Serial 131 – The Awakening

Another two parter, I have no recollection what this one is about. Let’s find out!

Episode 1:

Horses are racing. A woman is looking for Ben, calling out his name. The three horses, and their riders arrive where the woman is. They’re dressed in armour, but her clothing isn’t quite as historical. One of the men charges at her with his spear and she runs into one of the buildings.

Inside, she sits down, shaken up. One of the men grabs her, but it turns out to be Ben. She’s mad, but he says it’s just a bit of fun. The other two men enter, and she demands that Sir George “stop these war games”.

They argue; he says she, as a school teacher, should appreciate the merit of what they do. She says not when people can get hurt or things damaged. Sir George says no harm is meant.

In the TARDIS, Turlough is under the console, working on something. The Doctor says it’s not any better – apparently there is a time distortion. Tegan asks if there is any problem, but The Doctor says they’re right on track to the time and place she asked for, so she could see her grandfather.

They materialise, apparently in a building or tunnels. There’s a rockfall/collapse, and they see a man moving about. The Doctor rushes out to see if he’s okay, the companions follow. The man rushes by, but Tegan sees his dress and says they’re in the wrong time, but Turlough assures her it’s 1984.

The three head off to “have a look”. When they leave, the man in archaic clothing watches them from near the TARDIS.

Sir George demands to know why the teacher is the only person in the village not involved in the war games. Her concern is that some stranger or visitor might arrive and be put in danger as she was. Sir George says that the village has been cut off from the outside world, something that suprises/upsets Ben and the teacher.

Tegan gets bored with The Doctor and Turlough inspecting the church they’re in and demands to find her grandfather. As they leave, there’s a creaking sound. The Doctor makes a crack about a ghost, but behind him in the wall, there’s a new crack with gas or steam spewing out. As they leave, they encounter a large group of men in armour and on horseback and are quickly surrounded.

They are led off to see Sir George.

Again the man from the tunnel is seen following; his face is partially disfigured.

The prisoners are brought into the room where Ben and the school teacher are; Ben questions if the men should be arresting people, but the lead jerkwad says Sir George is aware. Ben apologises, saying some of the men get carried away with the game, but they’ll soon have it all sorted out.

The Doctor compliments the room, noting it’s 17^th century. Ben preens, as it is his pride and joy (his words.) Tegan looks irate. Turlough uncomfortable, and the school teacher baffled. Tegah demands to see her grandfather, but when she brings up his name, she learns he disappeared several days ago.

Upset, she rushes off. Turlough gives chase, but jerkwad pulls a gun on The Doctor.

Outside, the man following them snatches Tegan’s purse and runs off.

Sir George arrives and admonishes jerkwad. He explains the war games is a celebration of a historical battle. Miss Hampden (the teacher) says it’s madness. They talk and The Doctor says he’s come through the woods from the church. Sir George says he should stay away from the church, as it could fall at any minute.

Changing tack, Sir George invites The Doctor to join in their reenactment, but the Time Lord says he needs to find his friends and Tegan’s grandfather. He slides jerkwad’s gun away (it’s lying on the table) and dashes out the door. Sir George says it’s no big until he learns that Tegan is Andrew’s granddaughter, then he orders for the perimeter guards to be doubled, and to capture Tegan, as he has something special in store for her.

Miss Hampden reminds Sir George that detaining people against their will is illegal. He tells her that since he’s the local magistrate, he will find himself quite innocent.

In the building she finds herself, there’s some flashing lights and an old man appears in the upper part – he looks almost like the old man from SNAKEDANCE, but I’m not sure.

Outside, the man who stole Tegan’s purse runs into The Doctor, knocking him down. When the Time Lord gets up, he wonders how the man got so far away so quickly.

Jerkwad and Ben argue about searching for Tegan with only four men, as all the rest were added to the perimeter. They split up – jerkwad and Ben together, the other two men to Andrew’s cottage.

The Doctor follows the thief back to the church. Suddenly there’s a loud noise, sounds of a battle. The Doctor covers his ears, collapsing, when suddenly a young man breaks through a wall. The Doctor tries to greet him, but he’s wary. The Doctor asks him what year it is, and he answers 1643.

The young man asks if the battle is done and The Doctor says it is; just then Tegan and Turlough burst in to say something strange is going on. The Doctor introduces them to Will, the peasant who was hiding in the priest hole.

Ben and jerkwad report to Sir George, who wants Tegan to be the May Queen. Hampden says she knows about the old tradition and is well aware of what happens to the Queen at the end of her reign. Ben says they won’t harm her, but Hampden isn’t sure.

Sir George leaves with some mysterious talk about something coming to the village – something wonderful and strange.

Hampden tells Joseph (jerkwad) she’s going to the police (you know, that’s just the dumbest thing you can do – if someone is doing something wrong JUST GO TO THE POLICE, DON’T ANNOUNCE IT.) He rushes to cut her off from leaving, threatening that she could just as easily be the Queen of the May. She slaps jerkwad, who locks her in the room.

The Doctor tells his companions that there has been a “confusion in time”, and 1984 and 1643 have become linked in this village. Turlough asks about the apparitions, but The Doctor says they’re psychic projections. Even the man who stole Tegan’s purse, and Will, are ones, just ones with physical form.

Turlough asserts that this would take great power, and The Doctor agrees.

Turlough points out that the crack in the wall has gotten wider. The Doctor agrees, saying it is ominous, as is Tegan’s grandfather’s disappearance. The Doctor takes Will and heads to the village, instructing his companions to wait in the TARDIS.

En route, Will and The Doctor have to hide from guards.

In the TARDIS, the pixelated form of a psychic projection starts to manifest. Tegan and Turlough leave to find The Doctor.

The Doctor asks Will what happens in 1643. Will says something, someone called “Malus” (sounds like he’s saying Malice to me) came and made the fighting worse.

Tegan and Turlough pause outside the place The Doctor and Will are hiding, but move on.

Will says that amidst the fighting, there was a terrible wind and Malus appeared. The Doctor indicates a carving of something (we don’t get a good look at it) on the floor of where they’re hiding and asks if that’s what Malus looks like. Horrified, Will says it is.

The Doctor presses on the visage of the Malus, opening a secret door in the floor.

Tegan and Turlough wander the village, looking for everyone; strange, since they’re aware they have to hide from the horsemen. Sure enough, Tegan is captured by Ben.

Hampden finds a secret door in the office and slips in just before Sir George and his guards arrive. He sends them after her.

The Doctor and Will move through a passageway. Hearing others, they hide – as I’m sure you guessed, it’s Hampden, but we can hear the others behind her. The Doctor pulls her into their hiding spot just before Sir George and his cronies pass by.

Jerkwad Joseph puts Tegan in a room and orders her to put on a gown.

Sir George and his men return, giving up the chase. Hampden tells The Doctor the stairs lead back to Sir George’s office. (I thought it was Ben’s.) The Doctor finds some soft metal, saying it is called tinclavic and is from the planet Raaga.

After she’s changed, Jerkwad tells Tegan she’s beginning to annoy him; he’s already annoyed me. He takes her modern clothing, saying she is now Queen of the May.

Hampden questions what The Doctor said about the metal from another world; he says the Terileptils (remember them?) mine it for another planet in another star system, Rifta. She says he’s mad.

She questions how it got there (accepting what he’s claiming out of sake of argument.) He tells her that it came in a ship, likely a computer-controlled recon vehicle. He asks if Andrew was involved in research about the Malus, which she confirms.

Hampden says it’s a legend, a myth. The Doctor says the Malus is from the alien probe ship.

The crack in the wall is even bigger. The Doctor pulls away at the wall, revealing something behind it. There is what appears to be a green glowing eye as smoke pours out. The Time Lord puts his hands over his ears and Hampden screams a ridiculously long, “Doctorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr,”… and the credits roll.

So far, not very impressed.

(spoilers)

Episode 2:

Will and Hampden pull The Doctor away from the crack. The glowing evil face of the Malus peers at them from within. Suddenly, they see the thief has arrived, but then he gets pixelated. Will hears sounds of battle and runs off.

The thief changes from a thief to a poncey looking fellow.

Turlough skulks about, spying on the village, but is captured by a guard, who drags him over to Sir George, who orders he be locked up.

As the poncey dude approaches them, there’s a bit of a wind. He draws his sword and they run off.

Turlough is thrown in a building, where Andrew Verney greets him, telling him not to be afraid.

The Doctor says he has to talk to Sir George; when she questions this, he explains that the war games are the focus for the Malus’ energies, and since Sir George is in charge, he’s the man to talk to.

Will runs through the fields.

Tegan is staring out the window; Ben tells her she can’t escape. He assures her that her grandfather is safe. Sir George arrives to compliment how charming she is. She says she is in no mood to play a silly game, but George gets serious saying this is no game, but will change the future of mankind.

Andrew says Sir George’s “deranged mind” awakened the Malus. Turlough says they need to escape and find The Doctor. Turlough calls for a guard, but gets no response and asks what they can use as a battering ram.

Hampden questions why the Malus has been dormant – especially if it was in the village long before the English Civil War broke out. The Doctor says it takes massive psychic energy to awaken in, to empower it. The war did in 1643 and the reenactment is doing so in 1984.

Hampden realises that the final battle of the war games won’t be play, but for real – will be a real slaughter. They enter the office, as Tegan argues with Sir George. The Doctor asks Sir George to stop the war games and there’s a great line here:

Sir George: You speak treason!

The Doctor: Fluently. Stop the war games!

Sir George gives his gun to Ben, ordering him to kill them, and then departs. Ben asks The Doctor to explain what’s going on.

Suddenly, a psychic projection of a stone face appears in the air. Ben asks if he can shoot it, but The Doctor says it’s not physical. The Doctor tells Ben to take the girls back through the tunnel, then he departs to find Turlough.

Ben tells Tegan she’ll have to show up on the cart awaiting to take her, or they’ll have guards scouring for her and The Doctor will have no hope of succeeding.

Will scurries about the village.

Turlough and Andrew are exhausted from their attempts to break down the door.

The cart bears Tegan through the town, Hempden sitting on the back, as Ben steers it.

More of the wall obscuring the Malus breaks down.

The Doctor finds Will, who says things are just like before. They see the cart with Tegan passing by; Will tells him they’ll burn the Queen of the May.

The Doctor tries to casually walk by the May Pole, but Sir George orders his men to grab him.

More of the wall breaks down in the church, revealing more of the Malus’ grinning face.

The cart arrives at the May Pole, but Sir George realises something is wrong – the figure in a dress in the cart is an effigy. Sir George orders his men to kill Ben.

Will rushes in to help The Doctor escape and they leap on the back of the cart. Ben takes them to the church. Sir George, enraged, sends his men after them.

Finally, Turlough and Andrew break out. Andrew says they have to rush to the church to destroy the Malus, saying they don’t have time to look for The Doctor.

At the church, everyone but Turlough and Andrew reunite. They head to the TARDIS, where The Doctor chastises Tegan for not closing the door. There’s a pixelated manifestation inside the TARDIS, looks like a lizard-Malus.

Jerkwad and a guard try to enter the TARDIS. They try to break it open.

Inside, the Malus-lizard is getting stronger, more physical.

Andrew and Turlough arrive in the church, see the Malus. They hear the pounding on the TARDIS echoing from below.

The Malus senses that The Doctor is up to something and this makes it mad.

In the village, Sir George clutches his head and cries out, saying he must get to the church.

Andrew and Turlough knock out Jerkwad and the guard.

The Doctor manages to cut off the Malus from the emotional energy from the village. The Malus-lizard in the TARDIS begins to die. The Doctor leads everyone out of the TARDIS and Tegan is happy to see her grandfather. They head up to the church, but the Malus has generated three guards to attack the heroes.

The guard with jerkwad wakes and staggers up to the church; the psychic projections turn and kill him. The Malus has grown silent. The Doctor says it used a lot of energy and must be resting.

Before they can leave, Sir George arrives, raving that he is there, calling out to his master. This wakes the Malus again. Ben says Sir George used to be a man of honour, and tries to talk to him.

The Doctor tells Ben that Sir George is now under the control of the Malus. (C’mon, like he has to tell him this? The man is VISIBLY bonkers. Not to mention the mad shit he’s been doing all episode long.)

Ben asserts he has to try, since he is partially responsible for what has happened. Sir George doesn’t seem to know his friend, Ben. Everyone tries to reinforce that George listen to Colonel Woosley.

The Malus roars. Down below, Jerkwad wakes up.

Sir George argues that the Malus is not using him, that they are working together. The Doctor argues with logic, pointing out the influence of the Malus has him pointing a gun at a friend.

Just as Sir George drops his guns, Jerkwad attacks Ben. They struggle. Will shows up and shoves Sir George into the Malus, saying he’d be better off dead. George dies and the Malus begins bringing down the church.

Everyone rushes into the TARDIS as the church collapses about the Malus.

There’s a big boom.

The Doctor announces that the Malus has destroyed itself. Hempden asks if it was a machine or beast; The Doctor says it was a living being reengineered for war, sent as an advance scout/attack on the planet.

Turlough asks why they never invaded, but The Doctor isn’t sure and says he’ll have to check the records.

When Turlough asks why Will is still there, The Doctor admits he was wrong about Will being a projection, but actually someone who slipped between times.

Ben and Hempden shake hands with Jerkwad, who I guess was under the Malus’ influence, too. They promise no recriminations on their behalf if he helps them work to rebuild the village.

There’s a bit of silly banter at the end that just falls flat for me.

All in all, this serial wasn’t anything special. Not horrible, by any stretch, but very meh.

Serial 125 Mawdryn Undead 2 / 2

Recap: The Black Guardian has set a trap for The Doctor. He’s stuck in 1983, where he’s met up with the Brigadier! However, Nyssa and Tegan are earlier, and they, too, have met up with the Brig. Also, they think they have The Doctor, injured and regenerating, but it’s some guy called Mawdryn, who is of a people betrayed by the Time Lords.

It’s all rather fun.

(spoiler)

Episode 3:

Still in Turlough’s room, listening to the Brig’s retelling, The Doctor realises that both the TARDIS and the transmat cube arrived six years earlier. The Brig points out that Tegan and Nyssa thought the stranger was The Doctor. When The Doctor questions what the Brig thought, the mental block inside starts fighting back, the Brig begs off, saying he mustn’t remember.

The Doctor suggests that whatever the Brig experienced, what he can’t/won’t remember, might’ve been the trigger for his nervous breakdown. But, just then, The Doctor finds the crystal. He urgently says he must get to Turlough and the transmat sphere before Turlough repairs it – it might be his only way to recover the TARDIS. He dashes out, the Brig following.

Turlough arrives and enters the sphere.

Tegan accuses Mawdryn of not being The Doctor. She claims that the change is too different, but he plays it off as an effect of the transmat. Nyssa and The Brig are unsure; Mawdryn urges them to return the TARDIS to the ship, claiming he needs medical assistance they should find there.

Nyssa brings up Turlough, saying he doesn’t belong in that time period, confusing Mawdryn.

The Doctor and Brig arrive at the sphere, which Turlough has been unable to start.

Tegan challenges that The Doctor should be in 1983, not 1977. Mawdryn claims it was a side-effect of the beam, saying the sphere was rerouted like the TARDIS was. Nyssa agrees that this could be possible.

The Doctor makes some modifications to the transmitter, while Turlough asks some high-tech questions. The Brig watches on stoically.

Mawdryn appeals to his “old friends”, asking for help. The Brig feels they must give him the benefit of the doubt.

The Doctor returns the crystal to Turlough after they all enter the sphere.

Nyssa starts the TARDIS, using coordinate regression (as instructed by Mawdryn) to return to the previous location, but an alarm goes off instead.

The Doctor sends Turlough out to inspect the transmitter; while the boy is gone, the Time Lord asks the Brig if he entered the TARDIS in 1977. The Brig says he can’t remember, but doesn’t feel it’s important. The Doctor points out if he did, they could potentially meet his former self, which would be very, very bad. “As Tegan would say… zap!”

The transmitter explodes.

The alarm stops; Mawdryn demands they dematerialise. Again, Tegan argues that maybe it was The Doctor. Again, Mawdryn insists he is The Doctor and demands Nyssa dematerialise. Tegan yells, “No!”

The Brig tells The Doctor that he did not go with them, that he remembers watching the TARDIS dematerialise. The Doctor says it’s a moot point, that he cannot leave without something to track the TARDIS with. The Brig says that Tegan left her homing device (as seen earlier, though I don’t believe I mentioned it, bad blogger that I am) with him!

The TARDIS materialises on the ship. Mawdryn orders them to stay in the TARDIS, but Tegan and the Brig argues. Mawdryn claims they cannot go with him, their presence would corrupt his recovery. Nyssa seems to believe him, but Tegan is adamant. Mawdryn gets melodramatic and falls to his knees.

The Brig gives the Time Lord the beacon, but it isn’t working. Disappointed, The Doctor hopes to fix it.

The Brig and Nyssa decide to let Mawdryn out.

The Doctor fixes the beacon and heads to the sphere to home in on the TARDIS.

In the TARDIS, the Brig decides it’s time to have a lookaround, but he orders the girls to stay, making them very unhappy.

Back in the sphere, the Brig complains about going up and down the hill for a third time. Both the Brig and Turlough insist on accompanying him to the ship and The Doctor agrees. They arrive there, even before the Brig asks how long the journey will take.

Mawdryn is seen crawling into a room. He speaks, calling out to… someone or something, “I, Mawdryn, have returned… it is time for the awakening, help me!”

The Doctor says the creature would have left the TARDIS by now, and they need to find it. He sends Turlough to find the TARDIS and stay with Nyssa and Tegan. He and the Brig enter a secret room, where they find some regeneration equipment (used in time of need by Time Lords) that he says must have been stolen from Gallifrey.

Mawdryn collapses.

Turlough seems to be speaking to the Black Guardian, though we only see/hear his side of the convo…. oh, he’s calling out for the Guardian to answer him, but the crystal is unlit.

The Doctor speculates that the creature could be undead. The Doctor says that he doesn’t know what the creature is up to, “But you can be sure it’s no good.”

Turlough finds the alcove that Mawdryn was in, calling out to the others. One of the statues speaks to him in the Black Guardian’s voice, and the visage of the BG appears. When Turlough apologises, BG says that all is working towards the “total humiliation” of The Doctor and says Turlough has done well. (I thought he wanted The Doctor dead, not humiliated?)

BG instructs Turlough to hold out his hand; reluctantly, the boy does so, touching the statue face, which opens a secret door. Inside, he finds others like Mawdryn, who slowly awaken from some sleep or stasis. Frightened, Turlough rushes out.

The Brig suggests going back to the TARDIS, but The Doctor is too interested in the equipment. He says that it’s been heavily modified and would do damage to a Time Lord, were they to use it. The Brig is distracted by something he hears outside and slips out. The door closes behind and he walks on, just missing his younger self by moments!

Mawdryn continues to crawl about. In their chamber, his compatriots waken, wondering where Mawdryn is.

The older Brig returns to the chamber, finding Mawdryn, who calls out to him by name.

Tegan decides to go out, saying she’s going to look for the real Doctor, but just then, The Doctor enters.

The older Brig helps Mawdryn, hooking him up to the machine, but confronts him, saying he’s not the Doctor. Mawdryn agrees, and when the Brig threatens to shut off the machine, saying he’ll die, Mawdryn says he cannot die.

The Doctor demands to know where Turlough is and mentions the Brig; when Tegan says they brought the Brig, he gets mad and yells at them. The three head out, hoping to stop the Brigs from meeting.

Young Brig hides from Mawdryn’s people as they march through the halls.

Tegan is left outside the regeneration chamber to stop the Brig.

Turlough enters the TARDIS.

The Doctor and Nyssa rejoin the older Brig in the regeneration chamber, where Mawdryn greets The Doctor, “I am Mawdryn… welcome to my ship, Time Lord.”

At the TARDIS console, Turlough works the controls. On the scanner, the BG appears, saying he cannot work the TARDIS. Turlough says with BG’s help, he can, but the BG says that Turlough will “remain on the ship and witness the nemesis of The Doctor!”

