack is not played with any hint of pathos. There is no subtlety, no delicacy, no depth. I know that the Edwardian Eternals are empty vessels, yet they are vessels that still manage to reflect all of those things. Not so Wrack. It’s a shame, because an Eternal with a detached penchant for cruelty could be quite compelling; but Wrack has nothing of the Eternal about her.
If she is an Eternal, why does she need the Black Guardian? I have no doubt that she could come up with her own means of sabotage. Her goal is to win; so why is it that when she is pulling away and seemingly can’t lose, she stops to perform one last act of destruction?
This brings me to Turlough. Turlough is very good throughout. At last he is coming to terms with his reluctant mission for the Black Guardian. He doesn’t want to kill the Doctor and he won’t, even going so far as to attempt suicide to escape his pact with the devil. He has flashes of cowardice and bravery; flashes of greed and generosity. He is having massive inner struggles, and it’s interesting that none of the mind reading Eternals pick up on this. Wrack tries to read him, but somehow Turlough’s devious mind manages to evade her on most counts.
Adric was always one to act the mole, never successfully or convincingly. Turlough, on the other hand, has multiple occasions in Enlightenment to play the part, and I have to say that he is so good at it that even now I’m not entirely sure that he isn’t genuine in his various betrayals of the Doctor.
And in the end it all comes down to his choice. The Black Guardian offers him a diamond that could buy a galaxy in exchange for the Doctor. Turlough’s agony is real as he finally flings the diamond at the Black Guardian who bursts into flames for some reason (“light destroys the dark”). “Enlightenment was not the diamond,” the Doctor summarizes, “Enlightenment was the choice.”
Of course the White Guardian explains that the Black Guardian wasn’t really destroyed (so what was the point of the flames from hell?). “Dark cannot exist without knowledge of light,” but so too, “nor light without dark.”
“While I exist, he exists also,” the White Guardian proclaims, “until we are no longer needed.” I’m not entirely sure why they are needed, except I suppose that without light or dark it would be like the Eternals in their echoing void hungry for any hint of existence.
And so I send this out into that echoing void, Gary, hoping that somewhere out there the light and the dark are reaching you too . . .

Friday, July 5, 2013

Terminus

Dear Gary—
Terminus is brilliant; it is the only explanation I have for it being the simplest of tales possible told in the most inexplicably incomprehensible way. I’m at the edge of my seat throughout just trying to figure out what is going on even though the events are quite straightforward.
The plot in its simple version: Turlough sabotages the TARDIS at the orders of the Black Guardian and they crash with a leper ship. Tegan and Turlough get separated from the group and spend the time crawling through tunnels under the floor. Nyssa becomes infected with the disease but is cured and decides to stay behind to perfect the less than perfect, hit or miss treatment. The Doctor teams up with a raiding party, learns the ship is about to explode, and averts catastrophe. The End.
Now here is how it plays out:
“You look so sweet when you get angry.” Having just sabotaged the TARDIS at the command of the Black Guardian, Turlough is trying to allay the suspicious Tegan, but he’s not doing a very good job. Reluctantly Tegan shows Turlough to his new room in the TARDIS, which was once Adric’s and still littered with his presence. This is a very nice opening sequence.
Next we get some rather tense moments when the damage Turlough has done begins to take effect causing dimensional instability in parts of the TARDIS. It is curious that the Doctor immediately assumes this is somehow caused by whatever Nyssa was working on in her room and I wonder why Tegan doesn’t take this opportunity to tell the Doctor how she caught Turlough with his hand in the roundel, but oh well. Fearing for Nyssa’s safety the Doctor refocuses the TARDIS scanner to view the interior.
So far so good. An excellent start to the story.
“Go through, Nyssa; it’s your only chance,” the Doctor shouts to his frightened companion on the scanner screen as a mysterious door appears before her. “Where are you sending her,” Tegan asks to which he responds, “I don’t know, but if she stays in the room she’ll die.”
But wait a minute—couldn’t she go out the other door, the door that has always been there and that will lead her into the TARDIS and not out of it and into the unknown? Especially since only moments after Nyssa disappears into that unknown the Doctor, Tegan, and Turlough come rushing into the room she just left and not a one of them dies.
The explanation for the mysterious door: “The TARDIS found it. There’s a failsafe; on impending break-up, it seeks out and locks onto the nearest spacecraft.” That’s actually rather good.
The Doctor follows after Nyssa telling Tegan and Turlough to stay put. Of course Tegan and Turlough are not going to stay put.
OK now, what’s happened to the door? And what’s with the mysterious metal robot contraption with grasping arms? Who’s howling—is there a full moon? What in the world is on the heads of the two raiders Kari and Olvir? Why is Nyssa crouching like an ostrich with its head in the sand? Oh look, the door’s back. Wait, now it’s gone again. Thank goodness Kari and Olvir have taken their bubble helmets off, but why exactly does their ship abandon them?
