The Doctor Who Real Time Marathon: The Androids Of Tara
The Androids Of Tara: Part One (25/11/18)
The search for the Key To Time continues on the planet Tara, another Earth-type planet where the culture is a mix of Late Renaissance and advanced technology. Everything looks very nice with woodlands, castles and rivers, but with the addition of electric rapiers and android doubles.
Bored of running around after the White Guardian and playing chess against K9, the Doctor decided to go fishing and leave Romana to do the hunting. He should perhaps leave her to it more often as she located it straight away! However, while snoozing the Doctor was found by two of Prince Reynart's men and taken to see His Majesty when they learnt the Doctor wasn't a peasant and knew a bit about androids. It turns out Reynart is one of two heirs to the Taran throne, the other being the missing Princess Strella, and he needs his android double to work in order to have a decoy to distract his arch enemy, Count Grendel, while he attends his coronation. Grendel wants him dead so he can claim the throne and, once the Doctor had (somewhat reluctantly) helped Reynart, he, Reynart and his men succumbed to drugged wine, somehow administered by Grendel.
Meanwhile, Grendel encountered Romana just after she found the segment (disguised as part of a statue) and fended off one of the most embarrassingly bad monsters I've seen in a while (seriously, this made the Shrivenzals look like masterpieces in design work)! It was a man in a gorilla suit with a terrible papier-mâché mask/face. I'm assuming it was meant to be a badly constructed android, but at this point the clue was only in the story title. Grendel seemed very interested in Romana (I suspect she looks like Strella given his reaction) believing her to be an android. Only when his surgeon/engineer/lover Madame Lamia tried to chop Romana up did they realise she's real, upon which they drugged her. Lots of drugging going on!
Shite monster aside, it was a very good episode setting up an interesting society, similar to but infinitely better than the one on Ribos after only one instalment. Plenty of intrigue, and a second story in a row from David Fisher. He can stay, I think!
The Androids Of Tara: Part Two (02/12/18)
Not a great deal happened this week, but it all looked very pretty. Count Grendel has kidnapped Reynart but left is android copy behind, so the Doctor came up with the idea of getting the android crowned while they hunt for the Prince (the Doctor accidentally called him 'the King' at one point, but they had just been talking about getting him crowned). He called K9 and, learning Romana hadn't returned and that she'd been heading towards Grendel's land, has sent K9 to rescue her while he, Zadek and Farrah take George the Android to be crowned in Tara (Capital of Tara, I imagine).
Meanwhile, Grendel and Lamia took Romana on a tour of Castle Gracht's dungeons where they're holding Princess Strella who is, quelle surprise, Romana's double. Grendel plans to have her crowned in Reynart's absence, marry her, then kill her off in a tragic accident so he can inherit the throne, but she's not up for that so he plans to use Romana instead. She's not up for it either, so in the meantime he's locked her in with Reynart who has contracted a fever since last week.
The Doctor et al. meanwhile smuggled George into the coronation room via some plague tunnels, much to Grendel's surprise. Some guards came and bundled Romana out of the dungeon, and after the 'King' had been sworn in she, or Strella, came forward as the First Lady of Tara to swear fealty to him. However, as she knelt before him the Doctor grabbed the Royal Sceptre and twatted her over the back of the head. Since he now knows Romana's Strella's doppelgänger and I doubt he'd hurt either, I'm assuming it was an android assassin or something.
The sets and costumes for this one are very sumptuous and well designed, as is much of the makeup - the hair swirls Lamia sports were seen on a number of female extras at the coronation. Looks like the TARDIS wardrobe got it wrong, though (again), as nobody seems to be wearing anything remotely like the 'latest fashion' Romana's wearing. Perhaps that's next year's vogue and she started the trend!
The Androids Of Tara: Part Three (09/12/18)
A lot more happened this week, mainly various plots and stand-offs between the Doctor and Grendel. The Doctor was keeping the Android King serviceable while Grendel plotted to have the Doctor killed. He had Lamia create an android duplicate of Romana and arrange a trade with the Doctor - Romana for free passage into exile. The Doctor realised it was a trap and went to the Pavilion of the Summer Winds early with K9. Coincidentally, Madame Lamia and Grendel, with Robo-Romana and an armed guard, turned up early too - very odd since they arranged to meet at midnight and this was clearly mid-afternoon at the latest. Anyway, Lamia took Robo-Romana inside and it proceeded to shoot at the Doctor. Luckily, K9 blasted it but, hearing the kerfuffle, Grendel had his men open fire and Lamia was shot down as she fled the Pavilion.