We learn of Mawdryn’s story – he stole the regeneration equipment from Gallifrey, but using it has induced mutation. He and his fellows were banished to the ship as punishment. He says that every seventy years, the ship is guided near enough to a planet that, with the combined mental energy of the other seven, one may go planetside, to take appearance of the locals and to seek help.

Nyssa asks why he stabilised in the TARDIS, and Mawdryn says it’s the atmosphere in there. He says it is the Time Lord’s curse, that they degenerate but can never die. The Doctor says they brought it on themselves, but Mawdryn says they could have given them the missing element.

Tegan enters the regeneration chamber, warning that Mawdryn’s fellows are approaching. Mawdryn asks for the help to die, but The Doctor says that he cannot – were he to give them his energy, it would be the end of him as a Time Lord… and the credits roll.

I like that cliffhanger; not an immediate danger, but a gut punch nonetheless.

Episode 4:

The Doctor explains that he would have to give them his remaining regenerations to help them – there are eight of them and he has eight regenerations left. The Brig and companions urge The Doctor to flee, before they get hostile, but Mawdryn says they have no weapons and that The Doctor can only help if he chooses to do so.

The BG tells Turlough that the double presence of the Brig might threaten his plans. BG orders Turlough to find the younger Brig and keep him away from the older one.

Mawdryn and his fellows argue with The Doctor, saying that they have tried and there is no cure, other than what The Doctor can do for them. Again, he refuses. Mawdryn tells him to “leave now with his friends, but accept the consequences of your actions”, but doesn’t explain what he means.

Turlough finds the young Brig, saying he’ll take him to The Doctor.

Mawdryn assures his friends that The Doctor will soon change his mind.

The Doctor fills in the older Brig about the presence of the younger Brig.

Turlough leads the younger Brig into the room where Mawdryn’s associates were sleeping and traps him in there.

The Doctor instructs Turlough to find the young Brig and take him to the transmat capsule, which has been rigged to transmat to the center of the TARDIS. He tells him to keep the young Brig in there. Turlough sets off, but hides from Mawdryn and his people as they are traveling about again.

Nyssa says she finds the idea that the “mutants” will travel for the rest of time to be terrible; The Doctor agrees, but says sometimes you have to live with the consequences of your actions. The Doctor activates the TARDIS and it dematerialises as Mawdryn and company arrive. Again, Mawdryn assures the others that The Doctor will return.

As the TARDIS leaves the ship, Tegan and Nyssa are stricken by a degernative effect much like Mawdryn and his people suffer. The Doctor reverses their transit, reversing the effect.

Young Brig finds his way out of the room.

The Doctor realises that somehow, though the experimentation, the mutation has taken on viral properties. He doesn’t know why he nor elder Brig have acquired it, though. If they travel through time, it accelerates the degeneration – but they cannot leave the ship and escape the warp ellipse that is part of it without entering the time/space vortex.

In a throwback to the Third Doctor, The Doctor wonders about reversing the polarity of the neutron flow…

Young Brig arrives just in time to see the TARDIS dematerialise again. He confronts Mawdryn and his fellows. Mawdryn’s fellows realise that the Brig is also in the TARDIS, and they rush him back to the transmat sphere.

This time, since they’re traveling in the opposite direction from the ellipse, Tegan and Nyssa turn into children. Again, The Doctor returns to the ship, restoring the ladies to their proper ages. An alarm goes off, letting him know the transmat sphere has been activated, but he says it cannot come into the center of the TARDIS while they’re on the ship, and it will return to its pod – The Doctor assumes it is Turlough and the younger Brig (but he’s only half right.)

Turlough runs about, returning to the chamber to find the young Brig, but discovers young Brig is already gone. He pulls out the crystal, which glows bright. BG chastises him, saying he has failed him. Turlough says it isn’t his fault. BG threatens to destroy Turlough if the boy fails him again.

The Doctor and companions depart the TARDIS; Mawdryn admits that the knew what would happen. He tells the girls that they’ll have to stay on the ship for the rest of their lives. The Brig pleads with Mawdryn to help, but he says there is nothing they can do. The Brig turns to The Doctor, as do the girls.

Reluctantly, The Doctor tells Mawdryn’s people, “Take me to your laboratory.”

Young Brig takes the homing beacon from the sphere (the one older Brig said he got from Tegan, remember?) and departs.

On the way to the chamber, Mawdryn explains to older Brig that once this is complete, The Doctor will no longer be a Time Lord.

Young Brig arrives at the TARDIS, finding it empty.

As The Doctor explains to older Brig what to do, the military man seems lost.. or perhaps remembering something. When asked, he assures The Doctor that he is fine. Nyssa and Tegan are hooked up to the equipment as well – enough of The Doctor’s remaining regenerations will be routed to cure them as well.

The Doctor gives older Brig the order to activate the machinery.

Young Brig walks around, hearing the machinery.

Turlough runs about, looking for young Brig. BG booms in his ear to hurry, they are so close, but the young Brig must be found and stopped!

The older Brig is counting down.

Turlough sees young Bring heading towards the regeneration chamber and tries to stop him, but the Brig shoves the boy aside. He opens the door.

Older Brig is at thirteen and counting down…

Young Brig walks in and sees his older self. Shocked, they both reach out and touch and there’s a great flash of light.

Turlough stops and consults the crystal – he sees that it is cracked!

The Doctor unhooks Tegan and Nyssa from the machinery. He explains that there was a massive discharge of energy at the moment of transfer. Young Brig is unconscious but older Brig is waking. The Doctor instructs Nyssa to take him to the center of the TARDIS and keep him there until he gives her the all-clear.

The Doctor tells Tegan that he is still a Time Lord, that the energy for the transfer came from the time differential being shorted out from the two Brigadiers touching, the crossing of the time lines.

Mawdryn breathes his final breath, dying. The others have already died.

Tegan thanks The Doctor for being prepared to risk everything for her and Nyssa.

Nyssa takes older Brig deep into the TARDIS. The Doctor and Tegan help younger Brig to the TARDIS, as the ship begins to die, now that the mutants are dead.

In 1977, Doctor Runciman stands at the top of the hill (where the Brig instructed him to meet with him), calling out for the Brigadier. The TARDIS arrives (unseen to the doctor, it seems) and Tegan and The Doctor bring out the still unconscious younger Brig, laying him in the grass for the doctor to find. The younger Brig wakes up just in time to see the TARDIS dematerialise.

Older Brig and Nyssa return to the console room now that his counterpart is gone. He remarks on the changes in the TARDIS and The Doctor replies, “One has to move with the times.”

The Brigadier says he hasn’t felt so well for at least six years. The TARDIS arrives in 1983, and the Brig, The Doctor and the girls depart. Outside, they say their farewells, but when the Brig asks where Turlough is, everyone panics, thinking he’s still on the ship, which is soon to self-destruct.

Saying quick goodbyes to the Brig, they rush back in, only to find Turlough at the console, looking over the controls. He asks if he can join them and The Doctor offers his hand, saying, “I think you already have.”

Turlough shakes his hand enthusiastically, much to the disappointment of Tegan and Nyssa… and the final credits roll.

This was a great serial, a lot of fun. I love the crossed time lines and the Brigadiers, and of course, Turlough. I have always liked Turlough – his being intended to kill The Doctor, the darker touch to him. Can’t wait for the next serial, too!

Serial 125 – Mawdryn Undead 1 / 2

If this is the one I think it is, I’m very excited to see this one. Let’s find out.

Episode 1:

THIS IS THE ONE!! YES!!

Several young men at a school admire a 1929 car – not a vehicle of the time period, it seems by their clothing and the discussion about the car being a classic. One of them, Turlough, is unimpressed, but coaxes his friend to go for a ride in it. Turlough gets behind the wheel and off they go as other student watch and cheer.

Turlough’s friend worries, begging Turlough to slow down, to turn back, etc, etc – Turlough seems to delight in his friend’s discomfort. Suddenly, another car comes down the road and they swerve, going off the road.

Turlough has an out of body experience… he sees the car wreck below, people gathered about. The Black Guardian appears, saying he’s a friend. He offers Turlough, whom is very unhappy in his life, the chance to leave Earth. When Turlough seems excited at the prospect, the Guardian says they will have to discuss terms first.

Back at the scen of the wreck, a doctor announces both boys are mostly unhurt. The owner of the car, Brigadier… LETHBRIDGE-STEWART!!! Squee! Flail!… complains that in all his years of soldiering, he’d never seen such destructive capability as he has seen here and now – he’s being melodramatic, of course.

Turlough is reticent to agree to the Guardian’s terms – in exchange for leaving Earth, Turlough will have to “kill one of the most evil creatures in the universe – he calls himself The Doctor!” Pressed for an answer, Turlough agrees as he’s sent back to Earth.

He awakes, to find the Brigadier and others about him.

In the TARDIS, Tegan, still frightened, asks The Doctor if she truly is free of the Mara. The Doctor assures her that she is. Nyssa arrives, wearing another new outfit, which again is unnoticed by The Doctor.

Tegan asks if she can go back to Earth, but before the discussion goes too far, the TARDIS starts having issues.

Back at school, Turlough is put to bed by a school matron. He finds a strange crystal on the table near his bed. She tells him it was found in his jacket. Just then, the headmaster (played by Angus MacKay, the first actor to portray Borusa back in THE DEADLY ASSASSIN) arrives to check on him. Turlough tries to put the blame off on the other boy, saying he wasn’t driving. The matron breaks up the conversation saying Turlough needs his rest and the adults depart. Turlough pulls out the crystal, which begins to glow – and he realises that the Guardian is real.

The Guardian’s voice then echoes, saying, “Waking or sleeping, I shall be with you until our business is concluded.”

The Doctor says there’s a chance that something is on a collision course with the TARDIS; on the scanner, a ship is seen heading straight towards them! The Doctor manages to materialise onto the ship just in time.

The Guardian tells Turlough that he must be patient and sends him to a nearby hill, to an obelisk, to await instructions.

The Brigadier confronts Ibbotson, the boy who rode with Turlough, as he leaves the headmaster’s office. Consulting with the headmaster, the Brig says that he’s sure Turlough is to blame. The headmaster seems to think otherwise. It comes up that Turlough’s parents are dead, that a solicitor in London is responsible for the lad.

Ibbotson checks in on Turlough, saying he’s worried about being expelled. Turlough claims he took all the blame, and jumps out of bed (grabbing his crystal) and heading off.

Tegan, Nyssa and The Doctor depart the TARDIS, examing the extravagantly decorated spaceship. Tegan first compares to it as the Queen Mary, but after finding nobody about, she changes it to the Mary Celeste.

As creepy music plays, they explore the ship. Nyssa remarks everything seems designed for pleasure.

Turlough and Ibbotson dash through the woods to the obelisk.

The Doctor finds a panel that reveals the ship has been in orbit for 3000 years.

At the obelisk, Turlough receives telepathic commands from the Guardian.

Nyssa finds a transmat terminal, still in transmat mode – it seems six years ago it was activated to send someone to Earth.

Following the instructions, Turlough deactivates a screen revealing a transmat capsule, which he recognises and identifies as such, mocking Ibbotson for not knowing what it is. He enters it as Ibbotson calls out for him to keep out of it. As it vanishes, Ibbotson dashes off.

Turlough arrives on the ship, at the very terminal The Doctor and companions had been out shortly before. He exits and approaches the control panel. The Guardian orders him to ignore the ship and go after The Doctor, but Turlough resists, saying he wants to go home – and he’s obviously not talking about Earth!

The Guardian appears, commanding that he will obey the terms of their agreement; Turlough seems to be under a compulsion now.

The Doctor and companions rush back to the TARDIS and enter.

Ibbotson returns to school, calling out to the Brig. He tells him what happened.

In the TARDIS, The Doctor cannot get the TARDIS to dematerialise.

The Brig and Ibbotson head to the obelisk; en route, the Brig chastises Ibbotson for saying a solid object could dematerialise – surely the Brig knows better?

In the TARDIS console room, The Doctor goes beneath the console, trying to sort things out. He exclaims, “I might have known,” and dashes out, followed by Tegan and Nyssa. They leave the door open, and Turlough enters.

They returns to the transmat room. The Doctor says that the capsule could be jamming the signal. He identifies that it’s 1983 on Earth, saying the capsule has been there since 1977. He wonders what it’s been up to, then dashes back to the TARDIS, where he finds Turlough inspecting the console.

The headmaster is informed that Turlough has gone missing. The matron says Ibbotson is missing as well, and she cannot get anyone to find the Brigadier, either.

Turlough plays off as being an Earth native, claiming he got there by mistake. The Doctor and Turlough take the capsule back to Earth, leaving the girls in the TARDIS. The Doctor tells them that once he shuts off the beam back on Earth, the TARDIS will follow through.

Tegan says she doesn’t trust Turlough, but Nyssa seems to think he was nice.

On Earth, The Doctor identifies the source of the beam.

The Black Guardian orders Turlough to destroy The Doctor; the boy hefts a large stone, sneaking up on the Time Lord, as he works on the beam. He lifts the stone up high… and the credits roll.

Oh noes!

Pretty good cliffhanger. And yay, Turlough! And the Brig!!! And the Black Guardian! Exciting!

(spoilers)

Episode 2:

The Doctor finishes working on the beam machinery, but suddenly there’s an explosion, knocking both he and Turlough back, saving The Doctor from being attacked!

In the TARDIS console room, the column starts moving and Tegan remarks, “Here we go!”

The TARDIS appears but only ghostly, then it fades from sight. When The Doctor says something is wrong, Turlough slips up and asks a technical question that an Earthling from the 1980s (or any time in the next couple centuries) wouldn’t know. The Doctor doesn’t seem to notice.

The girls open the scanner, seeing the obelisk, but no Doctor or Turlough.

The Doctor tries to determine what’s gone wrong, and Turlough slips away to consult the crystal, but he hears only the Brigadier looking for him. Ibbotson starts going on about the transmat sphere, but the Brig shuts him up, asking where he’s been, what he’s been up to.

Turlough explains that he’s been with “The Doctor”, but the Brig thinks he means the school doctor. Turlough corrects him and points out our Time Lord, who recognises the Brig and addresses him by name. Of course, the Brig doesn’t recognise him and asks who he is.

The girls look around, hoping to find The Doctor. Suddenly, the transmat sphere appears and the door opens. Tegan and Nyssa go inside, finding a burnt man, who they assume is The Doctor. He wakes, asking where he is, gasping, asking for help. When they mention TARDIS, he seems to react to that and asks them to help him into it.

The Brig apologises, saying he doesn’t recall who The Doctor is (obviously, a proper explanation hasn’t been made), but says he has to get the boys back to school and leads them off. Grinning, The Doctor follows.

Tegan and Nyssa bring the person from the transmat sphere into the TARDIS console room. Nyssa runs off to get some blankets while Tegan tries to console him.

Back at school, The Doctor catches up to the Brigadier. He says he’s regenerated, which does nothing for the Brig’s memory, and neither does the mention of the TARDIS!!! Something is afoot!! When The Doctor mentions UNIT, the Brig is alarmed, saying they can’t talk about UNIT in public. He leads The Doctor to his quarters.

As they tend to the man from the sphere, they suddenly remember Turlough; Tegan rushes off to look for him while Nyssa tends to their patient.

The Doctor and Brig walk, the Time Lord quizzing him, asking if it’s an undercover operation, “I hardly expected to find you at a boy’s school.” The Brig is like stone, unresponsive.

The injured man tells Nyssa that stability was not achieved, before passing out. Tegan returns, saying there was no sign of Turlough. Nyssa posits that he may have been atomised.

At the Brig’s quarters (which The Doctor finds a bit disappointing), the Brig says he doesn’t know what the TARDIS is. The Doctor says he suspects the Brig’s memory loss and the TARDIS’ disappearance are related. The Brig has a great line about his memory, “After all, if I were suffering amnesia, I’d be the first to know, wouldn’t I?”

Tegan decides to go to the building (the school) they saw in the distance.

The Doctor asks about Sgt Benton and Harry Sullivan and Jo Grant and Sarah Jane and Liz Shaw – it’s the women’s names that seem to resonate deep in the Brig’s mind. The Doctor presses the issue, bringing up the Yeti as well.

We see some flashbacks – a young Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart, the Yeti, Cybermen, the Second Doctor, Daleks, the Third Doctor, the First, even the Fourth… and more.

The Brig snaps out of his reverie, turns to The Doctor, “Well, bless my soul… so you’ve done it again, Doctor!”

Tegan runs (it IS Doctor Who, after all) to the school.

The Doctor wonders what happened to make the Brig forget. At the suggestion of treatment, the Brig goes into a tirade, saying The Doctor has been talking to Doctor Runciman (the aforementioned school doctor) and rants about not going to the funny farm, being fit as a fiddle… then he quiets down, becomes apologetic. He says that according to Runciman, he had a “breakdown” some time ago.

Nyssa checks the scanner, looking out. The wounded man wakes and looks around, subtlely.

The Brig explains that he’s retired from the military, but grew bored with the quiet life, so got the job at the school, teaching math and performing other duties there.

Tegan finds a group of students and asks them where she can find a doctor.

The Doctor takes his leave, saying he needs to find his TARDIS, he’s worried about Nyssa and Tegan – the Brig says he knew a Tegan, but The Doctor says she’s after his time. The Brig proceeds to describe her, much to The Doctor’s surprise.

Tegan finds a younger looking Brigadier, explaining she’s looking for a doctor for her friend and possibly one of the students. He takes her inside, where she gives her full name.

The Doctor realises that it was his Tegan that he met – he tells the Brig that he needs him to recall every specific detail so that he can get in touch with them.

The headmaster is visiting Turlough, who’s in bed. He says now that the boy has explained everything, there’s nothing to worry about. Apparently, Turlough has told the headmaster the entire truth – being from another planet, the arrangement to kill The Doctor in exchange for a way home. The headmaster is taking it VERY calmly, and points out that the boy has quite the moral dilemma.

Turlough argues that he hopes that by separating The Doctor from his TARDIS he’s done enough to keep his part of the arrangement, but the headmaster says he can only put it in perspective, the final choice has to be Turlough’s. Turlough decides he’s going back on the deal, as nothing has been done for him.

The headmaster asks if that’s his final decision, if the boy is absolutely sure. When Turlough confirms, twice, the headmaster turns into the Black Guardian, “Waking or sleeping, you can never escape me, boy!” Turlough jumps up, trying to get out, but when he looks back, he sees his body still in bed, sleeping. He begs off, saying The Doctor is not as he said.

The Black Guardian says The Doctor’s good is his evil and he imposes his will upon the boy (again?), who takes a zombie-like attitude and slips back into bed, merging with his sleeping self.

Tegan tells the Brig about the student, Turlough; the Brig, being new, doesn’t remember the name but checks a roster book. He doesn’t find Turlough in the book. Tegan makes mention of coming down on the hill and the Brig thinks it’s a plane crash.

As he prepares to call the police, Tegan mentions the TARDIS, which catches the Brig’s attention. When she says that he won’t understand, he asks if her friend is The Doctor.

Turlough wakes from his sleep and dashes to the door, but it’s locked. He goes back and grabs the crystal, then starts tying sheets together.

The Doctor ponders the amount of coincidence in all the events, wondering if there’s some greater influence. He asks the Brig to focus, to try to recall more.

The Brig sends a boy to collect Doctor Runciman and bring him to the obelisk. He mentions the Queen’s Silver Jubilee to Tegan, who realises they’re in the wrong time!

The matron calls the Brig to inform him that Turlough has disappered again. We see the boy slip off. The Doctor and the Brig inspect his room, finding how he climbed out the window via the sheets. The Doctor says he’ll be heading back to the transmat sphere, hoping to repair it.

Tegan suddenly realises that the wounded man from the capsule is not The Doctor, if they’re in a different year than he was expecting.

(It’s obvious as they’re playing back what Tegan and the Brig are doing that The Doctor is being told the story by his Brig. He coaxes the Brig to continue – but it seems to be an effort for him to recall.)