And now Olvir is wigging out as the liner docks and a voice commands debarkation. “This is Terminus, where all the Lazars come to die,” he shouts. “We’re on a leper ship! We’re all going to die!” That accounts for the shuffling mass of shrouded people flooding the corridors all of a sudden.
End of Episode One. All in all an interesting and suspenseful first episode. I’m sticking around for more.
After retrieving the cowering Olvir and tapping into the computer banks, the Doctor learns that Terminus is at the exact center of the universe and that it is here where the Lazars are sent to be treated but that no one ever leaves alive. I really have to wonder about The Company running the place. How exactly are they making money on this? Are people actually paying to be sent there knowing that nobody has ever returned? Or are communities paying The Company to cart off the diseased? Either way it doesn’t seem like a very profitable endeavor.
Tegan and Turlough are still roaming around beneath the floor with a red cloaked skeletal figure of armored death above them and another one of those robotic cleaners. Scene shifts and we have some more armored figures. The Vanir—I just love these guys.
Bor wanders off into the ‘Forbidden Zone’ and Valgard runs to their leader Eirak, the red cloaked figure from before only now he's taken his helmet off . . . hold on . . . is that Lestat? 
“Valgard,” Eirak says when informed that Bor is sure to die, “we’re all dying.” Walking death. I love these guys.
Meanwhile Nyssa, pointing to this tiny fragment of ticker tape she holds in her hand that contains the layout of the massive ship, determines that their party should split up to find their way back to the TARDIS, and logically Nyssa goes with Olvir while the Doctor teams with Kari.
Wait a minute; Nyssa is taking off her skirt. Is she hot or something? No, she says she feels as though she is going to burst, not that she is burning up. And Olvir doesn’t even notice that she is now half naked. This is where I realize that the serial is rising to the level of brilliance. It’s the only explanation.
Now the diseased Nyssa practically handcuffs herself to this little robot drone and meekly stumbles off with it as Olvir stands by. Presented to the Vanir, Nyssa asks where she is being taken. “They don’t usually speak,” a surprised Valgard muses to himself. I wonder why. Later scenes will prove that the disease does not render them mute.
Oh, and now Sigurd is copping one of the vials. “Bitter sweet taste of life.” What a wonderfully unnecessary bit of depth. I love these guys.
So when did Nyssa cut her thumb? And did it really bleed all over the place like that?
Valgard waves his hand over a box and look—a huge, rotund, cute and cuddly, dog-faced monster appears. The Garm.
Cut to the Doctor and Kari somewhere; even after repeated viewings I’m still rather vague on what is ship and what is Terminus. It doesn’t help to have Tegan and Turlough crawling around under the floor interspersed with scenes of the Doctor running around the corridors and Nyssa being taken off as a Lazar. I’m just not really sure when they leave one vessel for another; I suppose the corridors with the skulls on them are the space liner and all of the metal scaffolding areas are Terminus.
At any rate, Valgard catches the Doctor and declares he is going to kill him. Then, after threatening him with his long rod he's been carrying around and that would make a decent weapon if need be, he bizarrely drops it in favor of strangulation.
End Episode Two. I’m definitely sticking around for more of these hunkalicious Vanir and to find out what the heck that Garm thing is.
Kari manages to be of some use to the Doctor with her gun, even if it is on its last legs of a power pack, and the two venture into the ‘Forbidden Zone.’ Now I can only wonder about the radiation everyone keeps talking about. I seriously doubt that the armor the Vanir wear is going to protect them and I have to question why the Doctor and company are not affected or seem worried about it in any way.
Nyssa has been covered with a Lazar robe and learns that the guards can’t be bribed. So if the Lazars have tried bribery in the past to get out of this hell hole, I doubt that they paid to get in to begin with, and I again wonder how The Company is making a profit. The Lazars also seem to know a lot more about Terminus and about the Garm than one would think.
Eirak discovers the swapped out vial with Sigurd standing right there. Wonderful. And now a game of dare between Eirak and Valgard. I love these guys. Except, how is it that they never notice Pretty Boy Olvir roaming freely about the place, at least not until he dons a disguise of armor?
“You’re weird, Turlough.” Tegan and Turlough have finally emerged from under the floor and are sitting disconsolately discussing whether or not they could kill somebody.
A singing Bor collapses at the Doctor’s feet and hints at the unstable nature of the place.
Does Pretty Boy really think he can break Nyssa’s metal shackles with his bare hands? He is rather adorable, though, the way he keeps trailing along behind her after he first pathetically watches her being carried off time and again.