It's a shame, really, as this episode set her up as a very interesting character: clearly devoted to Grendel, and once the recipient of his favours (if nothing more), she's even stated as being 'Grendel's woman' at one point, but as a peasant she could never be anything more. There was a great exchange where Romana pointed out that she had no interest in becoming Grendel's Queen, but Lamia wanted him and knew he'd never even consider marrying her. When Romana asked Lamia to let her and Reynart go, Lamia refused; she won't betray him because it's better to have him use her for her skills than have nothing at all. Even just before she was shot Grendel complemented her work on Robo-Romana by asking what he'd do without her. "Find another peasant who understands androids, no doubt" she replied. It's rare to have such a complex and interesting character, never mind it being a woman, in the series and it's unfortunate they killed her off so soon and so abruptly.
Anyway, Romana escaped using a tool she stole from Lamia's workshop and nicked a horse (cue comedy not-knowing-how-to-ride-a-horse sequence), passing the Pavilion as the Doctor and K9 escaped. K9 got to shoot down Grendel's guards all in one go (which was cool) and Grendel followed them to Reynart's lodge where he tried to bribe the Doctor, ran George through with his electro-foil, and pegged it, kidnapping Romana again as he went. I must say, he's a pretty persistent adversary and keeps on getting the upper hand! Pretty good stuff!
The Androids Of Tara: Part Four (16/12/18)
Quite a slow episode this week, all things considered. The Doctor went with K9 and broke into Castle Gracht via an entrance down a tunnel leading from the moat. Grendel threatened to kill Strella unless Reynart married Romana so that he could kill Reynart, marry Romana, kill Romana then inherit the throne. The Archimandrite was brought in to carry out the ceremony but the Doctor interrupted it and had a very long-winded, music-free fencing match with Grendel.
While Romana saved Strella from Grendel's Guard Captain, and Reynart used the distraction to let his forces in through the main gate, the Doctor took his fight with Grendel out into the castle, where Dudley Simpson finally brought in his orchestra to provide a bit of drama! Seeing his castle was overrun, Grendel then escaped with a witty quip by diving into the moat and swimming away. Then the Doctor and Romana retrieved the segment of the Key To Time (oh yeah, that old thing!) and K9 floated on a barge on the moat. Cue 'hilarious' ending.
Well, it certainly looked very pretty, and the conclusion was quite satisfactory with Grendel escaping - he was a great villain but certainly not the type you'd want to have a grisly end - unless, of course, he meets that Taran Wood Beast again! Unfortunately, it just felt a little run-of-the-mill and the Direction of the final episode just felt a little flat with a bit too much fannying about and the Doctor being silly. I'm starting to wonder if Tom's performance is beginning to bore me. He has been the Doctor almost as long as Jon Pertwee, and whilst things picked up while Leela was around I'm not sure his relationship with Romana is as lively or interesting. Romana herself is okay, better than Sarah Jane, but seems a bit underwritten and her doppelgänger subplot seemed rather under-developed, particularly this week. Still, new story next week.
The search for the Key To Time continues on the planet Tara, another Earth-type planet where the culture is a mix of Late Renaissance and advanced technology. Everything looks very nice with woodlands, castles and rivers, but with the addition of electric rapiers and android doubles.
Bored of running around after the White Guardian and playing chess against K9, the Doctor decided to go fishing and leave Romana to do the hunting. He should perhaps leave her to it more often as she located it straight away! However, while snoozing the Doctor was found by two of Prince Reynart's men and taken to see His Majesty when they learnt the Doctor wasn't a peasant and knew a bit about androids. It turns out Reynart is one of two heirs to the Taran throne, the other being the missing Princess Strella, and he needs his android double to work in order to have a decoy to distract his arch enemy, Count Grendel, while he attends his coronation. Grendel wants him dead so he can claim the throne and, once the Doctor had (somewhat reluctantly) helped Reynart, he, Reynart and his men succumbed to drugged wine, somehow administered by Grendel.