Nyssa is outside the TARDIS, looking for Tegan, urging her to come on. She goes back into the TARDIS, to find the man she believes to be The Doctor walking. He speaks of regeneration, saying his mind is clouded. He tells her to prepare to leave at once, and when she brings up Tegan, he argues with her. Nyssa exits the TARDIS and he begins to rant, “The Time Lords abandoned us,” and that he, Mawdryn, will be a Time Lord.

Tegan and the Brig show up; Tegan says she doesn’t think it’s The Doctor inside, but Nyssa says it is, that the transmat induced regeneration. The Brig says not to worry, he’s seen it twice and heads in.

When he enters, he calls out, “Doctor,” and Mawdryn turns around, changed – his hair is longer and his brain is visible – the top of his skull is not there… and the credits roll.

Kinda a cool cliffhanger; I almost wish they’d not let us know it wasn’t The Doctor right away, though – kept the bits about The Doctor in the 1980s separate, focused solely on Tegan/Nyssa/younger Brig at first. Ah, well.

Serial 123 – Arc of Infinity 1 / 2

I recall very little from this, though I know the season, being the 20^th anniversary, has a theme of villains from The Doctor’s past. I recall a bit more, but let’s let things play out first…

Episode 1:

We open on Gallifrey (we know it’s Gallifrey because of the robe worn by a figure.) It’s a dimly lit room (unusual for Gallifrey, usually they’re well lit) and ominous music is playing (not so unusual.) The figure rearranges some data crystals and a vortex appears… and within it…

Well, shit, so much for subtlety. It’s obviously Omega! He asks if the Time Lord has made his choice, and the robed Gallifrey says that he has, though it has not been easy. The choice is The Doctor. Omega agrees.

In the security chamber, a security circuit goes off. The security men replace the photon cell and pick up the transmission of one of the Time Lords’ bio-extract. They cut the signal and one of the men goes to report it, as this is high treason.

In the TARDIS, The Doctor tampers with stuff. He and Nyssa are repairing the audio link up for the scanner; they seem to be unconcerned about the lack of Tegan in their life.

We switch to a Dutch city. A couple youths are doing the hostel thing. One of them is on the phone and gets out of the booth as the other walks over; the latter sees a policeman and gets worried, but the other says they can’t get in that much trouble for a lost passport.

They discuss where to spend the night, but one of them has an idea.

Nyssa wants to do more repairs – the navigational system, the state of temporal grace, but he wants to retire for the evening, so to speak. As he leaves, Nyssa calls him back to the console room as some alert comes through.

Omega demands why the full bio-extract file wasn’t sent. The Gallifreyan says he will investigate and deal with it, if it was detected. Omega says they cannot put things off, the TARDIS is already under his control.

The Doctor sees they’re being drawn to some large magnetic force and hurries to change course to “anywhere, as long as it’s away from here!”

The youths find a place to stay, though one isn’t too thrilled. The other leads him (Colin) down into a mausoleum. Colin realises they’re in a crypt and gets all scaredy-cat. They choose an area that is dry and warm.

The security men confer – it was The Doctor’s bio-extract that was being transmitted (as we already knew). The one man reports that the Castellan is not treating this with great urgency and will see him tomorrow (a lax Castellan, what a shocker.) They discuss the fact that only a member of the High Council could have transmitted that data.

The younger departs, retiring for the night. Shortly after he goes, the silhouette of a Time Lord is seen entering the security chamber. The security man turns when the door opens and greets him, only to be shot by an impulse laser. The mysterious agent then sabotages their console.

Colin is teased by his friend for being fully dressed when about to slip into his sleeping bag, but Colin is too nervous. His friend gets him to “at least, take your boots off!”

The Time Lord reports to Omega that all is ready. When the Time Lord questions if this is the only way, he says it is – he can enter their dimension but cannot stay without some physical body to bond to. This doesn’t bode well for The Doctor.

In the TARDIS, Nyssa sees something approaching the TARDIS in space. The Doctor identifies it as extra-dimensional and they rush out of the console room down the corridor into the TARDIS.

The light passes into the console room, bending reality about it. It pursues them and they move in slow motion at first, then stop. The light arrives and we see the ghost form of Omega merge with The Doctor. Nyssa calls out as The Doctor collapses.

Colin is awoken by the sound of the TARDIS materialising. He wakes his buddy, who I think is named Robert, but I’m not sure. He doesn’t believe that Colin heard anything and goes back to sleep, but Colin goes to investigate.

Torch (that’s a flashlight, my fellow Americans) in hand, Colin enters the next room. He sees a doorway that wasn’t there before, and the door slides up. A brilliant light is behind it, from which exits a rather bizarre armoured form, looking like a humanoid dragon or something. The figure shoots Colin, who screams and disappears/is disintegrated/or something.

The Doctor wakes. I guess we’re not supposed to know it’s Omega yet, but I don’t know how any long-standing viewer of the show wouldn’t have recognised him. Nyssa says she thought he was taken over, and The Doctor says it attempted to do so.

When she brings up that the sensors detected that the creature was made of anti-matter, The Doctor seems worried but still doesn’t make the connection. Seriously?

Robert or whatever his name is wakes up, sees that Colin isn’t about, and goes looking for him. Again, the door opens, again the brilliant light, again the weird armoured figure. He dodges when the creature fires its raygun, which takes out a statue instead. He runs off.

A gathering of Time Lords are assembled. The Lord President is accessing the Matrix and confirms that the creature is powerful and formed of anti-matter. Several Time Lords begin to OH MY FUCKING GOD IT’S MICHAEL GOUGH! THIS IS SO COOL! I FORGOT HE HAD ANOTHER ROLE BESIDES THE CELESTIAL TOYMAKER IN DOCTOR WHO!! MY DAY IS MADE!!!! SQUEEEEEEE!

Ahem. Sorry. Yes, several Time Lords begin discussing the matter of extra-dimensional travel and anti-matter. One (played by Gough) asks if the Matrix knows the location of the creature, but it is revealed that the creature is shielded. It seems they are aware that The Doctor was the target of the creature, but not whom is trying to cross over.

Nyssa researches the TARDIS data bank, reading up on Q star energy (the energy shielding the creature) and identifies a location called the Arc of Infinity, which The Doctor says is how the creature crossed over.

Omega and his crony confer; the crony says he detects a weakness, but Omega says it is no concern of his.

The Doctor and Nyssa reason out that for the creature to have had a chance of bonding with him, it would have had had access to the bio-extract data from Gallifrey!

Colin’s friend sits outside, by himself, worried.

The young security station (Matrix station, perhaps?) operative, back in his workplace, is approached by a guard (played by Colin Baker, which I remembered he debuted on the show in this role), who gives him a data card, telling him to feed it into the Matrix. When he delays, the guard points out the Presidential Seal.

The man says he’ll have to get confirmation and the guard (Captain of the guard, I think) orders the two guards accompanying him to arrest the man. The man begs off, saying the order to recall a TARDIS is an unexpected one. He asks where the TARDIS should be recalled to, and the answer given is the security complex.

Suddenly, The Doctor’s TARDIS is rerouted to Gallifrey. He says it must be urgent, as it’s only been used once before.

Colin’s friend returns to the crypt/mausoleum, and hurried gets his shoes on and grabs his stuff. However, as he hurries, he sees Colin carrying a strange device. Colin is in a zombie-like state (not decaying or anything, but walking sluggishly, head at a tilt, blank-eyed, mouth open) and his friend rushes away, frightened.

The TARDIS is seen materialising and back at the Matrix/Security station, Commander Maxil (Colin Baker’s character) enters to ask about it. The operative confirms that it just arrived. He asks why Maxil is treating The Doctor like a criminal; Maxil says he’s just following orders.

Colin’s friend (whose name is Robin, just looked it up, yay Wikipedia) goes to the hostel and checks in. There’s a phone message waiting for Colin, his cousin is arriving the following day.

The Doctor and Nyssa exit the TARDIS. He tells Nyssa they’re in the Security Compound. The door is handprint operated but The Doctor sends Nyssa to get a kit to see if he can hack it. As he works, The Doctor informs Nyssa that he fears that the Time Lords have brought him back to kill him, rather than have to track the anti-matter creature down.

The security operative dude keys the door to open for them and they depart. One of the guards sees them in the corridors and calls it in. They narrowly escape some guards, only to run into Maxil, who shoots The Doctor. The Doctor collapses, guards grab Nyssa who calls out his name… and the credits roll.

Rather ironic, Colin Baker shooting the Fifth Doctor, what what? Decent cliffhanger, nothing extra-special, mind you, but decent.

Episode 2:

So, The Sixth Doctor shoots the Fifth… Nyssa and The Doctor are dragged away by guards.

Councillor Hedin (Gough) and the Castellan are discussing The Doctor. The latter complains that whenever The Doctor comes to Gallifrey, there is violence. Hedin has a wonderful line, “Perhaps it is we who should modify our behavior.”

Nyssa and The Doctor are escorted into the TARDIS. Maxil and his men enter and Maxil removes a component from the TARDIS console and tells her if they leave the TARDIS again they’ll be killed.

The Castellan is challenged by Lady Thalia about The Doctor and the way he’s been handled. The Castellan visits, instructing Maxil to be sure that The Doctor appears before the High Council when he’s recovered.

Robin waits at the airport for Colin’s cousin.

The Matrix/Security operator dude, I’m not sure whom/which he is, gets a report print out and takes it, folds it and leaves his station with it.

Robin meets Colin’s cousin – TEGAN!!! He says he’ll tell her what happened to Colin.

Maxil takes great pride in informing The Doctor that his men have orders to kill at the slightest provocation. The writers really don’t want us to like him, do they? They’re marched through the corridors, passing the guy from the Matrix station (that’s what I’m gonna call it until we find out a better definition, or even better, a name for the guy), who looks on, worriedly.

Tegan and Robin have coffee. She asks him when he last saw Colin. He’s reluctant to tell her the story.

Hedin greets The Doctor and Nyssa and introductions are made to the High Council. The Council brings up Romana when he complains that he would have returned on his own if asked.

The Castellan and Doctor begin arguing until President Borusa arrives. He greets The Doctor, “You, too, have regenerated!” I liked the previous Borusa better.

Upon hearing Robin’s story, Tegan remarks about it being the sort of story that The Doctor would love. We learn through her complaints that she’s lost her job – from that and her new haircut, I gather some time has passed for her. She tells Robin she’ll go to the police since he’s lost his passport and is afraid to do so.

Borusa is most concerned about the presence of an anti-matter creature in the matter universe, and rightfully so. The Doctor is most concerned that the creature must have had help from within the High Council. Thalia argues that it might be possible that the creature might have been able to do so on it’s own, without help from within.

Borusa orders The Doctor taken to the Security Compound to be held until the termination warrant is issued. Nyssa argues and yells, to no avail.

Tegan is irate, having been told “foreigners get themselves lost all the time” by the police. She decides they’ll have to look for him themselves.

Nyssa pleas to the Council, begging them to give The Doctor a chance. Borusa and the Castellan argues against this. Thalia asks what should they do – spare her friend and condemn “untold billions” to death.

Damon (yay, we have a name for the matrix operator dude) approaches The Doctor as Maxil and his men escort him back to the security compound. The guards prevent him from speaking to The Doctor, though he was able to palm off the print out to our hero.

Hedin argues for delaying the judgement. Nyssa storms off when the others say no. Borusa calls an end to the session.

Damon catches up with Nyssa and speaks to her, saying they need to talk, but somewhere private.

Hedin approaches the Castellan about The Doctor and Nyssa’s claims that someone must be a traitor.

Damon tells Nyssa that he passed off the report to The Doctor.

Omega gets a report that The Doctor is to be terminated; this pleases him and he asks his crony if all is ready and said unknown Time Lord confirms that the Matrix is ready.

Nyssa and Damon go to speak to Hedin, asking him if he can arrange a visit with The Doctor. Hedin says it will be difficult, but not impossible.

The Doctor checks the report and discovers it is a bio-extract scan.

Tegan and Robin go to the crypt.

Maxil leads Nyssa and Damon to the TARDIS, telling them to wait there. Damon tells Nyssa that he fears something is wrong – the Castellan gave in too easily, it’s too out of character.

Nyssa and Damon and The Doctor go for a walk in the TARDIS; Maxil tries to keep them in the console room so the Castellan can listen in via the device Maxil has placed under the console rim, but Damon points out that Hedin said they could have time alone with him. As they enter the hallway, The Doctor asks about Leela, who apparently Damon knows.

The Doctor confers with Damon and Nyssa, confirming their suspicions that there is a traitor. The Doctor asks Damon to see if he can find a new component for the TARDIS, “preferably one without a recall circuit”. Maxil interrupts before much more is said and The Doctor pretends that Nyssa was arguing for further appeals.

Robin and Tegan arrive at the crypt.

Nyssa and Damon go to his workstation where he looks up the coding on a Type Forty Time Rotor. Nyssa eyes some guns in a case.

Maxil reports to the Castellan, who gloats about The Doctor’s last requests, but Maxil reports there are none. The Castellan informs him that the warrant has been issued and that Maxil is blessed to see the destruction of a Time Lord, saying it has only happened once before.

Omega meets with his crony, who says that the council has been summoned to the place of termination.

We see Omega seated in a room that has walls like the TARDIS console room. The armoured creature is with him, as is Zombie Colin! He orders ZC to the controls and ZC obeys.

Damon and Nyssa hear the alarms sounding and he tells her it is the time of termination. She asks him to open the weapon case, saying he must assemble the time element and fit it to the TARDIS as soon as possible.

The Doctor is led through the corridors. Nyssa follows at a distance.

The council waits as The Doctor is brought before them. When The Doctor asks if the vote was unanimous it is revealed that Hedin voted against it, but he was the only dissenting vote. The Doctor thanks him and Hedin inclines his head in response.

Nyssa shoots the guards outside the chamber.

Reading the warrant, Borusa gives Maxil the right to carry out the judgement. The Doctor is brought forward, but just then Nyssa bursts in with the gun.

Omega gives ZC the order to align the equipment.

Nyssa orders The Doctor to her side. He argues. The Council are petition her to give up this folly, saying she, too, will die, and she cannot hope to escape, etc. She begs The Doctor to tell them about the bio-extract.

The Doctor approaches her and says they’re right, they cannot escape and they should do as the Lord President wants. Reluctantly, she gives up the gun. The Doctor takes it and hands it over, asking that they let Nyssa go free and do not punish her. Borusa agrees to this, for The Doctor’s sake.

The Doctor enters the termination chamber, which lowers about him.

ZC activates a booster terminal at the appointed time. He’s a good Zombie Colin.

The Doctor is surrounded by smoke and there’s a thrumming, then a bright light that causes the council to avert their eyes. Suddenly the image of Omega is overlaid and then both disappear.

“Judgement has been carried out, Lord President,” Maxil announces. The camera zooms in on Nyssa’s face… and the credits roll.

And that’s the cliffhanger you get until later this week!

Serial 120 – Black Orchid

 

 

A rare 2 part serial. I know I’ve seen it, but don’t have much recollection of it.

 

Episode 1:

 

 

Two men struggle in a house; we only see them from the waist down. One is snarling, gurgling, growling. The other falls to the ground, presumably dead.

 

A woman sleeps in a bed, somewhat fitfully. You only see her face briefly, but she looks familiar. The door to her bedroom opens and the snarly man enters.

 

Then we see the snarly man’s legs, bound in rope, struggling in the bed, as he snarlies. At a table in the bedroom is a man of early indian (Mayan or something, maybe?) origin, reading a book. He’s got one of those cups dangling from his mouth/lip.

 

The scene changes and a conductor/porter type blows his whistle and a train departs the station. The man takes his dolly inside and the TARDIS appears on the platform.

 

Inside, Tegan asks where they’ve landed. When Adric says Earth, she starts to complain (shocker) that she’s already told The Doctor she wants to stay with them for a while, that he can stop trying to get her back to Heathrow. He says that he has.

 

She complains (shocker) that he doesn’t know how to pilot it. The Doctor asks the TARDIS why the compulsion to go to Earth. He checks the date – 3pm, June 11, 1925.

 

Tegan makes a big deal about not being born yet; considering they just came from the 17^th century, I’m not sure why this is remotely a big deal to her.

 

They exit, Adric asking what a railway station is. When The Doctor answers, Nyssa proclaims this a “very silly activity”. They wander about an a chauffeur, who seems to be expecting them – he works for Lord Cranleigh and is there to pick up “the doctor”.

 

The chauffeur stares rudely at Nyssa until she asks what he’s staring at and he apologises, but doesn’t answer. (Let me guess, there’s someone there she looks like.)

 

The chauffeur explains that the game has already started – “his lordship won the toss and decided to bat first”. Sounds like cricket, what what? Fascinated, The Doctor urges his companions into the car.

 

Cricket is being played at an estate. We see the car approaching and it comes to a stop. The Doctor and companions disembark. Lord Cranleigh runs over to greet them, and when he sees Nyssa, he, too, reacts by staring. He reveals she looks exactly like his fiancee and says she must meet her.

 

The Doctor makes introductions. Cranleigh says it is no big deal when The Doctor says he doesn’t have his gear with him. He makes some comments on the score (54 for 8) and some arcane mumbo jumbo about a duck and some other stuff.

 

As they walk to the game, Cranleigh brings up Smutty, who apparently is a shared acquaintance between Cranleigh and the man who everyone thinks The Doctor is.

 

This is going to be like the Eleventh Doctor playing rugby, innit?

 

The Doctor suits up and takes his place to bat. There’s a montage of him batting a lot of balls.

 

Cranleigh introduces The Doctor’s companions to his parents. His mom thinks Tegan and Adric have “extraordinary names”. When he shows them Nyssa, they both stand and are amazed.

 

The Doctor is now pitching… bowling? I’m not sure, but Tegan compliments him saying, “well bowled!”

 

We get another montage of The Doctor bowling/pitching and he’s just awesome at it, apparently. When all is done, Cranleigh praises him, “Ripping performance! Come to the house and meet the mater!”

 

In the house, the indian dude with the wooden lip extenstion/cup/bowl/thing closes some cabinet doors. There’s dramatic music.

 

Cranleigh introduces The Doctor to his parents. “Doctor…who,” the mother asks. That never gets old. Cranleigh explains that The Doctor would like to remain incognito, and after saving the game for them (I’m confused, because it sounded as if they were opponents from what the chauffeur said, but it was obvious through the montages that The Doctor was on the same team as Cranleigh), his lordship thinks they should oblige. Mother agrees.

 

Okay, maybe the guy isn’t Cranleigh’s dad. He’s introduced as Robert Muir. There’s a bit of worry when Muir says The Doctor’s performance was worthy that of “the other doctor”, “the master”, but it turns out he’s refering to someone named “WG Grace”. (A quick google search reveals that said person is one of the most influential/important cricketers of note.)

 

Cranleigh and his mother insist they stay for the costume ball. It’s a charity event they do every year. Cranleigh says they have costumes for last minute guests.

 

The snarling man struggles in the bed.

 

Ann Talbot, Cranleigh’s fiancee arrives and she and Nyssa meet. Everyone is shocked at the resemblance.

 

Cranleigh has his man Brewster take drink orders. Tegan notices a black flower in a case and inspects it.

 

The snarly man sits up and swings his legs off the bed. We still have not seen him more than waist down. He seems have suddenly gotten rid of the ropes.

 

Cranleigh’s mum tells Tegan the black orchid was “found on the Orinoco by my eldest son, George.” Tegan recognises the name George Cranleigh – he’s a famout botanist and explorer, apprently.

 

Ann was supposed to marry George, but after he didn’t return from his last expedition two years ago (yeah…), she decided to get engaged to the younger Cranleigh instead.

 

There’s a bit more banter and such, then Lady Cranleigh announces it is time to change. Cranleigh takes Adric and The Doctor to their rooms so they can bathe and change into their costumes.

 

The indian dude unlocks a door and enters; seeing the bed empty, he stops, but is struck on the back of the head. The snarly man exits the room, snarling.

 

The Doctor has a gaudy costume. Cranleigh compliments him on the choice and departs to see to Adric. The Doctor begins changing and puts on a harlequin mask.

 

Tegan, in a dress, tries to show Nyssa the Charleston. Nyssa mocks the dance, saying dancing is much more formalised on Traken. Ann enters, accompanied by a servant girl. She says she has “an absolutely ripping idea”. I guess “ripping” was the 1920s version of “bad” in the 80s?

