The coda where the Master possesses him is great though. Its unusual enough for the action to take us back to a planet after the Doctor and co have left, and then this kicker.
If this were a modern movie, it would be a mid-credits scene to tease the next sequel. #DoctorWho
On a brighter note: Tegan! š
The first episode and a half is devoted to her intro, while the Doctor and Adric faff about measuring a police box.
Of the three recent companion additions, this is the only one that makes you think āOh, a proper companion. At last!ā #DoctorWho
āThe Watcher!ā
āHe was the Doctor all the timeā¦ā
Erā¦ okayā¦ take us through your thought processes and logical deductions there Nyssa? Because weād all really like to knowā¦ #DoctorWho
Overall season 18 remains a curious beast, an odd transitional year as JNT remoulds the show to suit himself. Thereās lots of good material, but I just wish they hadnāt felt the need to cut so much of what made the show fun and accessible over the previous six years.
However the themes of death, decay and entropy, leading eventually to renewal and rebirth are worked through the season brilliantly. This probably has the most unique identity of any season of #DoctorWho, Classic or New.
Castrovalva: once more Bidmead gives us a story with great concepts but hampered by technobabble, with no attempt to give the companions natural sounding dialogue.
And just like Logopolis, weāre TARDIS-bound for almost two episodes before we get to the titular planet. #DoctorWho
Tomās boots magically regenerate into shoes for Peter. Hmm, clothes that regenerate with the Doctorā¦ what a crazy idea, eh?
And Tomās scarf gets unravelled - heresy! Oh, but itās just the burgundy version, so who cares? š #DoctorWho
Davison is of course immediately great, but then he would be since they filmed this fourth in order.
Couldāve done with a little less of the fan-pleasing impersonations of old Doctors. This was a particular JNT obsession - the idea of a regeneration āfailingā somehow. #DoctorWho
Winner of the All-Time Silliest Hat In #DoctorWho award.
(He had to go one better than Samantha Briggsā¦)
Thereās a TARDIS scene with the companions early on thatās pure padding, and just allows Adric to spout some outrageous sexist bollocks to Tegan and Nyssa.
Come, Cybermen, comeā¦
The problem with this one is that itās mostly about just wallowing in sci-fi ideas, while forgetting to tell anything resembling an entertaining story that the audience can latch on to.
Particularly with the episode endings - The aliens can change form! Bigonās a robot! Er, yesā¦ and? š¤·š»āāļø
Only part three ends with a traditional āDoctor-in-perilā cliffhanger. #DoctorWho
Adric falls into his usual plot groove of siding (either deliberately or as a ruse) with this weekās nutcase.
Meanwhile Davisonās scenes with Todd show how his Doctor would really work better with a single, relatively normal and down-to-earth companion. #DoctorWho
If for no other reason, this story holds a special place in the annals of #DoctorWho history for providing fans with the term āNot-Weā. š
If you know, youāre a āWeā.
If you donāt, youāre a āNot-Weā.
The Doctorās taking Tegan back to Heathrow just after she left, so there āwonāt be any awkward questions about where sheās been.ā
Er, apart from the small matter of your Aunt being murdered and miniaturised Tegan. The police might have a few questions about that! #DoctorWho
Black Orchid: as an attempt to revive the āpureā historical, this is only partially successful. Could do with a bigger threat or villain.
Someone once said that 80s fans liked this one because itās ā#DoctorWho you can show your mumā and I think thereās a grain of truth in that.
A lengthy conversation about the fate of the dinosaurs. I wonder if that will be relevant later onā¦š¤
And you can see why Davison struggled to keep a straight face with the overly macho acting of Lieutenant Scott. #DoctorWho
Ah, here we go with JNTās bizarre stunt casting in the form of Beryl Reidā¦
Itās all very well wanting to cast big names in #DoctorWho, the new series does it all the time, but surely it canāt be that difficult to put them in suitable roles? Rather than āOh, this is available!ā
Fair play - Iāve taken the piss out of the little twerp but his death scene is still remarkably well done, and remains a hugely significant moment in the history of #DoctorWho
(Canāt help but still snigger a bit at the imposed solemnity of the silent credits though! š¤)
Oh godā¦ the Masterās āArabianā disguiseā¦ š«£
Itās bad enough that he pointlessly does this anyway (just for an āAha! It was me all along!ā reveal) but why does he remain in character even when thereās no one else about?? #DoctorWho
The tiny, cramped set, with its fake sky that looks about two feet away and itās forced perspective view of the model citadel recalls The Keys of Marinus, nearly two decades earlier.
Add the tiny Concordes and this really stretches credulity beyond breaking point. #DoctorWho
At times it seems like every second word of Professor Hayterās dialogue is āhallucination!ā
Elsewhere we get a lot of rushed, garbled technobabble (and some genuine instances of āIāll explain later!ā, made famous in The Curse Of Fatal Death!)
Oh boy. Next please! #DoctorWho
Arc Of Infinity: season 20 begins with JNTās penchant for fan-pleasing continuity now in full flow, with a Time Lord story full of mentions of Romana, E-space, Leela, Bio-data extracts, the Matrix, etc.
Unfortunately Gallifreyās never looked so dull and beigeā¦ š«¤#DoctorWho
Colin Baker inadvertently livens the whole thing up, not just due to the amusement of seeing the future Sixth Doctor here, but also because of the general pompous nature of his character.
And his stupid hat. #DoctorWho
Tegan is very trusting of Robin, when you look at it objectively:
āHello, Iām someone youāve never met, telling you your cousin has mysteriously disappeared in this foreign country. Now if youād just like to follow me into this creepy crypt where he was last seenā¦ā
Overall not the greatest Time Lord story, and too reliant on expecting the viewers to know the lore about Omega and so on, but it has its moments.
Plus the final shot is hilarious - the look on the Doctorās face as he realises heās stuck with Tegan againā¦ š#DoctorWho
Snakedance: This is an excellent sequel to Kinda, just as good as the original but told in a much more accessible way.
I always get the impression this is a bit underrated in fan-opinion. A shame, as for me itās one of Davisonās best. #DoctorWho
The Doctor spends the whole of episode 3 locked up, with no sonic screwdriver to free him (even mentioned in the dialogue)
RTD must have had moments like this in mind when he decided to bring the sonic back, to stop the Doctorās role in proceedings slowing to a halt. #DoctorWho
Mawdryn Undead: the Brig! Two Brigs even! They did a good job making the younger Brig look just how he did when we last saw him.
This is where the Brigadier starts to be seen as a legendary, iconic character, rather than just āone of the castā when he was a regular. #DoctorWho
The Brigās comment about Ibbotsonās fitness and ādisgustingā body is something that hasā¦ not aged wellā¦ š¬
Quite apart from the fact the actor is clearly not the Billy Bunter type the character is written as, itās a terrible attitude to give the Brig anyway. #DoctorWho
Gavin Winters
Neil Corry