Meanwhile, Grendel encountered Romana just after she found the segment (disguised as part of a statue) and fended off one of the most embarrassingly bad monsters I've seen in a while (seriously, this made the Shrivenzals look like masterpieces in design work)! It was a man in a gorilla suit with a terrible papier-mâché mask/face. I'm assuming it was meant to be a badly constructed android, but at this point the clue was only in the story title. Grendel seemed very interested in Romana (I suspect she looks like Strella given his reaction) believing her to be an android. Only when his surgeon/engineer/lover Madame Lamia tried to chop Romana up did they realise she's real, upon which they drugged her. Lots of drugging going on!
Shite monster aside, it was a very good episode setting up an interesting society, similar to but infinitely better than the one on Ribos after only one instalment. Plenty of intrigue, and a second story in a row from David Fisher. He can stay, I think!
The Androids Of Tara: Part Two (02/12/18)
Not a great deal happened this week, but it all looked very pretty. Count Grendel has kidnapped Reynart but left is android copy behind, so the Doctor came up with the idea of getting the android crowned while they hunt for the Prince (the Doctor accidentally called him 'the King' at one point, but they had just been talking about getting him crowned). He called K9 and, learning Romana hadn't returned and that she'd been heading towards Grendel's land, has sent K9 to rescue her while he, Zadek and Farrah take George the Android to be crowned in Tara (Capital of Tara, I imagine).
Meanwhile, Grendel and Lamia took Romana on a tour of Castle Gracht's dungeons where they're holding Princess Strella who is, quelle surprise, Romana's double. Grendel plans to have her crowned in Reynart's absence, marry her, then kill her off in a tragic accident so he can inherit the throne, but she's not up for that so he plans to use Romana instead. She's not up for it either, so in the meantime he's locked her in with Reynart who has contracted a fever since last week.
The Doctor et al. meanwhile smuggled George into the coronation room via some plague tunnels, much to Grendel's surprise. Some guards came and bundled Romana out of the dungeon, and after the 'King' had been sworn in she, or Strella, came forward as the First Lady of Tara to swear fealty to him. However, as she knelt before him the Doctor grabbed the Royal Sceptre and twatted her over the back of the head. Since he now knows Romana's Strella's doppelgänger and I doubt he'd hurt either, I'm assuming it was an android assassin or something.
The sets and costumes for this one are very sumptuous and well designed, as is much of the makeup - the hair swirls Lamia sports were seen on a number of female extras at the coronation. Looks like the TARDIS wardrobe got it wrong, though (again), as nobody seems to be wearing anything remotely like the 'latest fashion' Romana's wearing. Perhaps that's next year's vogue and she started the trend!
The Androids Of Tara: Part Three (09/12/18)
A lot more happened this week, mainly various plots and stand-offs between the Doctor and Grendel. The Doctor was keeping the Android King serviceable while Grendel plotted to have the Doctor killed. He had Lamia create an android duplicate of Romana and arrange a trade with the Doctor - Romana for free passage into exile. The Doctor realised it was a trap and went to the Pavilion of the Summer Winds early with K9. Coincidentally, Madame Lamia and Grendel, with Robo-Romana and an armed guard, turned up early too - very odd since they arranged to meet at midnight and this was clearly mid-afternoon at the latest. Anyway, Lamia took Robo-Romana inside and it proceeded to shoot at the Doctor. Luckily, K9 blasted it but, hearing the kerfuffle, Grendel had his men open fire and Lamia was shot down as she fled the Pavilion.
It's a shame, really, as this episode set her up as a very interesting character: clearly devoted to Grendel, and once the recipient of his favours (if nothing more), she's even stated as being 'Grendel's woman' at one point, but as a peasant she could never be anything more. There was a great exchange where Romana pointed out that she had no interest in becoming Grendel's Queen, but Lamia wanted him and knew he'd never even consider marrying her. When Romana asked Lamia to let her and Reynart go, Lamia refused; she won't betray him because it's better to have him use her for her skills than have nothing at all. Even just before she was shot Grendel complemented her work on Robo-Romana by asking what he'd do without her. "Find another peasant who understands androids, no doubt" she replied. It's rare to have such a complex and interesting character, never mind it being a woman, in the series and it's unfortunate they killed her off so soon and so abruptly.