 

Ann has matching costumes for her and Nyssa and thinks it would be a “topping” idea for them to be identical. We learn that Ann has a mole on her shoulder, and Nyssa confides that she does not have one.

 

The Doctor lays out his costume on the bed and then goes to take his bath. A secret door opens and the snarly man enters, not snarly for once. Hearing The Doctor singing as he runs his water, he exits through the proper door in a hurry.

 

The Doctor, hearing the door shut, comes out to see who was there. He sees the secret door, left open, and enters. The Door shuts behind him and he can’t get it to open. With no other choice, he’s forced to follow the passage.

 

The snarly man returns and takes The Doctor’s costume.

 

The party has begun. It’s an outdoors affair. Nyssa tells Adric that he has to ask her to dance. When he asks why, she says that’s what everyone else is doing. He argues that he couldn’t dance, but she drags him along saying she’ll lead.

 

Muir, dancing with Tegan, says he hopes Cranleigh is dancing with the right girl. He seems to find the look-a-likes dressing exactly the same to be “very naughty”, while Tegan finds it “a great hoot”. Muir doesn’t get “hoot”.

 

The Doctor explores the passage. He complains, “Why do I always let my curiosity get the better of me?”

 

Nyssa and Ann pull a switching act. One dances with Adric, the other with Cranleigh, though it seems to be Nyssa and Ann, respectively.

 

The indian dude shows up at the party; Lady Cranleigh excuses herself from her dancing partner and goes to speak to him. His name is Latoni. He tells her “my friend has escaped”, when she scolds him for being there. This shocks her. She asks where Digby is, but Latoni says Digby is gone, he has not seen him all day.

 

Upset, Lady Cranleigh tells him to follow and they head inside.

 

The Doctor still moves through the passage. He finds the other end and searches for the trip. He doesn’t find it, but dejectedly leans against the wall, triggering it. (So why didn’t he try to find the trip at the door to his room?)

 

He finds himself in a hallway. He opens the first door, finding a closet full of books on botany. The next door has clothing. Tegan and Robert are all flirty and such. They sit down, but then the band starts playing the Charleston and she gets up to dance.

 

Adric eats. One of the identicals dances with a musketeer. Adric guesses that the one with him must be Nyssa, saying she can’t dance like that. She proves him wrong.

 

The harlequin descends the stairs and approaches the dancers. He sees Adric and one of the identicals talking and approaches them, silently asking her for a dance.

 

The Doctor finds another secret door and enters. He goes up some stairs, coming to the room where the snarly man was kept. Entering, he calls out, but there’s nobody there. He finds a book written in Portuguese.

 

The harlequin and the identical dance off, into the house. Adric watches, slightly concerned.

 

Returning to the hallway, The Doctor keeps opening doors, finding a body stuffed into one of the closets – the man who was choked earlier! (Bet his name is Digby.)

 

The harlequin dances the identical into the house. She says it was great fun, but they should return to the terrace. He snarls and wheezes in response. She asks who he is, and when he doesn’t respond, she tries to leave. He grabs her wrist and she begins to call out for help.

 

A servant arrives and the harlequin chokes him out. The identical faints, so it is obviously Ann.

 

The harlequin looms over her, snarling… and the credits roll.

 

Not a terribly good cliffhanger.

 

Episode 2:

 

The Doctor checks the body in the closet. He walks away, stepping back into the door that led to the stairs that led to Snarly Man’s room. The secret door slams shut behind him (not sure why), startling Latoni and Lady Cranleigh. She introduces Dittar Latoni as “an old friend from Brazil”.

 

The Doctor tells them about the dead man in the cupboard. Lady Cranleigh says she’s made of stern stuff and can handle seeing it. She asks if he would mind keeping it from the others guests – unless the police decide otherwise, she sees no point in alarming them. Reluctantly, The Doctor agrees.

 

Lady Cranleigh leads The Doctor back to his room.

 

Snarly Man places the costume back on The Doctor’s bed and slips off.

 

Sir Robert flirts with Tegan.

 

Ann Talbot is in her bed, tossing and turning, pushing the comforter off. Snarly Man approaches. We finally see Snarly Man’s upper body. I can see why they hid it so long – he’s wearing a godawful sweater. (Unrelated, his face is horribly disfigured. Have you figured out who he is yet? It’s really not that hard.)

 

The Doctor puts on his costume.

 

Latoni and Lady Cranleigh try to open a door, but it’s locked.

 

Ann wakes and seems to remember what happened. She doesn’t notice Snarly Man (he’s being quiet), who is seated near the bed, on the floor, opposite the side she gets out of bed as she runs to the door and, screaming to let her out. She opens the door and runs out, encountering Lady C and Latoni.

 

(Lady C and Latoni sounds like a band name.)

 

Lady C tries to comfort Ann as Latoni slips back in the room (the room in the secret area.) The indian fetches some rope as Snarly Man cowers in the corner, quite fearful.

 

Adric eats more.

 

Cranleigh dances with Nyssa and then offers her something to eat. They go to the table and she chides Adric for eating a second plate. He realises who she must be.

 

A servant whispers to Cranleigh and Muir and they slip away, hurriedly.

 

Tegan joins the other companions and gives Adric a hard time for being a growing boy.

 

Cranleigh inspects the body of the servant that tried to rescue Ann from the harlequin, saying the neck is broken. They find Ann’s mask. Sir Robert goes off to call the police.

 

The Doctor comes down in his harlequin costume. He asks if there was an accident. Ann and Lady C come down and Ann accuses him of attacking her and killing the servant. The Doctor appeals to Lady C, but she refuses to help him out.

 

Okay, if I’m a Time Lord in this situation, people start dying. Seriously, bitch?

 

It turns out that Sir Robert is the local head constable. He asks who The Doctor really is. The Time Lord tries to explain, but it doesn’t go over well. When he brings up the other dead boy, Lady C lies. Flat out lies, accusing The Doctor of having a vivid imagination.

 

Oh, that’s it. Bitch gonna die.

 

When Sir Robert asks, The Doctor agrees to show him the secret passage(s) and the body.

 

Cranleigh tells the companions about The Doctor’s heinous crime. They defend him, but Cranleigh believes his finacee, of course.

 

The body has been removed; a porcelain doll is in its place. Lady C is being a total bitch. She’d die, yo. I’d be a total gangsta Time Lord, wouldn’t put up with this snooty bitch and her prevaricating.

 

The Doctor tries to get Lady C to explain, but she remains silent. The more the Time Lord tries to explain, the crazier he sounds. You can’t blame Sir Robert for not believing him, really.

 

We see Snarly back in bed, looking fearful. Latoni sits and reads his book (the one written in Portuguese.)

 

Cranleigh gets on the phone; apparently, Smutty is on the other end. Cranleigh learns that Smutty’s friend never made it. He tells Sir Robert and his mum that The Doctor is not Smutty’s friend. Lady C jumps at the chance to throw the word “impostor” (though, to be fair, he is one.)

 

Tegan jumps up, acting all tough. Sir Robert orders the sergeant to take The Doctor and his “accessories” to the station, under arrest.

 

Snarly struggles with his bonds.

 

En route to the police station, The Doctor tells the sergeant there’s vital evidence that will prove what he is saying is true. They get to the platform, but the TARDIS is nowhere in sight. Sir Robert says he’s wasting time.

 

Snarly has freed his hands and works on his legs; Latoni is the worst guard ever, he’s too engrossed in his book.

 

When they arrive at the police station, one of the coppers there tells them about the police box they found at the railway station. The copper says “No key will unlock it.”

 

The Doctor holds up his key, “This one will.”

 

Latoni sits, reading his book, oblivious to the fact that Snarly is about to pounce.

 

Lady C tells her son that Digby, “the male nurse”, was killed. Cranleigh is upset that his mother didn’t say anything – he’s quite worried that The Doctor will suffer, but Lady C is sure he will come to no harm, as he is innocent. (Yeah, right.) Cranleigh insists on telling the police, but mama says no.

 

Ann rushes in, being all whiny and needy. Charles (the younger Cranleigh) tells Ann there’s something she should know. Mama protests.

 

The Doctor unlocks the TARDIS and asks Sir Robert and the sergeant to go in first. When the sergeant says there won’t be enough room, Tegan smirks and says, “You are in for a surprise!”

 

The Doctor and his companions follow.

 

Snarly attacks Latoni, stomping on him and choking him. At the same time. Do you have any idea how unrealistic of an attack mode that is? As he’s being choked, Latoni slips the key in between the floorboards.

 

Sir Robert and the sergeant are quite impressed with the TARDIS.

 

Unable to find the key, Snarly puts some papers at the door and starts a fire.

 

Sir Robert apologises to The Doctor, but says there’s still a murder to explain. Cummings, the copper, comes in, and after he’s properly startled, he tells Sir Robert that Lord Cranleigh called to say that another body, that of Digby, was found.

 

The Doctor says, “the man in the cupboard?” Sir Robert is properly embarrassed. When he goes to leave, The Doctor says he can get him there faster.

 

Ann is astounded, crying out, “How could you,” at Lady and Lord C. So, Charles told her, then called the station, and she waited until he got off the phone to have a meltdown? Really?

 

The TARDIS appears in the lawn of the Cranleigh estate. Ann rushes out into the arms of Sir Robert.

 

The door is ablaze. Snarly uses a fire poker to beat it down, kicking down parts of it. He goes downstairs and finds his brother and mummy. It’s a tearful reunion with hugs and kisses and song and dance.

 

No, wait, I’m lying. Snarly snarls (oh, I guess I spoiled it in that paragraph) and runs off, but is cut off by everyone coming inside from the TARDIS. He shoulder tackles The Doctor and grabs Nyssa and drags her up the stairs. It’s getting smoky up there.

 

Charles sends for the brigade and he, The Doctor and Adric rush up, but come back down, because the stairs are on fire. Sir Robert asks what “that thing” was and Lady C is all indignant, because that thing is her eldest son, George.

 

DUM DUM DUM!!!! Oh, wait, I already spoiled it.

 

The Doctor says he has to go rescue Nyssa before George discovers he has the wrong girl. Everyone runs outside and looks up at the roof.

 

George carries Nyssa onto the roof. The Doctor tells them to hold his attention and he goes inside. Charles starts climbing the outside wall/windows.

 

The Doctor rushes through the burning stairs. Okay, so why not do that earlier, when the fire hadn’t spread as much yet? I mean, really. This is stupid.

 

When Sir Robert (oh, wait, Robert, Bob, bobby – I get it, he’s the chief constable and he’s a bobby! Ahahahahahah!) asks why the black orchid was a clue, Lady C explains that the Kojabe indians disfigured George. It seems the black orchid is sacred to the Kojabe and since George deflowered it (sorry, couldn’t resist), they tortured him and cut out his tongue. This affected his mind.

 

Another tribe rescued George and the chief, Latoni, befriended George and brought him home. (Sure, the chief would just abandon his people like that. Okay. Another stupid plot point. Why not make Latoni the chief’s son?) She reveals that George killed Digby and the servant.

 

Charles makes it to the roof and appeals to George. The Doctor arrives on the other side, slowly approaching, but George sees him. George hits Charles. The Doctor tells George that Nyssa isn’t Ann, pointing out Ann down below.

 

This is gripping drama, yo.

 

George sees Ann and throws Nyssa to the ground and she dies.

 

No? Okay, he snarls and drools but gives Nyssa back to The Doctor. When Charles tries to hug his brother, George recoils and falls to his death. Yes, what a nice, neat ending to the story.

 

The next scene, we see Lady C, Ann and Charles in black, with The Doctor and his companions (none of them in black.) Lady C is grateful that they stayed for the funeral. (Guess several days have gone by at this point, then.)

 

Tegan has a box with her and Nyssa’s fancy dress in it. Lady C gives The Doctor a book. He thanks her, saying he shall treasure it and then beats her over the head with it.

 

No? Okay, but he does say that. When he opens it, we see a pic of George and the title page: BLACK ORCHID by George Cranleigh… and the final credits roll.

 

What a really poor serial. Sloppy, choppy writing. Could have been really good – suffered from being only two episodes, I feel. Too much was rushed and they tried to jam too much in. A lot of cliches (what, a masked ball where one of the heroes is mistaken for someone who commits a crime? NEVER HEARD OF THAT BEFORE) that just came across as forced cliches because of limited time.

 

Glad that’s over.

 

Oh, shit… next week, we do EARTHSHOCK. It’s a really, really good serial. I’m going to cry, though.  

Serial 117 – Four To Doomsday 2/2

 

 

Recap: The TARDIS lands on a ship traveling to Earth; there are some ominous things going on. Dum dum dum!!!

 

 

Episode 3:

 

Tegan is horrified at the nature of Bigon.

 

Bigon informs them that some on board have a disk on their hand – they are slave robots with only one chip (while others like he, have three.)

 

Monarch explains to Nyssa and Adric that his people are not biological life forms. She over-simplifies by saying they’re androids, much to Monarch’s disappointment.

 

Adric asks about the subservient or slave caste androids. A little philosophical discussion comes up and we get the explanation of “flesh time” – Monarch’s word for being organic.

 

“I have overthrown the greatest tyranny in the universe – internal and external organs.” – Monarch

 

When Nyssa asks about love, Monarch turns to Enlightenment, who defines it as “The exchange of two fantasies.”

 

Adric proclaims that Monarch has performed a miracle; so pleased at this, he orders them released. Monarch says that they can help him save the Earthlings from the flesh time. Nyssa argues against this.

 

The Doctor learns Monarch’s plan from Bigon – he will come, offering peace and advance science to the Earth people. He tells them that Monarch has a deadly poison that causes organic matter to shrink upon itself and with that he will conquer Earth.

 

Adric (who I think is more clever than Nyssa and playing long) tries to get Nyssa to see the light of Monarch’s way. When Nyssa calls Monarch a tyrant and compares him to The Master, Adric explains who The Master is.

 

Bigon reveals that Urbanka’s sun didn’t go supernova; Monarch ravaged the planet, destroying the ozone layer and laying the planet to waste. Monarch is obsessed with going faster to light, going back to before the Big Bang, to before – he believes that he is a deity and will find himself waiting before the Big Bang.

 

(The Big Bang is a recurrent theme this season.)

 

Adric explains that The Doctor is a Time Lord, and that The Doctor gets his power from other Time Lords, notably one called Rassilon. Enlightenment speaks of a legend about a Rassilon who found the Eye of Harmony. Monarch dismisses that as superstition.

 

Adric is eager to reveal much to Monarch – perhaps he’s not playing along. He answers many questions about the TARDIS. Nyssa yells at him to shut up, but Monarch who encourages him along.

 

Monarch sends Adric off to ask The Doctor about going on a sight-seeing tour of the TARDIS, but doesn’t let Nyssa go along. He has other plans for her, it seems.

 

Bigon urges The Doctor that Monarch must be stopped at all costs. Tegan begins to flip out again. Jesus. He makes her stay and he heads out with Bigon.

 

Enlightenment hypnotises Nyssa. She is taken to the Mobiliary. Monarch sees the orb that The Doctor put out of commission and shows anger for the first time.

 

The Doctor continues to take out orbs. Monopticons, rather. He and Bigon make their way to the library. Bigon explains that the Athenians working in there are attempting to solve formulae for exceeding the speed of light.

 

Nyssa is placed in a chamber by the Chinese and hooked up to a helmet – this seems to be the recording chamber for memories, prior to someone being converted into an android.

 

Adric returns to the quarters and asks Tegan where The Doctor is. It seems Adric isn’t playing along, he really believes Monarch as the two of them begin to argue about the danger to Earth.

 

As they argue, she shows him the TARDIS key; He tries to get it and they struggle. Adric is thrown to the ground.

 

Bigon leads The Doctor to the Floral chamber. This entire serial is wandering about the ship. They have frogs there, that the Urbankans are using to replicate the poison they will use to conquer Earth.

 

Tegan makes it into the TARDIS and starts fiddling with switches. She realy doesn’t know what she’s doing, of course.

 

The Doctor and Bigon have made it to the Mobiliary. The head Chinese guy confronts them, but Bigon prevaricates and bluffs their way in. Bigon explains this is where the “metamorphoses” take place. He shows The Doctor the drawers holding the Urbankans. The Chinese man is listening in and slips off, presumably to report.

 

Bigon then shows The Doctor the poison.

 

Tegan flips more switches.

 

They see Nyssa in the chamber and pull her out. She tells The Doctor that Monarch wants the key to the TARDIS.

 

Adric comes to in the quarters, holding and rubbing his head. He staggers out.

 

Tegan presses buttons and turns dials.

 

The Chinese man reports to Monarch that Bigon and The Doctor are planning the destruction of the Urbankan people. Monarch gives the orders for Bigon to be de-circuited and The Doctor to be destroyed.

 

Tegan gets panicked as she fights with the controls.

 

The Doctor asks Bigon if there’s any help they can rely on, any weapons, but Bigon says the other leaders cannot be trusted. He says he can try to reprogram the slave androids.

 

Nyssa asks The Doctor for his sonic screwdriver, saying she wants to try something, but Adric comes running in, saying Tegan is trying to move the TARDIS.

 

Just then, Persuasion and a bunch of androids come in, taking The Doctor prisoner.

 

Tegan manages to get the TARDIS moving. Monarch watches as the TARDIS dematerialises.

 

Bigon is dragged off to be de-circuited. Persuasion gives the order for an Athenian to kill The Doctor. The Time Lord is forced to his knees and the soldier lifts his sword high as Adric struggles… and the credits roll.

 

Decent cliffhanger, what what?

 

Episode 4:

 

Nyssa uses The Doctor’s sonic screwdriver and a pencil to short circuit the disks on the soldier’s hands. Persuasion pulls out a gun and points it at The Doctor, but Adric jumps in the way.

 

Monarch gives the order not to hurt the boy. Adric pleas to Monarch, saying that he cannot join him if The Doctor is going to be hurt. Monarch orders for everyone to be brought to him, but first Nyssa is relieved of the sonic screwdriver.

 

Persuasion orders The Doctor to turn out his pockets. The items are returned upon being checked. Persuasion orders The Doctor, Adric and Nyssa to the control room.

 

Tegan finds herself outside the Urbankan ship.

 

En route to the command room, The Doctor looks outside the window and sees the TARDIS out there.

 

In the command room, The Doctor and Monarch argue and make accusations, but then Monarch backs down, playing the congenial victor. He orders for Nyssa to be taken away and sedated, as a guarantee of The Doctor’s good behavior.

 

Monarch orders for a recreation and then gives The Doctor and Adric permission to withdraw. After they leave, he proclaims that Adric cannot help but be with him now.

 

Tegan references a book and exclaims, “Holy Mumbo Jumbo!”

 

Persuasion returns to the command room, to inform Monarch that Nyssa has been sedated. Monarch watches the screen, seeing the recreation, wondering where The Doctor and Adric are. He sees Bigon there. Persuasion leaves to find the Time Lord and his companion.

 

Back in their quarters, The Doctor apologises to Adric and says he might have been wrong about Monarch. Adric is pleased to hear that. Monarch listens in via the orb (which is still wearing The Doctor’s hat and cannot see, but can hear.)

 

The Doctor retrieves his hat, talking all the while about the positive qualities of Monarch. This is music to Monarch’s ears, of course. They depart to attend the recreation.

 

At the recreation, as the aboriginals dance, The Doctor and Adric watch as Persuasion arrives to see them there. The Doctor takes Adric aside, “Now, listen to me, you young idiot. You’re not so much gullible as idealistic. I suppose it comes from your deprived, deliquent background. Monarch is the greatest force for evil in the known universe…” and proceeds to explain. Adric argues, but The Doctor tells him to shut up and listen.

 

The Mayans replace the aboriginals in the recreation.

 

Adric keeps arguing The Doctor’s points. Finally, Adric agrees that he’s with The Doctor and The Doctor feigns being tired. (Watching, Monarch proclaims another weakness of the flesh time – fatigue.)

 

Tegan kicks the book and stomps on it, as it hasn’t helped her figure out how to get out of her situation.

