The Time Warrior

Dear Gary—

The Time Warrior is Doctor Who at its best. Everything works in this manageable four part story: script, cast, sets, costumes. The only quibble I might have is with special effects, but that is incidental.

I’d like to start, Gary, with the introduction of the new companion, Sarah Jane Smith. Sarah Jane is one of the best known and loved companions of early Doctor Who and The Time Warrior is the perfect debut story for her.

“You can make yourself useful; we need somebody around here to make the coffee,” the Doctor says with a smile as he first meets her. Sarah Jane is no coffee maker; neither is she a test tube fetcher; nor a devotee. Not Sarah Jane Smith.

I love Sarah’s character as depicted in this her premier serial. My initial exposure to her had been in the Baker years when her role had settled down into the more typical female companion who wanders off and gets into trouble. I have only first viewed The Time Warrior in the past few years and I am delighted to see her feisty nature given full reign. I always like a bit of friction between the Doctor and his companion (think Ian and Barbara) rather than the near idolatry that many companions exhibit, so The Time Warrior is a refreshing perspective on the Sarah/Doctor relationship.

“This isn’t a rescue, Doctor, it’s a capture.” Finding herself in the midst of a Middle Ages power struggle between the robber baron Irongron and the local nobility, Sarah decides that the Doctor is at fault.

When first confronted with Irongron and his henchmen, Sarah goes through the natural, logical progression of guesses as to what is going on. A village pageant, a film set, a tourist attraction. She considers and rejects each option in turn until she is left with the obvious truth: she is in the Middle Ages. This leads her to the Doctor and the mysterious machine she stowed away on. The Doctor must be responsible; “he’s no magician, just some eccentric scientist,” and he must be stopped.

Like the good investigative journalist she is, though, she does eventually dig down to the truth and converts to the Doctor’s side. “I never lie,” the Doctor tells her, “well, hardly ever.” And that is good enough for Sarah; a new companion is born.

The Time Warrior doesn’t just introduce a new companion, however; it also marks the first appearance of a Sontaran in Doctor Who. Linx is short and compact, but larger than life. Of all the recurring Doctor Who enemies, I have to say that the Sontarans are my favorite. The Daleks and Cybermen are all very well and good, but a bit monosyllabic. Give me a Sontaran any day.

Add Irongron to this mix and you have one whale of a story.

“I’ll pickle that insolent star warrior in boiling water one day.” Faced with a Dalek or Cyberman, Irongron would never be able to rant and rave as he does. He would be exterminated, cyberized, or terrorized. Linx, however, allows Irongron’s braggadocio. A cowed Irongron would be no fun; an Irongron free to futilely spout and fume provides a wealth of entertainment.

 “My race has been at war for millennia,” Linx says. Sontarans are not intent on exterminating anything unlike them, nor are they motivated by the survival instinct. Sontarans are inspired by the glory and honor of war. As such, Linx has a certain respect for Irongron and his fight against the neighboring lords.

However, Irongron’s conflicts are only a momentary diversion for Linx. His main objective is to repair his spaceship so he can return to the unending war against the Rutans. Not finding the required equipment and expertise for such a project available in the Middle Ages, Linx uses his limited resources to devise a way to kidnap scientists from the 20^th Century to conduct the necessary repairs.

It is this rash use of time travel that leads the Doctor to Linx. Linx does not pose an immediate threat to humanity. He has recklessly displaced some scientists out of their own time and is fashioning firearms for Irongron, but he has no malicious intent. He simply wants to escape from this backward time he finds himself stranded in.

“Human beings must be allowed to develop at their own pace,” is the Doctor’s objection to this plan. Providing weaponry to Man before its time will alter the course of history. The Doctor goes on to describe the Time Lords as “galactic ticket inspectors” opposed to “unlicensed time travel.” And for the first time the Doctor reveals the name of his home planet—Gallifrey.

 “Your Time Lord philosophy is egalitarian twaddle; it is a weakness,” Linx tells the Doctor. The Sontaran weakness, we learn, is the probic vent at the back of their necks.

The Time Warrior has just about everything a good Doctor Who story should have.

“Brigadier, a straight line may be the shortest distance between two points, but it is by no means the most interesting.”

The Time Warrior takes the interesting route.

It is not just the introduction of an ideal new companion, nor the impressive foe, nor the blustering comic relief. It is all of the details; it is the cold stone castle interiors; it is the lush green exteriors; it is Sarah Jane’s Robin Hood and Maid Marian costume changes; it is Bloodaxe hanging adoringly on every inane word out of Irongron’s mouth; it is the absentminded and nearly blind Professor Rubeish wandering at will through the dungeon lab.

I could use the Doctor’s own words about the TARDIS to describe The Time Warrior: “Well done old girl—absolutely on target.”

I hope this hits on target, Gary, and finds you out there somewhere in the Doctor’s time swirl . . .