Anyway, Romana escaped using a tool she stole from Lamia's workshop and nicked a horse (cue comedy not-knowing-how-to-ride-a-horse sequence), passing the Pavilion as the Doctor and K9 escaped. K9 got to shoot down Grendel's guards all in one go (which was cool) and Grendel followed them to Reynart's lodge where he tried to bribe the Doctor, ran George through with his electro-foil, and pegged it, kidnapping Romana again as he went. I must say, he's a pretty persistent adversary and keeps on getting the upper hand! Pretty good stuff!
The Androids Of Tara: Part Four (16/12/18)
Quite a slow episode this week, all things considered. The Doctor went with K9 and broke into Castle Gracht via an entrance down a tunnel leading from the moat. Grendel threatened to kill Strella unless Reynart married Romana so that he could kill Reynart, marry Romana, kill Romana then inherit the throne. The Archimandrite was brought in to carry out the ceremony but the Doctor interrupted it and had a very long-winded, music-free fencing match with Grendel.
While Romana saved Strella from Grendel's Guard Captain, and Reynart used the distraction to let his forces in through the main gate, the Doctor took his fight with Grendel out into the castle, where Dudley Simpson finally brought in his orchestra to provide a bit of drama! Seeing his castle was overrun, Grendel then escaped with a witty quip by diving into the moat and swimming away. Then the Doctor and Romana retrieved the segment of the Key To Time (oh yeah, that old thing!) and K9 floated on a barge on the moat. Cue 'hilarious' ending.
Well, it certainly looked very pretty, and the conclusion was quite satisfactory with Grendel escaping - he was a great villain but certainly not the type you'd want to have a grisly end - unless, of course, he meets that Taran Wood Beast again! Unfortunately, it just felt a little run-of-the-mill and the Direction of the final episode just felt a little flat with a bit too much fannying about and the Doctor being silly. I'm starting to wonder if Tom's performance is beginning to bore me. He has been the Doctor almost as long as Jon Pertwee, and whilst things picked up while Leela was around I'm not sure his relationship with Romana is as lively or interesting. Romana herself is okay, better than Sarah Jane, but seems a bit underwritten and her doppelgänger subplot seemed rather under-developed, particularly this week. Still, new story next week.
When I first saw this I had no knowledge of The Prisoner of Zenda; to me this was just 'Doctor Who does swashbuckling adventure'. (I still have zero knowledge of Zenda, apart from the fact that it must be very similar to this story.) I've always felt that it does it quite well, being quite engaging from start to finish, with quite a solid script and quite dedicated performances. But everything, for me, as that sentence suggests, is only *quite* good. It's a decent tale, but not a great one.
ReplyDeleteAs for Lamia, I get why you appreciate the character, but surely it's problematic - at least from a contemporary perspective - that she fails the Bechdel test spectacularly.
As you probably gathered from my post 'Androids...' is a story I feel I should like a lot more than I do. It looks good, it has a great villain, and it starts off with Romana outdoing the Doctor in locating the segment (in modern Who it would likely be sorted in the pre-credits sequence). However, as wonderful a Swashbuckler it may be I find it all a bit meh. I only know about the plot of 'The Prisoner Of Zenda' from watching this and reading about it in various books and magazines, so you're not on your own but, as I state in my entries, Romana's subplot really does seem hugely underdeveloped and, to be frank, Tom by this point was really beginning to bore me. I play that down in my journal because I always try to remain positive, but by Season 16 I was really sick of him and struggling with the knowledge that there were still two full seasons (and at this point still over two years) left of his era to get through.
DeleteLamia is a very interesting character who is incredibly badly served by the story. It's bad enough that she's the only other actress in the serial aside from Mary, but the fact that she's given an interesting backstory then arbitrarily gunned down midway through the third episode is plain insulting. The Williams era is generally speaking quite good as regards female characters (the direct polar opposite of the Hinchcliffe era) but coming directly after such an interesting serial (and by the same writer) 'Androids...' just feels a little bit like a throwback. Granted, worse was to come this season in these terms but this serial comes across as worse for the simple fact that it actually *could* have been better.
I still struggle to like it as much as I feel I should. Whether that's because it's generally popular amongst fans or because I just see it as a very nicely shot version of those Boy's Own annuals from the early 20th Century which have basically never appealed to me I don't know. I do know that it isn't as good as it could have been which, given the talent involved, is a bit of a shame.