 

The Doctor takes Adric to the Mobiliary; they use a magnifying glass to disorient the Monopticon there. As Adric holds the glass, The Doctor speaks to the head Chinese android, pleaing for him to listen.

 

Monarch sees the visuals from the Mobiliary Monopticon and orders Persuasion to investigate.

 

The Doctor finally gets Lin Futu to agree to re-circuit Bigon. He asks Lin to have the dragon dance next in the recreation and then he and Adric leave. They return to the recreation hall and sit next to Bigon as the dragon dance begins. Persuasion checks in and sees them there and departs. The Doctor waves to the Monopticon there and Monarch is pleased.

 

As the dragon dancers leave, The Doctor and Adric and Bigon have slipped under the costume of one of the dragons. The dragons dance to the Mobiliary, Adric again using the magnifying glass to disable the Monopticon, while Bigon in placed in a repair booth.

 

Monarch and his ministers watch the wrestling match of the Athenians, the next part of the recreation.

 

Tegan keeps trying stuff on the TARDIS.

 

Bigon, recircuited, sends a signal to summon the Mayan leader and the aboriginal leader, saying they will join once they have heard the truth. Adric (who is no longer disorienting the Monopticon, wonder what’s up with that) asks what they’re to do. Nyssa is there, having been woken.

 

The Doctor says he’ll have to use a hatch to go out on a lifeline to the TARDIS. Bigon says hatch 9 is nearest. Lin Futu provides a space suit (the androids need it when doing repairs outside as their lubrication freezes up in the cold. The look of confusion on The Doctor’s face prior to the explanation is priceless.)

 

Monarch finally notices that Bigon, The Doctor and Adric are no longer at the recreation.

 

The Mayan and aboriginal leaders arrive (and we see a chinese android holding the glass to the Monopticon, so that answers that). Bigon tells The Doctor that there is a failsafe mechanism for overriding the androids – built in is a collective override to prevent mutiny. To facilitate this, he orders for all the recreations to happen at the same time.

 

Monarch realises that this is a plan and gives order to kill Nyssa and find and destroy The Doctor.

 

Adric, in the space suit, and The Doctor, in his helmet, are at the hatch. The Doctor ties a rope and jumps out, while Adric feeds out the rope. Persuasion shows up and he and Adric fight. The Doctor comes back in to help Adric.

 

Monarch sends Enlightenment to go help. The Doctor pulls out Persuasion’s circuits and tosses them into space. Again, The Doctor leaps out to the TARDIS. Again, the rope isn’t long enough.

 

Enlightenment comes in and blasts Adric and unties the rope. Monarch gloats from his command room. Adric wakes and attacks Enlightenment, disabling her in the same fashion.

 

The four cultural leaders watch from the window; Bigon says The Doctor’s six minutes are almost up (how long he can withstand space’s cold without a protective suit.)

 

The Doctor unties the rope and pulls out his cricket ball. Throwing it at the ship, it bounces back and he catches it – the momentum taking him to the TARDIS door.

 

Monarch, watching, announces, “I, too, am not without agility, my friend.”

 

The Doctor enters the TARDIS and works the controls as Tegan asks questions.

 

Monarch makes it to the recreation room, pushing his way through the dancing madness. The TARDIS appears and he waits as The Doctor and Tegan exit. Seeing him, they run and Monarch gives orders to cut life support.

 

Back at the Mobiliary, Adric puts on his space helmet, Nyssa and Tegan put on the two they had, as The Doctor goes into a trance. Lin Futu hurries to assembled another space suit helmet and they get it on him.

 

The Doctor asks Bigon to change the course of the ship, and then he and the companions and the leaders head to the TARDIS.

 

Monarch beats them to the TARDIS, armed with a rifle. The Doctor takes the poison from Adric, and throws it on Monarch, who shrinks down to a tiny size – seems he was still partially organic!

 

Goodbyes are said and the TARDIS dematerialises. As The Doctor sets coordinates for Heathrow, Nyssa cries out and collapses… and the final credits roll.

 

Oh noes! I don’t remember that bit! Wonder what’s up with that. We’ll have to wait until next week.

 

Again, this was a bit of a lacklustre serial. Lots of neat bits, lots of interesting characters, but still managed to fall flat. A bit too much… I think it would’ve been better as only two or three episodes.

 

Ah, well. Still enjoyable for the most part.

 

Serial 117 – Four to Doomsday 1/2

I know I’ve seen this, pretty sure I’ve seen all of this season, but I’m drawing a blank about what this one is about…

Episode 1:

We open with a spacecraft flying through space (hey, that was a theme a couple seasons ago, wasn’t it?), a big blocky vehicle, vaguely Battlestar Galactica looking.

Inside, the TARDIS materialises.

Adric tells Nyssa they’ve arrived. Nyssa goes to fetch The Doctor, but he and Tegan come in. The Doctor says they’re ahead of schedule and asks Tegan when her flight was. She gives the time and he consults the console, confirming the date and time – saying she has a couple hours.

However, when he opens the scanner screen, they see it’s not Heathrow Airport outside! Adric defends the coordinates he set, but The Doctor sees traces of a magnetic field. Checking more, he sees the atmospheric readings are all wrong for Earth. He dons a rebreathing helmet and heads out, issuing orders for the companions to remain in the TARDIS.

Stepping out, he begins examining the machinery in what appears to be a laboratory of some sort. A floating orb begins following him about, though he is quite unaware.

Opening a viewscreen, he sees the stars outside and wonders if he’s on a spaceship.

Someone in a control room orders the orb to look at the “intrusion” and it floats back to view the TARDIS. Several people talking (we don’t see them yet) say they do not know the object. The orb then follows The Doctor, as instructed.

The companions wait for The Doctor; Tegan is a worry wart and wants to get a helmet of her own to go out. She claims he might be in trouble (though they can see him poking about casually and haven’t noticed the orb yet, so I’m not buying that.)

Adric has a great line, “Oh, he’s always in trouble, Tegan. Haven’t you noticed? It amuses him.” He urges her on patience and she gets (melo)dramatic. Adric makes some very chauvanistic comments, offending both Tegan and Nyssa.

The Doctor finally notices the orb observing him.

Nyssa and Adric discuss some of the technology they see outside. The Doctor returns and tells them about the ship and the “monopticon”, the orb. He tells them to get helmets and they go out to poke about.

The inhabitants of the ship, watching from their control room, run a scan and identify the TARDIS as Earth origin, saying that is their destination. (Okay, it looks like an Earth object, but shouldn’t it scan as otherwise?)

The Doctor and Nyssa start geeking out over the technology; Nyssa notes that there are several devices that do the same purpose, but of different technological phases. The Doctor says that is what is interesting.

The orb zooms in on The Doctor as commanded by the (still unseen to us) controllers. The Doctor determines that the orb has a force shield. He attempts to engage it in conversation.

The inhabitants have determined the intruders to be Earthlings.

After The Doctor asks the orb if he could be taken to the leader, a door opens; Tegan and The Doctor go through, leaving Adric and Nyssa behind in the laboratory – Nyssa is attempting to get a device working and The Doctor tells Adric to stay with her (much to his disappointment.) He sulks and yells at the orb, like the whiny snot that he is.

Nyssa gets him to help her with machinery.

The multiple voices in the command area discuss the Earthlings, wondering if they’re more advanced than expected, and wondering if they’re more civilised than they understood.

Nyssa sends Adric into the TARDIS to fetch the time curve circuits, wanting to use the device to scan them.

The Doctor and Tegan arrive at the command room. Three alien, green skinned humanoids, sit in what seems to be a throne of sorts. The lead one introduces himself as Monarch. His companions are Enlightenment and Persuasion, the former seemingly female, Monarch and Persuasion seem to be male.

The Doctor explains that they come in peace and inadvertantly. Monarch orders the computer to initiate full life support so they may remove their helmets.

Monarch explains he is the supreme leader of the people of Urbanka. The Doctor realises they are a long way from home. It comes up that the Urbankans have not visited Earth in 2500 years.

Enlightenment asks Tegan about female fashion and she begins to draw a sketch for the alien. There is a slight tension in the air that The Doctor seems to note as well as Tegan.

A human approaches Nyssa from elsewhere in the lab. He is an old man in white robes. When Adric comes out seeking her, she is nowhere to be found; only the orb floats. When he asks where she is, another door, I’m not sure if the same one the old man came through or not, opens, and Adric passes through.

Monarch asks questions about how the TARDIS got on his ship; again, The Doctor seems tense about answering. As they talk, Adric arrives. He defends his sums and Monarch challenges him to show off his knowledge.

Tegan presents the sketch of a man and woman in fashionable gear to Enlightenment and Monarch instructs the visitors to go to another room for refreshments.

Monarch praises Enlightenment for getting a sketch from Tegan.

Adric is worried about Nyssa, as they head elsewhere. The Doctor tries to reassure the boy. They are led into a room where Nyssa awaits (as well as an orb.)

In the laboratory, Monarch inspects the TARDIS. He attempts to gain access using a laser key, then a directional cobalt flux, but neither unlocks the door. He is frustrated and storms off.

Bigon, the old man who approached Nyssa in the lab, enters, carrying trays. He introduces himself. Bigon admits that he is an Athenian, and sets out a meal of fruits, nuts and juices for them. A man in primitive dress enters and speaks to Tegan, who speaks Australian aboriginal tongue (of course she does.)

She says the man says he is on walkabout, going to Heaven.

Monarch is watching this from the command room; Enlightenment and Persuasion are nowhere to be seen.

In the refreshment room, a woman in Mayan dress enters, then a Chinese man in traditional robe. The Doctor questions what they’re doing on the ship and wonders if they’re hostages; through the orb, Monarch communicates to them not to answer The Doctor’s question (though it is not obvious to The Doctor and companions what is said.) Bigon says if Monarch has not told them, they must not answer.

A man and woman in green arrive; they are the spitting images of Tegan’s drawing! They tell them that Monarch says they will be at Earth in four days and they are to complete the journey with them. When The Doctor asks who they are, the male responds they have already met. “This is Enlightenment, and I am Persuasion.”

At this shocker, the credits roll.

Nifty bit, that. I remember this serial in general and a few specifics (like that last bit), but more than that, not much.

Episode 2:

Tegan is very upset by this development. Enlightement assures her that there’s nothing to be afraid of.

They explain their technology allows them to do this. Adric questions if he could do it and Enlightenment says he could, but he has no need… adding an ominous, “Yet”. Persuasion informs them that they do have a need, as the dominant emotion on Earth is fear and the last time they visited, they were greeted with hostility.

Monarch, still watching, consults his computer on Gallifrey.

The Doctor inquires the purpose of the journey to Earth. They explain that Urbanka no longer exists and they are going there for resettlement, bringing three billion of their people with them on the one ship.

Monarch instructs his ministers to relate no more, and the orb in the room chirps. The computer tells there is no entry on The Doctor or Gallifrey.

Once the meal is complete, Bigon is instructed to lead the visitors to their quarters. Bigon says they will be comfortable there, “I was.” They are led into a room that doesn’t look very comfortable.

Adric asks Bigon where the others of the three billion Urbankans are.

Bigon assures The Doctor that he has no need of the accomodation any longer. He mentions being rescued from Earth one hundred generations ago. Monarch (now accompanied by his now human seeming ministers) complains that the old fool is chattering.

Bigon suddenly departs, though there was no orb to relate Monarch’s displeasure.

Tegan is quite panicked and says she wants to go now, once The Doctor says he doesn’t anticipate any difficulty getting back to the TARDIS. However, the Time Lord has other plans.

The Doctor places his hat over the orb in the room and then activates a small device, cutting off Monarch’s listening ability. Monarch seems pleased at The Doctor’s intelligence, saying he could be a valuable ally. Persuasion says he could be a dangerous enemy, too.

Tegan then complains about the buzzing from The Doctor’s device (she complains a whole lot, I don’t remember her being so fucking obnoxious…) He tells her if they want their conversation to be private, she will have to put up with the buzzing.

Adric says there’s no way three billion people could fit on one ship and the Urbankans must be lying… or mad. The Doctor points out that Enlightenment didn’t speak of three billion people, but of a population. When Adric says they’re the same thing, The Doctor calls it “sloppy thinking”, pointing out there are at least three billion bacteria in the room they’re in.

The Doctor realises that the Mayans flourished 8,000 years ago, the Futu dynasty in China about 4,000 years ago. He suggests the aborigine was taken twelve thousand years ago.

Tegan says that’s mad. The Doctor says that the humans they met could be descendants of the originals taken. He lays out that the Urbankans visited four times that they can guess at, taking at least one representative each time. Now they’re coming back, looking to place three billion Urbankans with three billion humans. (Funny, a quick Google search suggests that the population of Earth in 1982 was 4.2-4.6 billion.)

Monarch tells his ministers to find a way to separate The Doctor from his companions, saying the boy and girl (Nyssa and Adric) will tell him more about The Doctor than he will himself.

The Doctor leads his companions out of their quarters. The Doctor and Tegan pass into an open door, which closes and cuts off Adric and Nyssa from them. The two teens go through another open door.

The Doctor says they were meant to lose them and cautions Tegan to stay calm.

Monarch says for the youths (or all, i’m not sure) to be allowed to move freely. He tells Enlightenment that he wishes to examine Bigon and she departs.

In a common area, we see groups of people – Athenians, Mayans, Futu chinese, aboriginals. Five Mayan women do a dance as music is played. The Doctor and Tegan enter and Persuasion joins them, inquiring about the “junior companions”.

He explains this is a recreation; when The Doctor asks how Urbanka is represented, Persuasion says they have no culture, “Such concepts are for the primitive.”

Monarch scolds Bigon for telling The Doctor too much. He says he wants to know more about The Doctor before telling him about “the ultimate”. Bigon warns him that when he does, The Doctor’s hand will be against him.

“Then I will cut it off,” Monarch replies, matter-of-factly.

Nyssa and Adric wander about, watched by orbs. They find themselves in a greenhouse; the plants are tended by aboriginals, who barely acknowledge them and do not speak to them. The youths leave.

The Mayans’ dance comes to a conclusion. Those assembled applaud. The Chinese present their entertainment next, two Chinese dragons come out and dance.

The Doctor tells Tegan not to fret too much, telling her to pretend to be enjoying herself at least.

Nyssa and Adric walk into a room where they have difficulty breathing. For two geniuses, it takes them long enough to remember they’re carrying around their helmets. (Watching, Enlightenment remarks that they have lungs – why this is worth stating, I don’t know. Monarch says, “Let them remember that.”)

Putting their helmets on finally (morons), they see Athenians working on computers. Adric realises the Athenians don’t need oxygen! He taps the arm of one of them, telling Nyssa the man’s arm is ice cold.

Nyssa sees a silver disk on the back of the man’s hand and realises they all do. When she messes with the disk, Monarch says she goes too far. The orb in the room chirps and the man shoves her away, never acknowledging her otherwise.

Another door opens and the youths depart.

The dragons depart to much applause. Bigon enters and claps his hands one, as four men enter. Two in gladiatorial gear face off against one another.

Bigon kneels by The Doctor and pretends to explain the contest (as Persuasion is watching from across the room), saying he needs to see him in private, as soon as possible. He asks The Doctor to make a diversion in about ten seconds and steps away.

The Doctor gets up and collapses, drawing attention from the orb and Persuasion. Bigon slips off as Persuasion checks on The Doctor, who says it was just a dizzy spell, “Must be the altitude.” (Enlightenment remarks to Monarch that was a fatuous remark, and Monarch replies, “Ah, the flesh time,” a phrase used a couple times before.)

Adric and Nyssa wander into another room, this time Chinese tending the machines. They find an induction furnace.

Enlightenment questions if it is wise “to let the children see the Mobiliary chamber?” He assures her he is in charge of things.

The gladiatorial fight ends with one running the other through with his sword. The audience applauds, but Tegan runs off, horrified. The recreation continues, the fallen man being dragged off, and aboriginal dances taking the floor.

Tegan runs into their quarters, where Bigon awaits. She’s rather upset. The Doctor follows, activating his buzzy thing. He chastises Bigon for his taste in entertainment; Bigon consoles Tegan, saying, “It is not as it seems!”

Nyssa and Adric watch the slain gladiator enter and lay down on a bed, where he is repaired – a cover slides down over the bed and glows brightly, then rises. The wound is completely healed.

Monarch orders for the children to be brought to him, and the healed gladiator and his companion approach Adric and Nyssa, who back away, fearfully.

Tegan (now composed) admits that The Doctor was right. Bigon explains that the first visit was over 35,000 years ago when Kurkutji (the aborigine) was taken. He explains that Monarch has increased the speed of the ship, cutting back the time between visits, with each trip.

Bigon reveals that he is not organic; he peels back his chest and slides up his face, to reveal a robotic body… and the credits roll.

And that’s our cliffhanger for today, kids. See you Thursday!

(This is really a slow-paced serial and could be better – the concept is neat enough to keep interest, but not as well as it should.)  

Serial 100 – Stones of Blood

Fairly certain I’ve not seen this, based on the title.

Episode 1:

The TARDIS spins, surrounded by lights. I don’t know if that’s meant to be the TARDIS flying through the vortex or what.

Inside, The Doctor tries to figure out how to assemble the first two segments, when Romana puts them together with ease. The Doctor sets off to find the destination for the next segment. He plugs the tracer into the console and his face lights up with glee. He tells Romana she’ll love the next location, saying it’s much better than Calufrax.

Under a full moon, robed/hooded figures assemble at a stone circle and begin chanting. One brings cups of what appears to be blood and pours them onto the stones, which glow and pulse. One robed woman falls to her knees, calling out, “Come oh, great one, come! Your time is near!”

Back in the TARDIS, Romana has changed her outfit when a voice comes into the console room, saying, “Beware the Black Guardian!” Romana presses him to explain, saying she only wants to know about their mission. He explains that she was not sent on the mission by the President of the Supreme Council of Time Lords (cuz that’s The Doctor, yo… isn’t he?) She insists she saw him and spoke to him, but he tells her it was the White Guardian, “…or, to be more accurate, the Guardian of Light and Time. As opposed to the Guardian of Darkness, sometimes called the Black Guardian.”

He goes on to explain why the Key To Time must be assembled, repeating what the White Guardian told him in the beginning of THE RIBOS OPERATION.

K-9 shows up and The Doctor greets him. The TARDIS signals they’ve landed and The Doctor reveals to Romana they’ve come to Earth. “Oh, your favourite planet, I might have guessed,” she replies, not unkindly.

Romana uses the tracer to get a signal and they head off in that direction. They find very large animal tracks. The tracer points to a familiar stone circle and they approach. (it’s daylight out now.)

The Doctor explains what a stone circle is to Romana. She postulates that one of the stones might be a segment, but there’s no signal when she pulls out the tracer.

An old woman approaches, telling them saying that it’s been surveyed and she’s been waiting for another “professional” to come in and “notice the discrepancies”. She confuses him for some professor or another and ends up introducing herself as Professor Amelia Rumford.

She mentions several surveys from the 1700s and 1800s and 1900s about the stone circle, saying there’s been miscount – there were originally nine stones counted, but there are more than nine now.

Rumford’s friend, Vivien Fay shows up. They talk about a local druidic group and their sacrifices, led by a Mr De Vries. They tell The Doctor where he resides and he leaves Romana (who isn’t wearing appropiate footwear for several miles’ walking, though he does instruct her to keep an eye on the two women, saying there’s something strange going on.)

The Doctor sets off across the fields, while Romana assists the women with their survey of the stones. A crow shows up and the Time Lord says it looks evil.

In a temple, a robed man and woman perform a ritual. (Most assumedly, the man is De Vries.)

The Doctor arrives at a large estate and lets himself in and approaches the door and rings the bell.

In the temple, the man says the one foretold has come and ends the ritual.

The Doctor lets himself into the house as the man puts on a dress jacket, talking to himself in the mirror, saying “our friend is impatient”. De Vries (for it is, in fact, him) finds The Doctor. He seems to know that our hero is called “Doctor,” and that he’s already spoken with Professor Rumford.