“You have not destroyed the Doctor.” I’m starting to get annoyed with this Growling Guardian distraction. And are Tegan and Turlough really going back below when they spent the first half of the story trying to escape from there?
Poor Nyssa, freed from one set of shackles only to be re-shackled in a different location. What was the point of that?
The Doctor has come to the heart of Terminus—the Big Bang, Event One. Now wait a minute. Terminus used to time travel? What was it doing time traveling back to the beginning of it all? Was it a leper ship at that time? When the explosion occurred thus creating the universe and sending Terminus billions of years into the future . . . . I don’t know where to start with that. Did The Company wonder what happened to their time traveling ship and went looking for it to find it billions of years out? Or did Terminus simply jump ahead into the future and then got stuck and The Company came along, found the defunct ship and took it over for its leper colony? And if so, what of its original owners?
But now, hold on. The first explosion resulted in the creation of the universe and the second, according to the Doctor will destroy it? Why exactly? The first event was a complex chemical reaction that occurred with the combination of just the right circumstances at the right time. So are all of those or similar circumstances present to reverse the process billions of years out? And, uh oh, Turlough pulls a cord and the control panel in the heart of Terminus blows up and the Lever of Death is activated? Never mind. Moving on.
End of Episode Three. I’m sticking around because . . . What the heck!?
“Oh, no, Nyssa!” Pretty Boy Olvir keeps losing that girl. And again the question, what was the point of moving Nyssa from one shackle location to another only to now be carried off once more by the Garm? (By the way, what of the other Lazars? Seems rather inefficient to be doing this process one Lazar at a time.)
Back to the Doctor and the Lever of Death. Inspiration—get the Garm to deal with it. Brute strength. Never mind that the Doctor has countermanded countless computer countdowns-to-death in the past. At least Tegan is able to stop the ship’s launching sequence by blindly flipping a couple of switches and pounding on the console unit (“I don’t believe it;” neither do I, but there you go--genius).
Oh no, Turlough’s getting a blinding flash from the Guardian’s crystal!
Wait—the Garm can talk?
Apparently the cure only works on half naked people because Nyssa has lost her robe and is in her undies again. And oh that Olvir, he really is pathetic.
“Is this necessary?” Thank you Garm for that laugh-out-loud moment.
The Garm stops the Lever of Death and the Doctor flips some switches and pulls out some cables to avert disaster. In payment for his deed the Doctor frees the Garm by simply dropping the control box on the floor. Not a very sturdy device apparently, I’m surprised it hasn’t been accidently destroyed long before now.
Valgard still stands in the way. “This is Terminus; no one’s happy here. Staying alive is all that counts.” But Nyssa changes all that and Valgard is convinced.
“Nyssa, I’ve been so worried.” Hmmm, I don’t think the Doctor has given her a second thought this whole time, but whatever.
Bor is still alive: “It’s a relief; I am hoping for something rather better on the other side.” Sigurd defies Eirak to get some Hydromel for Bor. Valgard convinces the Vanir that they can be free of The Company. Eirak returns and Valgard takes his reward of command for returning from the ‘Forbidden Zone’ with the intruders and the Vanir back him up. These guys are the greatest.
Nyssa determines simply by glancing at the Hydromel through its glass vial that she can not only synthesize it but actually improve upon it. And with the help of the Garm . . . oh now wait one minute. What exactly is this Garm? How did that box control him? Why did he have to be controlled if he is more than willing to help? Why did the Garm never speak to the Vanir? And what is this—there are actually survivors of this disease? Why does the outside world not know about it? Nor do any of the Vanir know about it. What do they think they’re doing there to begin with? And if they think there are no survivors of the cure, what do they think happens to all the dead bodies? And a massive dose of radiation is the cure? Or is it Hydromel? Or a combination of the two? What exactly cured Nyssa? And why do they assume that Nyssa is the only one to have contracted the disease while they’ve been there? Turlough does say several times that he feels sick. And if the Vanir can be cured along with the other Lazars what incentive will they have to stay on? And . . . . Gah!
Ah, here comes Tegan. But there goes Nyssa. “She’ll die here.” Nyssa is going to stay with the Vanir (assuming they decide to remain, but why they would . . .) and with the Garm, and somehow she is going to turn Terminus into a proper hospital. It is a fitting farewell. (I kind of hope that a cured Sigurd, the Vanir with a touch of larceny in his heart of gold, sticks around with her.)
Turlough is recovering from his flash induced sleep with just a touch of a headache.
“This is your last chance! I shall not say that again! Kill the Doctor!” (I can only hope he keeps his word, but somehow I doubt it.)
End of Terminus.
Brilliant. It’s the only possible explanation I can think of, Gary.