De Vries tells The Doctor some of the history of the house and property and the stone circle. De Vries offers him a glass of sherry and they go into a proper room, instead of hanging in the great hall.

Romana remarks that the birds have been flying about, searching all afternoon. Professor Rumford says it is time to pack up and they invite her to tea and sandwiches at Viven’s cottage. Romana says she’ll stay and wait for The Doctor, but they tell her to bring her friend along when he gets back.

She takes out the tracer, but still no signal. She watches the birds (crows?) fly off.

The Doctor downs a glass of sherry and admires De Vries’ pet, a crow. The two men banter – De Vries wants to know why The Doctor is there, and The Doctor wants to know how he knew his name. They discuss De Vries as a student of druidic lore; The Doctor almost offends De Vries by saying he always thought druidism was concocted as a joke.

De Vries lures The Doctor into another room to see something, where a costume (worn by the woman we saw?) of a feathered figure awaits. While The Doctor is distracted, De Vries strikes The Doctor on the head. He checks on The Doctor and then addresses the costumed(?) figure, “His blood is still warm, I know what to do.”

Romana hears The Doctor call for her. She turns around, but doesn’t see him. She sets off into the nearby woods (having thrown away her shoes) and walks on, hearing his voice. She passes a small wooden fence, marked “WARNING cliff edge unsafe” and comes to the edge.

Again, she hears The Doctor’s voice calling her name and she turns around. This time, it’s as if she sees him, but something frightens her, and she backs away, falling off the cliff… and the credits roll.

Intriguing story so far. No idea what’s going on where the the segment is. That’s a helluva cliffhanger there.

Episode 2:

Romana clings to the cliff side, calling out for help.

The Doctor lays in the center of the stone circle. De Vries orders that he be bound to it and the other robed figures comply. One woman argues with it, saying it is murder, but De Vries says it is the will of the goddess.

Romana keeps calling out for help; it’s dark out (as we saw with The Doctor and the cultists), so she’s been hanging on for some time. (Or, we could just say that the show is bad with timing… no, that would NEVER happen.)

The Doctor wakes up and jokes about the knife being sterilised. The woman continues to argue against it, as a wolf howls. Professor Rumford shows up and the “druids” run off. She cuts him loose and they realise that Romana isn’t there – Rumford came back to give Romana a flask of tea, figuring she’d still be waiting.

Romana STILL hangs to the cliff… STILL calling out.

The Doctor finds Romana’s shoes, cast aside. He keeps calling out her name. Rumford says something about if they had a dog, and The Doctor tells her she’s a genius and uses his dog whistle to call K-9.

K-9 hears it and departs the TARDIS. The Doctor sets off and meets him. There’s a delightful bit of banter as The Doctor tries to convince K-9 that he’s always wanted to be a blood hound. (“Negative, Master,” “Yes you have!”)

K-9 says he can track her and sets off after her. He finds Romana who is STILL clinging to the cliff side. She’s relieved to see K-9 but says The Doctor pushed her over the edge and she refuses to take his scarf at first, but climbs up it.

Once she’s at the top, she yells at The Doctor to get away from her, that he pushed her off the cliff. The Time Lords suddenly realise that someone possesses the third segment and has figured out how to use to to manipulate shape and appearances, at the least.

They return to the TARDIS; Romana changes her clothes and shoes (wearing boots now.) The Doctor sets out, followed by Romana and K-9.

Back at the stone circle, Rumford and Vivien talk; the elder professor is upset that she let The Doctor go off on his own.

The Doctor, Romana and K-9 stop outside the circle and The Doctor advises Romana to use the tracer. She does and it registers a signal. They enter the circle, much to the delight of Rumford and Fay. Rumford meets K-9 and is amazed; The Doctor says they’re all the rage in Trenton, NJ.

Romana, using the tracer, says the segment is definitely there. Despite this, The Doctor sends Romana with Rumford and Fay to go to Fay’s cottage to look at Rumford’s notes. The Doctor and K-9 go to visit De Vries.

“I think De Vries is a very worried man and worried men often sing worried songs.” – The Doctor.

When Romana sets off with the ladies, Vivien Fay is rather… almost smarmy. There’s something about her that’s just off.

Back at the estate, De Vries demands (of the woman who argued with him at the circle) to know where the raven is. She doesn’t know. He falls to his knees, begging the goddess for mercy, but then some glowing monstrosity appears outside the window. De Vries says it’s too late. He grabs Martha, telling her to get out, but she argues.

Outside the gate, K-9 says there are unidentified aliens within. Martha’s scream is heard and The Doctor runs to the house. He enters, finding Martha and De Vries dead, their skulls smashed to pulp.

There’s a pile of silicon, and a trail; K-9 follows it into another room. There’s an open door, which The Doctor closes. He turns around saying it seems all clear, but suddenly the creature, which looks not unlike the stones at the circle, bashes through the door and wall, knocking The Doctor down.

K-9 blasts the creature, which retreats, and the little robot dog gives chase. The Doctor comes to and hears a roar and K-9′s blaster and runs out.

Romana is going over Rumford’s notes and quizzing the professor. Romana notices that the lands have always been owned and/or overseen by women. Vivien Fay tries to blow her supposition off that there’s a Sisterhood behind things.

It comes up that De Vries’ estate was build in the 16^th century on the site of the old convent, and Rumford posits that there might be some records there. Vivien begs off having to go now with them, saying she’ll stay should The Doctor return. When Rumford grabs a policeman’s truncheon and Romana doesn’t know what it is, Vivien tells a little anecdote about Rumford going to New York to give lectures and taking it with her in case someone tried to mug her.

“Did she get mugged?”

“Goodness, no. She got arrested for carrying an offensive weapon.”

So, here, Vivien seems quite charming, but I’m still suspicious of her.

Romana and Rumford show up at the estate, and find The Doctor tending to K-9 who is in horrible shape – the creature, whatever it was, did great damage to him. K-9 advises cannibalising his parts, but Romana suggests using a “molecular stabliser” from the TARDIS to save him. Romana takes K-9 and The Doctor and Rumford stay. He fills in Rumford about De Vries and Martha, saying the creature that killed them lives on blood.

The person(?) in the feathered costume(?) has a cup of blood (and long nails, almost like talons on its hands). It is in the circle and moves about what seems to be Martha’s body. It takes the cup of blood and pours it on a stone, which begins to pulse and glow and thrum.

A woman’s voice comes from the costumed figure, saying it will do her bidding.

The Doctor and Rumford have searched the whole house, but he says the Cailleach (what De Vries called the goddess) has to be there. Rumford scoffs, saying the “witch-hag” is only a legend.

The Doctor suddenly recalls the missing paintings from the great hall, saying they must be hidden somewhere. At the fireplace, The Doctor finds a secret passage, triggered by a relief of a crow in the mantle. A priesthole opens and they slip in.

At the TARDIS, Romana works on K-9. She’s winning major points with me for caring so much about the little guy. She hooks him up and then departs, noticing birds atop the TARDIS.

Down in a secret basement, they find the paintings. Three pictures of women, from different time periods, all the same woman – Vivien Fay!

Romana skulks through the woods, spying the stone circle, which seems illuminated. Vivien startles her and all but drags her to the circle, where she pushes her into it. Romana turns and asks what she’s doing, and we see Vivien is wearing the costume from earlier.

Vivien grabs a long lance-like item and the tip of it flashes. Romana is encircled by swirling energy and fades from sight… and the credits roll.

I told you there was something hinky about Vivien! Now that’s a great cliffhanger.

Episode 3:

The Doctor explains to Rumford that Vivien is the person in the portraits, that she is the Cailleach. Suddenly, one of the stone monsters enters the cellar. The Doctor and Rumford run out of the house and across the estate.

Another one awaits at the gate. Rumford argues how the creatures could even exist; for a scientist, she’s kinda dim. (Though more addled, perhaps. She then tries to suggest they capture it.) The creature chases them to the cliffside Romana was dangling from, where The Doctor plays toreador to the stone creature’s bull, and the creature goes flying off the cliffside into the water below.

Vivien, back in her mask, traces a circle about herself in the ground. The Doctor and Rumford show up and she takes off the mask. Vivien tells The Doctor that she has Romana “where you’ll never find her”. The Doctor says he can’t just ignore things, as Vivien has something he needs. When he gets too close, he is shocked by her static electricity force field (which is what she was tracing in the ground as they arrived.)

She tells him to count the stones, beware the Ogri, and then disappears in the same nimbus of energy that Romana did.

The Doctor recognises the name Ogri – stone creatures from Oghros, a planet in Tau Ceti. He sends Rumford to look for tritium cyrstals while he goes to the TARDIS. He needs the crystals to try to find where Romana and Vivien went.

Later, The Doctor is building some contraption at the cottage. K-9 is there, still recovering, but 75% done with “secondary regneration”. Rumford finds some crystals which turn out to be what The Doctor needs; he says he knew Vivien would have some around to power her wand.

There’s some great banter and arguing between The Doctor and K-9. He tries to explain hyperspace to Rumford.

She asks him if he’s from outer space, but he says no, he’s more what she would call inner time.

K-9 confirms that The Doctor’s device should work, but there are many variables. They take it to the stone circle and he instructs Rumford on how to beam him into hyperspace.

Two ogri approach while The Doctor tinkers with a faulty circuit. He gets it working and as the ogri arrive, she beams The Doctor into a spaceship in hyperspace.

K-9 blasts the ogri as they approach; he was supposed to erect a force field that would last 17 minutes before his batteries drained.

The Doctor wanders the ship, looking for Romana.

Romana is shown in a cell with… what looks to be an automaton? Both are manacled to the wall.

The Doctor opens a door, and a skeleton falls out. He kicks it back and keeps searching, eventually finding Romana. He tells her that they’re in hyperspace, which she argues, saying it’s theoretically.

They make it to the command area/bridge, where they punch up a scan showing that the ship is hovering above the stone circle, albeit in hyperspace, not real space.

The two Time Lords discuss finding the third segment, which they suspect is on the ship.

K-9 says his power is depleting and he cannot hold the ogri back much longer. Rumford checks with the hyperspace portal device, but nobody comes back through, so she shuts it off.

Suddenly, the ogri back off. K-9 says he has to recharge and suggests the ogri have gone off to feed on some more blood, to recharge as well.

A camper gets out of his tent, surprised to find a stone there he didn’t recall. It is, of course, an ogri – and there’s another one there. He calls his lady friend, and she peeks out of the tent, equally surprised. She suggests its a joke. When she touches one, she can’t pull it away. The stone glows and she screams and when he tries to pull her away, he does too.

The Time Lords search about; in one room, The Doctor sees a Wirrn (from THE ARK IN SPACE – and from the notes, it seems the automaton in the cell with Romana was a Kraal android, as seen in THE ANDROID INVASION – I love when they put little “Easter eggs” like that in.) The Doctor speculates that this was a prison ship.

They find a door with a different seal than the other doors. They break in and some sparkly sprite-like being exits, floating in the air. It/they speak to the Time Lords, saying they are the Megara, “justice machines”.

They inform that The Doctor broke the law when he broke the seals on their door, the penalty being death. He pleads ignorance and is contrite; the two Megara debate, one saying it will represent him. As they debate, the Time Lords sneak off, and the Megara are not happy at this.

Rumford switches the machine on, but Vivien Fay, looking rather different, appears instead. She destroys the projector with her wand. (It’s not a wand, it’s a staff or lance, but that’s what The Doctor called it.)

After that, she summons the ogri and disappears in the nimbus of light.

Back in hyperspace, the Time Lords return to the point of arrival, and wait for Rumford to turn the machine on. Nearby, Vivien appears, accompanied by two ogri. She tells them the machine is destroyed and they are trapped in hyperspace, forever… and she laughs, as we see a long shot of the ship… and the credits roll.

Okay, they kind flubbed that cliffhanger. They should have had Vivien laugh and laugh and laugh as the long shot panned out.

Episode 4:

Note – this episode originally aired November 18, 1978, five days before the fifteenth anniversary of the show’s first episode.

The ogri are instructed by Vivien to approach the Time Lords (why threaten them if she just taunted they were trapped in hyperspace forever?), but the Megara arrive, telling her not to touch the prisoner. She complies, ordering the ogri to withdraw.

The Megara say that he needs to be executed; The Doctor discovers that they held a trial in absentia and he was found guilty. He demands the right to defend himself, but is informed that, as a humanoid, he is incapable of appreciating the subtleties of the law.

Vivien and Romana both interject themselves in the discussion. The judge Megara ends up giving a two hour stay while The Doctor presents his appeal. Vivien demands that he be executed immediately, but they tell her she is out of order.

Night has become morning and K-9 has recharged his batteries. He tells Rumford that she will have to reconstruct the projector. She argues that she’s an archaeologist, not an engineer. K-9 says he will direct her.

The Doctor calls Romana as his first witness. She is sworn in by repeating a rather condenscending (to humanoid lifeforms, at least) oath. A beam scans her, to register her “level of truth”. The Doctor questions her on what she thought might have been in the cell they opened, including something alive.

Rumford and K-9 work on the projector back at Vivien’s cottage.

The Doctor calls Vivien Fay as the second witness. She resists, but the Megara say once you have been called, you must appear. She objects and calls upon the ogri, but the Megara vaporise one. She is horrified but acquiesces to take the oath. While she does, The Doctor tells Romana that he’s trying to determine who she is – he suspects the Megara are after her and if he can get them to realise she is their prey, things should be settled.

Romana says she will try to return to the cottage to find something to incriminate Vivien. Vivien tries to protest when she leaves, but The Doctor says it does not matter, for no one can escape the Megara. The Megara tell him to continue. The remaining ogri follows Romana.

The Doctor asks that Vivien be scanned by the truth assesser, but the Megara say it is unnecessary. The Doctor requests, but they deny it.

Rumford activates the projector and beams Romana and the Ogri back to Earth. Romana and Rumford run, the latter grabbing the projector.

The Doctor argues for Vivien to be attached to the assesser; surprisingly, Vivien herself offers to the Megara to let it happen.

Back at the cottage, Romana asks Rumford if there was any part of the cottage that Vivien kept locked or didn’t want Rumford going into.

Vivien is scanned by the assesser. The Megara ask if she removed the seal on their compartment. She answers she did not and this is true. The Doctor tries to get them to ask Vivien her real name, but they say it is irrational and irrelevenat.

The Doctor’s defense Megara pleas for a painless execution, which is granted, but The Doctor objects, saying he has another witness to call. The Doctor calls the Megara as his final witness.

Rumford says it’s hopeless. K-9 says he hasn’t found anything. Romana notices that in a recipe book, Vivien has crossed out all the ingredients involving citric acid. Rumford says she never had lemon tea or grapefruit or anything citrus. Romana posits that Vivien’s metabolism is different than humans and thus does not appeal to the Ogri. K-9 checks his databanks to try to determine her planet of origin.

The Megara insist they cannot be called. The Doctor argues. It seems the law does not specifically prohibit this, and though it is “highly unorthodox” they do allow it.

The Doctor questions why they were traveling and the answer is they were going to try a humanoid criminal. “Ah, a FEMALE humanoid criminal,” The Doctor asks, slowly turning to regard Vivien.

Romana says it must be a g-class planet in Tau Ceti, but before they speculate further, the Ogri bursts in. They slip out quickly.

The humanoid criminal was charged with murder and “the removal and misuse of the Great Seal of Diplos”, a device which has the powers of transformation, transmutation and the establishing of hyperspace and temporal coordinates. The criminal is named Cessair, but they have no description.

It seems an officer on the ship was meant to identify her, but all the crew are dead. The Doctor asserts Vivien is Cessair, but he cannot prove it.

The Megara say it is time to end the proceedings, The Doctor must be ready for elimination.

Romana and Rumford and K-9 return to the circle and set up the projector. The Ogri arrives and K-9 beams it. (I guess that’s his force field beam?)

The Megara say it is time to execute The Doctor and he says his good byes, grabbing ahold of Vivien’s hand to shake it. They blast him as this happens and both are hit with the beam and collapse to the ground. He recovers first and when the Megara to demand to know why he tried to involve her, he suggests they scan her brain to see if she is undamaged.

The judge scans her mind and realises that she is Cessair of Diplos. As the Megara and The Doctor talk, Cessair awakes.

Romana arrives, saying she has new evidence (so basically, everything Romana did this serial was for nothing), but The Doctor tells her it’s too late, he’s been executed.

The Ogri made it through as well and approaches. The Megara tell it to stop and it will be confined until they can return it to Oghros. She is sentenced to 1,500 years for impersonating a religious figure (a Celtic goddess) and to perpetual imprisonment for the theft of the Great Seal of Diplos (guess murder doesn’t matter.)

Everyone returns to the circle and there Cessair is turned into a new stone in the circle. (Before this happens, The Doctor snatches her necklace off her.) The Megara say their business is not done. They say the matter of his delayed execution is still open, but he uses the Great Seal to beam them back to the ship in hyperspace, which is on a preset course back to Diplos.

Rumford decides (at The Doctor’s suggestion) to write a monograph on the reformation of the Nine Travelers (ten, now), though she tells Romana she won’t write everything that happened – “I have my own professional reputation to consider.”

As Rumford wonders about the police box in the field, Romana gives her a kiss on the cheek and enters the TARDIS. It disappears as she watches, amazed.

In the TARDIS, The Doctor uses the tracer to turn the Great Seal of Diplos into the third segment. He puzzles with the pieces (see what I did there) and gives Romana a dirty look when he seems to be perplexed… and the final credits roll.

A fun serial, I enjoyed the trial of the Time Lord (ooooh, see what I did there? What, you don’t know what I’m talking about. Muahahahahaha.) Rumford was fun, it was cool seeing the Wirrn and the Kraal android. K-9 was extremely useful, though Romana seemed too much like an early female companion, just there to look pretty and ask questions and even when she did something, it was a waste of time.  

Serial 94 – Image of the Fendahl

From the title, I don’t believe I’ve seen this. Guess we’ll find out.

Episode 1:

Two scientists debate a skull – according to her tests, the area the skull was found was buried in lava twelve million years ago, but he says that is eight million years before it could have existed. A third comes in, asking for the “corrected coordinates”. One he has them, he departs, but not before the first male scientist gives him some playful banter.

A man walks through a forest, at dark or perhaps in twilight. He hears some noise that unnerves him and he starts whistling “The Entertainer”.

The man who got the coordinates arrives at a computer room, handing them off to Dr. Fendelman, the head of the project. He is very happy to get the figures and says at last they can begin. He and the other sit at different banks, activating mechanisms.

Back in the other room, the skull begins to glow. The female scientist, Thea Ransome, notices and approaches it.

Dr. Fendelman orders for full power on the scan. In the room where the skull is (interesting that they’re scanning some regular room with a person in it…) the lights dim and for a brief moment, the skull takes on the face of a woman – flesh and hair. Not fully enough to see who it is… or perhaps we’re just seeing the skull and Thea’s face overlaid.

The man in the woods runs, no longer whistling; he’s panicked. He calls out, “I can’t, I can’t!”

Thea and the skull are overlaid again. Is the skull affecting her?

The man in the woods grabs his head, screams and collapses.

Thea holds her head and collapses.

Dr. Fendelman commences the scan.

The Doctor is working on K-9; seems he has some corrosion in his circuits. The Doctor corrects Leela for calling K-9 a “he” and she points out he calls the TARDIS a “she” all the time. He denies this.

“And another thing, it’s quite clear to me that you cannot control this old machine, anyways.” – Leela

“What did you say?”

“I said..”

“I heard what you said.”

“Then why ask?”

Again, I do love the conflict between Leela and The Doctor. She’s one of the few companions to ever continually stand up to him. She calls him on so many things.

The Doctor asserts that he’s “in complete and constant control” of the TARDIS, and just then, the TARDIS tilts at a forty-five degree angle. The Doctor makes it to the console and notices someone is doing a sonic time scan, causing the trouble – and a hole in time.

They sort out the control issues and The Doctor traces the signal back to Earth.

The next morning, Thea sits, reading the newspaper at a kitchen table. Dr. Fendelman comes in, asking if she’s feeling better, and she says that she is. She doesn’t recall what happened.

Fendelman and Max say they’ve been working all night and have just come in. Fendelman says that even Colby (the fourth member of their team) will be impressed.

Meanwhile, Adam Colby is exercising the dog. The dog finds the body of the man in the woods. He rushes back to the cottage/house/whatever, to inform the others about the corpse. He says it doesn’t look like he died easily.

“It is never easy to die,” Max intones.

Fendelman tells him not to call the police. He says with the death, there would be publicity, and he seems to feel that would be problematic for their work. With Fendelman’s persuasion, Adam agrees that it might be best for the body to be found elsewhere.

Fendelman steps aside with Max, instructing him to contact London to have an armed security team sent in two hours, and that he wants Max to do a post-mortem on the corpse.

The Doctor and Leela arrive on Earth, in a field surrounded by cattle. The Doctor quickly deduces the cows have nothing to do with the time scanner.

Max reports to Fendelman that the man obviously died recently, but the body is decomposing as they watch. He confirms that the security team is in place. Fendelman instructs him to dispose of the body, saying nobody must know of this.

The Doctor is taking a nap when Leela wakes him, having taken a landscaper captive. She mistook him for a hunter, saying he was armed. The landscaper takes Leela to be an escapee from an asylum. The Doctor offers him a jelly baby.

“You’ve both escaped, haven’t you?”

“Frequently,” replies The Doctor.

The landscaper ends up telling The Doctor about Fendelman and his group of scientists; seems he holds them in poor regard.

At the house, Mitchell, the security team leader butts head with the house’s cook, not letting her into the house.

Adam and Thea are surprised to learn that there are new rules and procedures now; even leaving the house requires authorization from Fendelman. Adam storms off to talk to Fendelman, entering his computer room. Fendelman is nowhere to be found, and Adam stares at the machinery, whispering, “What on Earth is he playing at?”

Fendelman walks in behind Adam and asks if he’s impressed. Fendelman begins explaining about some “sonic shadow”.

Leela and The Doctor skulk outside the gate to the house. The Doctor talks her out of attacking the guard (“it will make the dog sad”) and they slip around to try entering through the rear.

Adam is telling Thea that Fendelman claims he can see into the past with his computers. Adam thinks he’s completely nutty. It seems that Fendelman says the machine only works at night.

Night is falling as The Doctor and Leela make their way through the woods.

Thea enters the computer room, having a look around. She sits down and spins a dial, starting up the machine. The skull, back in the other room, begins to glow again.

The Doctor and Leela get separated. Leela makes her way to the house.

Thea seems almost in a trance as she increases the power of the machine. Again, we see her face and the skull’s, each imposed over another.

The Doctor stands in mist, and something is approaching him.

Leela opens the door to the house and someone, likely the security chief dude, opens fire.

The Doctor stands, the camera view getting closer and closer… and the credits roll.

It’s official, I have no recollection of this serial whatsoever. Very curious to see what’s going to happen. Wonder why K-9 is on the fritz – perhaps having him outdoors was too hard to manage, so they wrote him out of the story? Or is there some further plot device involving that?

Curiouser and curiouser…

Episode 2:

Leela pulls back away from the door as the shot(s) are fired. Must have been her heightened intuition/senses that tipped her off.

The Doctor seems to be immobilised; whatever is approaching him seems to be tied to the skull, to the scanner. He talks to himself, urging his legs to move, to lift. Slowly he begins to stagger, then run.

Ted Moss, the landscaper, is the one who shot at Leela – apparently it was his house she approached. She takes the gun from him, but then another fellow, Jack, shows up and takes the gun from her, demanding to know what the two of them are doing in his gram’s cottage.

Adam finds Thea in the computer room, saying, “Fendelman will go barmy… well, barmier if he found you messing…” he stops mid-sentence, realising she’s in some trance-like state.

Mitchell sits at the kitchen table, sipping coffee or something, and reading the paper. He hears a strange noise outside (noises we’ve heard associated with the skull) and he rises, grabbing his gun. The door flies open.

Adam tries to get Thea to snap out of it. He finally turns off the machine and this does the trick, but at the same time, Mitchell’s scream can be heard. Thea is oblivious to all of that, but Adam drags her off to investigate.

They find Mitchell’s corpse in the kitchen; Adam says the expression on his face is the same as the man he and the dog found earlier. Thea suddenly grabs her head and collapses.

The Doctor walks in, instructing Adam not to touch her. He demands to know how many deaths there have been. Adam says this is the second.

Thea’s body begins to glow and two snake-like creatures are visible, as if sitting on her. They fade from sight and the glow follows. The Doctor says they looked like “embryo Fendahleen”.

He helps Thea up, and then explains to Adam that Fendhaleen are from his own mythology and have survived twelve million years, since the fifth planet broke up (the old fifth planet from the sun broke up and became the asteroid belt beyond Mars bit?) The period of “twelve million years ago” resonates with Adam, of course.

The Doctor asks who is in charge, and Fendelman enters, saying he is. The Doctor begins barking orders, but Fendelman has him taken away by the security team.

Adam says he will call the police, but Fendelman asks what he will tell them about not calling before.

The Doctor is locked in a storage room and pulls out his sonic screwdriver, to try to get out.

Jack doesn’t believe Leela’s story. Ted Moss tries to be rough with her, but she puts him in his place. Jack chases them off, and then talks to Leela, explaining that his gram is involved in something strange with Moss and his associates – something to do with the Old Religion (witchcraft, I presume, as there are Tarot cards laid out on the table in a reading spread.)

Unable to sonic his way out, The Doctor kicks a crate. Suddenly, the lock jangles and the door opens, seemingly on its own.

Thea and Adam discuss phoning the police. He picks up the phone, but the line is dead. They suddenly realise they are trapped. Thea says it was planned, though Fendelman is only part of it. She says that she planned it, but Adam isn’t having anything of it. She ends up staring at the skull until he drags her away from it.

Back in the kitchen, Adam and Thea confront Fendelman, accusing him of cutting the phones. Adam says he’s mad, and Fendelman says if this is so, then perhaps Adam should humour him, for his own safety. (All the while, Fendelman is stroking his pistol. No, that’s not a euphemism.)

Fendelman explains that he believes the skull is extra-terrestrial in origin. Adam mocks him, talking about “little green men from Venus”. Adam insists the skull is human and Fendelman agrees. Adam realises that Fendelman suspects that humans are “all aliens”.

Jack and Leela prepare to depart, but she hears something outside. Jack grabs the door and opens it, but it’s his gram!

Moss is in the estate house, reporting to Max, warning him about The Doctor; seems the two of them are associated in something nefarious and Moss thinks The Doctor and Leela are investigating them. Whatever it is, it has nothing to do with Fendelman (or rather, he’s not part of their little group.)

As Max escorts Moss out, they talk of the coven; Max says there must be twelve, but Moss says the old ways say there must be thirteen.

Adam argues that Fendelman’s evidence is all circumstantial. Fendelman says there is something else he has not shared – he has traced the moment of death of the alien traveler and detected a major surge of energy, as if being stored.

Adam learns that Fendelman and Max have been conducting experiments on the sly on the skull, without Adam’s knowledge. Thea suddenly leaves at the talk of X-rays.

Adam and Fendelman agree that The Doctor must have been spying on them. Fendelman then invites Adam to follow him and he will share what they learned after X-raying the skull.

Leela and Jack tend to his gram. His grandma is the kitchen woman who Mitchell wouldn’t let into the house. She seems to have sensed whatever has been killing people and is traumatised by it. Leela leaves to find The Doctor.

Fendelman shows Adam the X-Ray of the skull; there is a pentagram-like pattern in the skull and Fendelman says that it is a neural circuit and is where the energy is stored. He posits that it is a beacon, set to activate and contact the others of its kind.

Leela attacks a guard outside the house and seeks entry.

Thea opens the door where they put The Doctor and she whispers into the darkness that she needs help. Realising that he’s not in there, she closes the door and crosses the hall to the computer room, turning on the light panel with the X-ray.

Seeing the X-Ray, and the pattern, she reacts, holding her head. Max walks in and addresses her, snapping her out of whatever was happening. She chastises him for “creeping up” on her. He closes the door and asks what she’s doing there. She says she’s looking for the stranger, but Max says where he is is not important.

Max says the stranger has escaped, but it is “too late for all the meddling fools”. She tries to leave, but he won’t let her. He starts talking about her being the key to his power, calling her the chosen one, and knocks her out with a rag covering her mouth.

The Doctor slips into the room with the skull. He pokes about, looking at the equipment and maps. He then finds the skull and sits down, having a look at it. He offers it a jelly baby.

The skull begins to glow and pulsate. The Doctor seems to be under a compulsion, and though he fights it, he ends up touching the skull. He cries out and the skull glows brightly… and the credits roll.

Episode 3:

Leela slips into the kitchen. Hearing the sound coming from the skull, she heads in that direction.

The skull grows brighter, The Doctor struggles to pull away but he cannot.

Leela runs through the house, then hears his scream. She enters and moves to pull his hand away, but he tells her no. Thinking quickly, she kicks the chair he’s sitting on out from under him, and he falls atop of her, breaking contact with the skull.

In unison they ask each other, “Are you all right?” Leela, still under him, remarks, “You’re very heavy.” She asks if she saved his life and when he admits that she did, there’s a look of great pleasure on her face.

The Doctor says that the skull is rebuilding itself, feeding on life force – he says it is a Fendahl, a soul-eater. Leela realises that Jack’s gram must have sensed it, for she talked about it wanting her soul. The Doctor says he wants to see her. When Leela brings up the sonic time scanner, The Doctor says he can use it for about a hundred hours before it becomes a true danger.

Fendelman shows Adam a tally on the use of the scanner – almost ninety-nine hours so far! He explains that some of the components have a limited life span and that is why he’s keeping a log on how many hours.

Adam remains resistant to Fendelman’s postulation of their descending from aliens. Fendelman says he’s set the scanner to show a visual result and starts the scanner again. The tally begins counting higher…

Max has Thea in a dark room. She’s tied up and he has a syringe, with which he administers a shot. He tells her she is the medium for the ancient power in the house – the power has been awoken by the scanner. He says through her, he shall control the power of the ancients. She scoffs and he leaves her there.

Leela brings The Doctor to see Mrs Tyler. The Doctor sends Jack to make tea and get some fruitcake ready.

Max enters the computer room as Fendelman and Adam stare at the screen, waiting for some result. Max pulls out a pistol and demands that Fendelman turn off the scanner. Adam obeys when Fendelman refuses to do as Max instructs. He says he is not yet ready, his followers are not yet assembled. He orders them out of the room.

Mrs Tyler is finally roused from her stupor. The Doctor wants to know how long she’s lived there, but she’s reticent to answer. He suspects she’s been there all her life, explaining her powers of second sight as a result of living near a time fissure for so long.

After talking to her for a bit, The Doctor asks Jack to keep an eye on the Priory (Fendelman’s base), wanting to know who comes and goes. He leaves, saying they’ll be back by sundown. Mrs Tyler gives Leela a charm of protection, one she made for Ted Moss, but she says it’s too late for him.

After they leave, Mrs Tyler confirmed to Jack that she dreamt of the figure The Doctor wanted to know about (did the creature have a human form, he asked her, to which she said no), and that it was a woman’s – seems she fears for Leela in this regard.

Max has Adam and Fendelman tied to pillars in the chamber where Thea is unconscious. A ritual place, it seems.

In the TARDIS, The Doctor talks about the fifth planet. He tries to explain race memory to Leela, comparing it to deja vu, but the reference is lost on her.

Jack watches as a car full of men arrive at the Priory and disembark.

The Doctor says there’s no record of the fifth planet in the databanks, which upsets him greatly. He quickly deduces that there is a time loop around the fifth planet, keeping all information on it away from others. He says that only a Time Lord could do such a thing.

Mrs Tyler is doing a tarot reading; she turns over The Tower and reacts in shock, perhaps fear. Jack enters, and we can see it’s pitch black outside. “Sundown, he said.. still no sign of ‘em.” Jack and his gram argue over her beliefs, but she finally gets him to accept a charm.

Tyler fills two shotgun cartridges with salt, saying that’s the best weapon against evil.

Ted Moss, in robes, sets the skull atop an altar. Max hooks up some wires to it, connecting it to the scanner. Other men stand about Thea, each of them robed. She is still unconscious.

Leela remarks they’re going to be late and The Doctor snaps, then apologises immediately. He is busy trying to figure out where the skull is getting the power from, then it comes to him – when the scanner damages the time fissure, there is energy released as a by-product, and the skull must be absorbing it.

“Why didn’t I think of that before?”

Leela replies, “You can’t think of everything.”

“I can’t?”

“No.”

“Oh. Well, I should have thought (of) it.”

He goes on to explain that, as a child, he was frightened by a “mythological horror” – too frightened to think clearly. Leela makes sympathetic noises.

Max orders his followers to ready themselves and they drop to their knees. Fendelman begs, orders Max not to do it, pleas for the cultists/coven to listen to him, saying they’ll all be killed.

Leela and The Doctor walk through the misty woods.

Fendelman says he understands now – his name means “Man of the Fendahl” – this has been set up in advanced, they are all being used, mankind has been used. Max is threatening him with the pistol all the while, but Fendelman doesn’t pay him any mind.

Jack and Mrs Tyler sneak about the house. They hear a gun shot in the cellar.

Max has shot Fendelman, persumably in the head, as there is a trickle of blood coming from Fendelman’s temple. (Remember, it’s still a kid’s show.) Adam calls Max a “murdering lunatic” but Max pays him no mind.

Mrs Tyler has hurt her ankle and Jack tends to it.

The ritual begins, Max saying the way to power is opened.

The pentagram in the floor of the cellar glows. Thea lays in the middle of it, extending her arms outwards, like a Christ-figure.

The Doctor and Leela find Jack and Mrs Tyler. Jack says he’s glad to see them, not a moment too soon. Mrs Tyler says, “No, a moment too late, listen!”

They hear a sound, a shuffling, shlurping sound.

We see something, slug-like, crustacean-like perhaps, moving, crawling along the floor. Something – ichor, blood is left as a trail.

Jack, Leela and Mrs Tyler suddenly cannot move their legs. Gram Tyler points down the hallway, “Look, look!”

We see a full sized Fendahleen, a good twelve plus feet in length… and the credits roll.

Episode 4:

The Doctor approaches the Fendahleen and shoots it with Jack’s gun (with the rock salt ammo). The creature flees and The Doctor tells them to run for their lives.

In the pentagram, Thea is transformed into something else, something more than human. She rises, not by standing, but by levitating upright. Her skin is dark, almost metallic in texture. She turns and points at Ted Moss, who screams and is transformed into a small Fendahleen. She does it to another, as Max shouts, “This is not how it was meant to be!”

The Doctor catches up with the others, telling the Tylers to stay while he and Leela investigate the cellar. There’s a cute bit where Mrs Tyler tells her grandson there will come a time where she’ll be too old for this sort of thing.

The Doctor and Leela free Adam; he tells her to take him out of there, instructing both not to look into Thea (who is a Fendahl now?)’s eyes. As they flee, Max, who is on his knees near Thea (who is gesticulating with her arms, rhythmically), begs for help.

The Doctor moves to Max, but says it’s too late, he’s already looked into her eyes. Max asks The Doctor to get his gun off the altar; when The Doctor says it will have no effect on her, he says it’s for him. As The Doctor leaves, Max shoots himself.

Finding the Fendahleen he shot, they find that it is dead, a result of the salt.

The Doctor realises that the Fendahl is not yet complete; Max shot himself, and The Doctor killed one Fendahleen – the Fendahl is a gestalt creature that requires one host and twelve Fendahleen to reach completion.

Jack refills his cartridges with salt from Gram Tyler’s charms. The Doctor sends Leela to stand guard with him. Gram is sent to fetch as much salt as she can find. The Doctor and Adam talk, The Doctor filling Adam in on what happened on the fifth planet – apparently, when the Time Lords discovered the Fendahl and that they fed on life itself, they decided to wipe out the planet.

The Doctor theorises that the skull ultimately affected the evolution of mankind, into something it could use.

In the hall, the Fendahl and a Fendahleen appear. Jack looks into her eyes and cannot fire the gun, so Leela strikes him and takes the gun, trying to aim without looking into the Fendahl’s eyes.

The Doctor and Adam hear a gun shot, and The Doctor sends Adam to assist Mrs Tyler in fetching more salt. He runs out and finds Leela and Jack prone, next to a dead Fendahleen. He praises her marksmanship, which pleases her greatly.

In the cellar, the Fendahl waves her arms about and becomes a Fendahleen.

Jack and Gram wheel in a cart of all the salt she could find. Adam shows up with a box marked with the radioactive symbol. The Doctor sends Jack and his Gram back to her cottage, telling Jack he knows what to do. The Doctor tells Adam to wait until he and Leela have gone down into the cellar to get the skull, then switch on the scanner for two minutes, and only two minutes, then get out – as he rigged it to blow three minutes after it is shut off.

Leela gives Adam a kiss on the cheek for good luck.

The Doctor carries the radioactive box, Leela carries a basket of salts, and they head into the cellar. Seeing a Fendahleen (the Fendahl?) they throw salt at it. Two embryonic Fendahleen guard the skull, but The Doctor carefully takes it and places it in the box.

Adam turns off the scanner after the two minutes have elapsed and then takes off.

The Doctor and Leela escape the cellar; the Fendahl appears, apparation-like, but they avoid looking into its eyes and pass through (though Leela drops the basket of salt, I wonder if that has any import.) She disappears, returning to the pentagram.

The Doctor and Leela run out of the house.

Adam joins Gram and Jack in their cottage, hiding under a table.

The Doctor and Leela run through the woods as the house begins to warble and shake and great explosions destroy the building.

Jack asks Gram to put a kettle on.

In the TARDIS, Leela is primping in the mirror, asking what The Doctor will do with the skull. He plans to find a star about to go super-nova and drop it in the vicinity, saying not even that could withstand those temperatures.

The Doctor compliments Leela on her dress (though its her old hunting garb) and then says it’s time he finished repairing K-9. He calls the dog ‘him’, which Leela crows about (as they were arguing the point in the beginning.) The Doctor says “I can call him ‘him’ if I want… after all, he’s my dog. Aren’t you boy?”

K-9 nods his agreement as Leela looks on, flabbergasted… and the final credits roll.

Seems like explosions are a theme as of late in the defeating the Big Bad. This was a good serial, I really liked Jack and Gram Tyler, and the other characters were all pretty fun.

As for K-9, he was only added on as a companion after this script was already written, so it wasn’t possible for him to have a full role yet.  

Serial 92 – Horror of Fang Rock

I know I’ve seen this before. I have fleeting glimpses of memories of it, but that’s really about it, so I’m curious to see what it’s like.

Episode 1:

We open with a lighthouse (and I recall a lighthouse being part of the story, perhaps even essential?) The rush of the waves can be heard, when suddenly, a purple light flies through the sky, hitting nearby in the water.

Two men, manning the light are atop; the younger of the two spies through a spyglass, and calls the other over, telling him about the light. The older man takes the spyglass and looks but says there’s nothing there.

A third man arrives to give them a hard time, says it’s nowhere in sight and says if it doesn’t have anything to do with navigational concerns, it’s nothing for them to worry about. The two men go downstairs, leaving the young man to peer out to sea, consternation on his brow.

From the sea, we see, through the eyes of… something.. the lighthouse. There’s alien music playing.

The two men are down below, having supper, arguing the safety versus the hazards of oil. Vince (the younger man) calls down and Reuben (the eldest) answers the call (on those tubes that you talk into and listen through on the same piece, an early phone system of sorts, I forget what they’re called.) Vince says there’s a fog coming in, though there were no signs when the three were upstairs.

The TARDIS materialises nearby in the fog as the two others go upstairs to see for themselves. The men remark that they’ve never seen a fog come in so fast, so thick, accompany by such cold. Vince says it’s coming from the direction that the light in the sky fell.

The two older men continue their argument – electricity vs oil; Ben (the third man, seems to be of median age) says that electricity is more reliable, just as the lights go out, leaving Reuben (who is a proponent of using oil) to laugh.

Leela, dressed in period clothing, stands by the TARDIS, complaining that she does not like Brighton. The Doctor, standing some twenty feet away in the fog, points out that this is not Brighton. He blames the fog for the TARDIS being lost. When he says it’d be easy enough to pop back in the TARDIS, he stops, noticing the lighthouse’s light is out.

In the power room, Ben is checking the motors. When the lights come back on, he seems to be surprised, but heads upstairs. Below, a door opens and there’s a green glow and a strange crackling.

Ben returns to tell Vince that he didn’t repair it, the generator restored working on its own.

The Doctor and Leela see the light start up, but she is startled by the foghorn. The Doctor says they’ll go knock at the door and get directions before they pop off. Leela lingers behind, saying she senses something is amiss.

Vince and Reuben chuckle over the power and Ben’s lack of understanding, having another laugh when the lights go out again.

Back in the generator room, Ben returns, but the generator seems to be working fine. The door opens again and once more, green glow and strange crackling can be heard.

We see Ben through the eye of whatever it is, and he backs away, afraid. It gets closer and he screams, but Vince is sounding the foghorn at the same time.

Reuben tells Vince that he’s been working lighthouses for thirty years, and he can tell in advance when there’s going to be fog – this fog wasn’t supposed to be, and he’s rather worried.

The Doctor and Leela enter the generator room, calling out for the keeper. The Doctor remarks that the generator is working, which makes him wonder why the light is still out. In a delightful nod to her introductory story, Leela replies, “I’m not a TESHnician.”

They head up to find the crew, running into Vince, who was coming down looking for Ben. They tell him they’re “misplaced mariners”. There’s some cute banter about their ship being “small in some ways, big in others”. Vince takes them to the crew room to offer them vittles.

Vince runs his mouth, too eager to have someone to talk to, perhaps. In moments, they know every crew member and their purpose (had The Doctor and Leela been hostiles, well, Vince would be in deep trouble at this point.) The Doctor asks why the engineer isn’t working on the generator and lights, but Vince says they must have seen him below.

The Doctor heads down, asking Vince to “look after the little lady”. Vince confesses that he’s grateful for someone besides Ben and Reuben to talk to; Leela tells him he is stupid for talking to the seals – he should talk to the old ones of his tribe, “that is the only way to learn.”

Leela starts stripping out of her garb, which embarrasses Vince incredibly and he dashes off to find her some dry clothing.

The Doctor pokes about the generator room, even looking outside, searching for Ben. As he returns to the generator room, the lights come back on. Vince arrives, followed by Leela (who is dressed in clothing more suitable for action, some men’s clothing, though they seem to fit her figure rather flatteringly.) He praises The Doctor, saying Ben will be happy, but The Doctor, who found Ben just before they came down, says he won’t.

Vince is shocked to learn that Ben is dead and rushes to his body. The Doctor says it seems to be a massive electrical shock that killed him, and Vince assumes it was the generator, but The Doctor isn’t so sure. He sends Vince to go inform Reuben what has happened, while Leela and The Doctor poke around some more, trying to determine what happened.

The Doctor finds Ben’s lantern, which seems half crushed, half melted.

Reuben, after hearing what’s happened, suspects that The Doctor and Leela might be spies. Reuben goes down to see to things, saying that if Ben was killed by the machine, his soul won’t be resting easily.

In the crew room, Leela is eating while The Doctor checks out the Marconi wireless telegraph. Reuben arrives, brusquely asking that he not mess with the equipment and informing The Doctor that he’ll use semaphore in the morning to report Ben’s death to the mainland. Reuben, old school that he is, doesn’t have much like for the new advancements, it seems.

He all but accuses them of malfeasance and acts as if he distinctly believes them to be foreigners. Reuben leaves to put a shroud on Ben’s body, leaving Leela to suggest to The Doctor that they should hunt whatever the creature is that killed Ben. The Doctor says he’d rather not do so in the fog with something that could “do that,” tapping the lantern.

The Doctor leaves to talk to Vince; Leela takes a knife and heads downstairs. Reuben is tending to Ben, while she slips past, heading towards the door outside.

Vince tells The Doctor about the “fireball”. The Doctor is very curious about this, asking many questions, praising Vince.

Leela moves outside, in the fog, knife at the ready. The foghorn blows echoes in the fog. In a pond, she sees dead fish floating; as she pauses to investigate, she hears the strange crackling we’ve heard before.

Reuben comes up, interrupting Vince and his conversation, sending Vince down below to eat. As Vince heads down below, he hears a noise (a brief moment of the crackling we’ve heard multiple times.)

Leela continues skulking about the island, unaware that the creature is watching her.

Vince enters the generator room, seeing Ben’s body is gone. He rushes to the communication tube and informs Reuben that Ben is gone. Leela rushes in from outside, startling him.

The Doctor points out to Reuben there’s a light out at sea.

Leela says there’s no way the dead can walk. Vince says he heard a dragging sound and she says there was something outside. Reuben calls down to say there’s a ship off the rocks, in danger of striking. They rush upstairs, where The Doctor and Reuben watch, sounding the foghorn constantly. Vince and Leela arrive and everyone tries to warn them off, firing flares, yelling… but it’s no good – the boat strikes the rocky island… and the credits roll.

Interesting choice for a cliffhanger.

So far, a fun episode. Looks to be limited scope and setting, which may or may not reflect positively on the end result.

Episode 2:

Leela is left to keep the siren going as Reuben, The Doctor and Vince head out to search for any survivors. Reuben orders The Doctor to bring some rope, and when he goes to retrieve it, there’s some electrical feedback over his head; it doesn’t harm him but he looks around, confused.

Leela plays with the foghorn like it’s a toy, laughing. She quickly gets bored and stops, and then is surprised as the light comes back on. Looking out into the sea, she sees some strange bulbous creature in the water.

Several people are brought in from the ship – two men and a lady. One of them, quite wet (seems he jumped out of the ship in a hurry and got soaked) is quite the ass. The other gentleman, a white haired fellow, is Colonel Skinsale, played by Alan Rowe (who we’ve seen twice before, in the Patrick Troughton serial THE MOONBASE, where he played Dr. Evans, and in the Jon Pertwee story THE TIME WARRIOR, where he played Edward of Wessex.)

Leela describes the creature she saw to The Doctor, who tells her to keep it quiet, he doesn’t want to alarm the others. Reuben overhears it and says it wouldn’t be wise, that it’s the Beast of Fang Rock.

In the crew chambers, the wet and irate Lord Palmerdale continues to fuss, though Vince is giving priority to attending to the young woman first. The Doctor shows up, demanding to know where Harker, the bosun is, though Skinsale says he remained behind to secure the ship.

Palmerdale demands to know if The Doctor is in charge, but he says that he’s not, “but I’m full of ideas!” Vince leaves to stoke the boiler; The Doctor suggests that Leela accompany him. The others make their introductions. Palmerdale seems in a bit of a hurry – he has to get to London before the market opens. It seems he’s rather insistent about this, though The Doctor says there’s no chance of that happening in this fog.

In the boiler room, Vince shovels some coal into the boiler. Leela hears someone or something being dragged outside and sends Vince for The Doctor. The door opens and Harker is dragging in a body; Leela threatens him, but The Doctor arrives to tell her he’s a friend. Harker has dragged in the remains of Ben, found floating in the water.

Leela asks if the Beast ate Ben, but The Doctor says there’s no such creature; he says that Ben’s body was ravaged as part of a post-mortem. Vince arrives and begins to fret on about Ben walking again.

Palmerdale says he is set upon leaving, but Harker puts his foot down, saying he won’t go out in such conditions.

The Doctor spins some bull about Ben not being killed by the shock, but only been shocked. He must have then recovered and staggered into the sea, drowning in his confused state. Vince is reluctant to accept this, until The Doctor emphasizes that “electricity has strange effects,” and this seems to make sense to the young man.

Palmerdale rants on, trying to cast aspersions on the lighthouse as being at fault for the crash. Colonel Skinsale tries to tell him that won’t wash, but the young Lord is adamant. Adelaide, the young woman, makes some very catty remarks about Leela. She also asks Palmerdale if she will have a room of her own to sleep in, but he’s more worried about “a fortune” slipping through his fingers – having to do with getting to London before the (stock) market opens, it seems. (Which is the reason they were going so fast in the first place, it seems – the Lord had pressured the captain to go recklessly fast.)

Vince spots some lights out on the island and points it out to Reuben. He says it’s The Doctor and Leela, looking for the Beast. Vince, shockingly, doesn’t seem to believe in “that old tale.” Reuben says it’s been eighty years since the Beast was last seen – two men died on that night.

Leela and The Doctor move along the fog by lantern light. The Doctor postulates that whatever it is generates an electrical field, which would explain the dead fish, the phosphoresce, and the electrocution of Ben. He says it’s time they return to the lighthouse, and as they set off, we see a green glow where they had just been.

Palmerdale and Skinsale talk; it seems that Skinsale has given Palmerdale some information – relating to the stock market, I’m guessing insider information – in exchange for dismissing a debt. Palmerdale threatens to expose Skinsale, as the Colonel is most amused that Palmerdale may not be able to act on the information, since it doesn’t seem likely they’ll get to London in time.

The Doctor tells Leela that he suspects that Vince’s “fireball” was an alien ship crashlanding, and that the creature has contrived the fog to conceal its actions. Leela says they must arm themselves and post guards.

Palmerdale furtively writes a letter, keeping an eye on Skinsale. He wakes Harker, asking him to use the wireless. Harker and Palmerdale argue about the captain and the crash and Harker attacks him. Skinsale wakes and breaks them up as The Doctor arrives.

“Gentlemen, I have news for you. This lighthouse is under attack, and by morning, we all might be dead. Anyone interested?” – The Doctor

Outside, we see through the creature’s eye as it watches the lighthouse.

Vince, worried about Reuben’s story about the Beast from the 1820s, asks him if he really believes it. Reuben goes down below to stoke the boiler, but stops by the crew quarters. There, Palmerdale is adamantly challenging The Doctor’s assertion that they’re in danger, but Reuben says it’s the Beast and the Beast always brings death.

When he continues downstairs, Palmerdale scoffs at Reuben, but Leela threatens to cut his heart out of he doesn’t do as The Doctor instructs. Leela then tells The Doctor it’s getting colder again. There’s more arguing, and then the lights begin to flicker.

Reuben stokes the boiler, then the lights begin to flicker. He crosses himself, and then steps through a door (but not the one going outside…)

In the crew quarters, Adelaide demands to know what’s going on. Palmerdale says nothing is happening, but then the lights flicker, and there’s a man’s scream… and the credits roll.

Bit more dramatic of a cliffhanger for this episode than the first.

Episode 3:

The Doctor and Leela rush down to the boiler room, looking for Reuben. They see the open door with the fog coming in. The Doctor tells Leela not to talk to any strangers as they head outside.

Adelaide is crying and being melodramatic, saying it was in her stars. Skinsale tries to get her to calm down. Harker heads down to be productive while Palmerdale and Skinsale stay with the distraught lady.

Harker steps outside, calling for The Doctor, but doesn’t see them. He comes back in and sees Reuben come staggering in from the other room he went into. He seems almost in a trance, the way he’s staggering. When Harker approaches him, he all but moans, “Leave… me… be…” as he walks on.

The lights come back on as Vince keeps sounding the foghorn periodically.

Skinsale hears Reuben staggering by and tries to talk to him, to no avail.

The Doctor and Leela come back in, postulating that the creature got Reuben, but Harker tells Leela that he just saw Reuben. The Doctor is too busy thinking to hear this, and determines that the creature was here by touching some nearby metal and shocking himself.

When he finally realises Harker said that Reuben was still alive, he and Leela rush up to talk to him, thinking he may have seen the creature. Harker remains to try to secure the door.

Palmerdale tries to get Skinsale to use the wireless device to send the message to his brokers. The Doctor and Leela enter, looking for Reuben. Skinsale says he looked groggy, which The Doctor seems to find interesting.

Palmerdale dashes off and Skinsale follows, saying he gets nervous when he can’t keep an eye on the Lord.

The Doctor knocks on a door, suspecting Reuben is inside. Inside, Reuben, standing still, glows bright green. Outside the door, The Doctor posits that Reuben is in shock. He sends Leela to tell Harker to keep the boiler pressure up.

Palmerdale offers Vince fifty pounds to use the wireless for him, with promise of fifty more when he gets back to London. Skinsale overhears this, listening from the stairwell.

Outside, the creature can be seen scaling the lighthouse wall.

Palmerdale hands over the message to Vince shortly before The Doctor arrives to talk to him about Reuben.

Leela passes on the message to Harker and then begins practicing with a sledgehammer that he was using to work on securing the door.

Vince is starting to panic, fearing the story of the Beast. Palmerdale is outside on the walk way, standing just above where the creature is hovering. He sees a green glow through the fog, and looks down, but a tentacle reaches up and grabs him and his body goes rigid.

Colonel Skinsale offends Adelaide by telling her the truth about her employer and she leaves to find Palmerdale to tell him what terrible things he is saying about him.

Leela bangs on Reuben’s door, threatening to smash it down if he doesn’t open it. He doesn’t and she begins smashing it with the sledgehammer. The Doctor rushes down and snatches the sledgehammer from her. Adelaide comes up but The Doctor orders her back to the crew room.

Vince steps outside onto the catwalk, looking for Palmerdale, but the Lord is nowhere to be found. He goes to call down, but realises that he really cannot say anything. Instead, he pulls out the message and sets it on fire.

Back at the crew room, The Doctor tells Skinsale and Adelaide that he doesn’t believe in the Beast, either, but does believe an alien from another world is threatening them. They both scoff at this. Leela, who had been sent to fetch Harker and Palmerdale, returns with Harker, saying the Lord is nowhere to be found.

Vince calls down to the crew room to inform them that he thinks Palmerdale may have fallen from up above. Adelaide screams and Leela slaps her out of her dramatics. Harker and Skinsale accompany The Doctor to go out to investigate, leaving Leela with Adelaide.

Reuben stands in the stairwell, watching the men go downstairs.

Adelaide cries, going on about her horoscope again. Leela lectures her on believing in science over magic.

The Doctor carries Palmerdale’s body over his shoulders into the crew room. Adelaide screams and then accuses Skinsale of having pushed him off. Leela shouts at her to shut up. Skinsale explains why he followed, what he heard. The Doctor discovers that the Colonel wrecked the wireless and now they have no way of calling for help.

Reuben staggers down to the generator room, where Harker is securing the door. Harker asks how he is feeling, and he gives the bosun a strange smile.

Up top, Vince pulls on the lever to sound the foghorn, but it doesn’t work.

Skinsale insists that he didn’t harm Palmerdale, and posits that perhaps Harker killed him. The Doctor says that the Lord was killed by electricity, much like the keeper had been. He doesn’t know enough to identify the species they’re dealing with, but he postulates that fire might be a weapon they can use.

Vince calls down to the crew room to inform them that the boiler pressure has fallen and the foghorn won’t sound. The Doctor and Leela, followed by Skinsale and then Adelaide, rush down to investigate, finding Harker dead.

Again, Adelaide goes into hysterics. The Doctor orders Skinsale to get her out of there. Leela and the Time Lord go into the side room, finding Reuben’s dead body. He says Reuben’s been dead for hours, but Leela argues that cannot be, as they saw him. He tells her it’s the “chameleon factor, sometimes called lycanthropy.” He goes on to deliver some very creepy lines:

“Leela, I’ve made a terrible mistake. I thought I’d locked the enemy out… instead, I’ve locked it in. With us.”

…and the credits roll.

Now, THAT is a cliffhanger.

Episode 4:

Vince continues to fuss with the foghorn controls, to no avail. Reuben ascends the stairs and startles Vince. The young man tries to chat with Reuben, but he just grabs Vince and electrocutes him.

The Doctor and Leela try to figure out a plan of action. Leela is all about the direct approach, but The Doctor shoots down her ideas. While they talk, he pokes about the generator room, finding a power relay belonging to the alien. He quickly realises there’s a distress signal device somewhere – it must be calling out to its own kind.

He sends Leela to gather everyone and get them to the lamp room. She finds Adelaide and Skinsale in the crew room. When she tells them the creature is inside with them, Adelaide faints, much to Leela’s disgust.

The Doctor is searching Reuben’s personal chamber, looking for the relay. When he hears the alien/Reuben approaching, he hides by hanging outside the window.

Leela urges Adelaide and Skinsale to hurry, but Reuben cuts them off at the door to the stairs. Leela readies her knife as the leering alien approaches.

The Doctor climbs back in, the relay in his hand.

Reuben grabs and electrocutes Adelaide. There was much rejoicing in this viewer. Leela throws her knife, but the alien glows green and the knife does no harm. Leela and Skinsale run out and up the stairs, where they encounter The Doctor, who sends them up.

The Doctor sits down and greets Reuben. The two talk, the alien says it can abandon the shape, revealing its true form, the spherical, jelly-fish-ish creature we’ve seen previously.

Leela and Skinsale ready to fight in the lamp room

The Doctor recognises the alien as a Rutan (the race locked in a continual war with the Sontarans) and mocks it. The Rutan doesn’t quite pick up on this, though. It seems the metamorphosis techniques are a new thing for the Rutans, this particular one is a scout, and thus was taught how.

The Doctor mocks the Rutans for losing the war against the Sontarans; the Rutan scout gives the party line about “strategic withdrawals”. The Rutan finally realises that it is being mocked. It reveals that Earth is going to be a staging point for a Rutan attack. The Doctor is upset that this will put the inhabitants at risk.

The Doctor informs that he has removed the relay device; the Rutan claims it is too late, the signal would have gotten through in time. The Doctor says it shouldn’t be so sure. He lures the Rutan up the stairs, where they throw an explosive at it.

When the smoke clears, the creature is gone, but The Doctor says it isn’t dead. Returning to the lamp room, they find an early form of a mortar. While they ready, The Doctor brings Leela and Skinsale up to speed. He begins to worry about the mothership, saying they’d need some form of laser to take it out.

Leela suggests converting the lamp in the lighthouse into one. The Doctor says that’s a great idea, but they’d need a large diamond to focus the beam. Skinsale says that Palmerdale kept diamonds on him at all times.

The Rutan is making its way up the stairs.

The Doctor and Skinsale go down, hoping to fetch the diamonds from Palmerdale’s body. Leela is left up top with their mortar.

At the crew room, Skinsale searches Palmerdale while The Doctor urges him to hurry. He finds the sack and hands it to The Doctor, who takes one, throwing the rest on the floor of the stairwell.

When Skinsale stops to recover the diamonds, the Rutan, who was coming up the stairs, grabs him and electrocutes the Colonel. The Doctor runs and the Rutan follows, but is blasted by Leela’s mortar.

Taking the diamond, The Doctor begins to work on the lamp. Leela goes down to check on the Rutan, seeing it injured. As it dies, it threatens that her victory will be short-lived, as the mothership will blast the island to cinders. The Doctor calls her up to chastise her for celebrating the death of an enemy.

In the distance, a glowing ball is spotted – The Doctor says it is the Rutan mothership. He says they will have less than two minutes from when he switches the beam on to get out of the lighthouse.

As the ship approaches, he switches on the lamp and they dash down the stairwell. Leela pauses at the crew room to grab her knife and follows The Doctor out. They rush out, onto a fogless island, and hide behind rocks.

Leela looks up as the ship explodes, the flash blinding her. The Doctor chastises her for looking back, which he had instructed her not to do.

Blinded, she offers The Doctor her blade, asking him to kill her. He takes the knife and laughs, saying the effects of the flash will soon pass. The Doctor is surprised to see, as her vision recovers, that her eyes have turned blue. (Louise Jameson, actress playing Leela, wore brown contacts. Her one condition to extend her role was to be able to not wear them any more, as she found them quite uncomfortable. This is how the change was instituted into the story.)

As they head back to the TARDIS, The Doctor quotes Wilfrid Wilson Gibson’s poem, “Flannan Isle”, which is about the disappearance of three lightkeepers in 1900. They slip into the TARDIS… and the final credits roll.

An enjoyable story, fun characters, nice intrigue with the Lord Palmerdale and Colonel Skinsale. I enjoyed it quite a bit.