The Doctor Who Real Time Marathon: Nightmare Of Eden
Nightmare Of Eden: Part One (24/11/79)
Another very good episode slightly let down by one or two things. Some of the Direction was a bit lacking in drama, particularly the collision between the two spaceships and the cliffhanger. However, it's a fantastic premise - a space liner coming out of hyperspace has collided with a smaller vessel and the two are meshed together with areas of unstable interface. This all happened because the co-pilot keyed in the wrong materialisation co-ordinates because he was high on drugs. In fact, drug smuggling seems to be the main drive of the plot as someone has taken the co-pilot's stash and the co-pilot has been attacked and killed, possibly by the alien we saw at the cliffhanger.
Meanwhile, there's a subplot with a scientist called Tryst and his assistant, Della, who have a machine which contains the flora and fauna of a bunch of planets converted into living crystal recordings. The CET machine is primitive and unstable, though, which could lead to problems thanks to the instability on the ship caused by the crash. I imagine that's where the creature came from.
Romana has also seen a figure watching her from the projection of the section of Eden Tryst took (they leave bald patches on the planet when they take the recording) which was rather creepy, and now she's been stung by something (an insect?) which came out of the projection.
The guest cast are mostly good. Full marks to Geoffrey Bateman as Dymond, the pilot of the smaller ship, who's had some great lines and is playing the frustrated second party having to deal with everyone fannying about very well. The guy playing the co-pilot was decent enough playing 'high' but less so when he started to come down, but I guess that's because he's quite posh. David Daker is good as Captain Rigg, and had some great scenes with Tom who seems to be taking the drugs theme quite seriously whilst eating up some of his more flippant scenes. Tryst, however, is a little OTT, Lewis Fiander playing him as an eccentric Dutchman, but this plays well against the more sombre, normal and down-to-earth Della.
Plenty of plot and mystery set up with some nice sets and costumes to offset the slightly average model work. Nevertheless, a good start.
Nightmare Of Eden: Part Two (01/12/19)
A slightly slower episode this week but with plenty going on. There are monsters in the interfaces between ships which resemble the type of Muppet that has a person inside - I'm thinking Sweetums but with bug-eyes. There's also a bloke in goggles who nicked the Vraxoin sample from the Doctor last week loose on the ship who the Doctor chased and lost, and who then saved Romana from one of the monsters.
Meanwhile, Captain Riggs drank a spiked drink meant for Romana and is losing it like his co-pilot, and Tryst suspects Della and his missing-presumed-dead crew member, Stott, are the drug smugglers. If so, he's probably the guy we saw in the Eden projection, but then why did he save Romana from the monster? Unless it was someone else? I could easily be Tryst himself trying to lay blame elsewhere, but where did he get the Vraxoin as it wasn't there at the start of the episode when Rigg scanned the ship?
Oh, and the Doctor failed to separate the Empress from Dymond's ship so Dymond isn't a happy chappy. Still. And now a couple of Customs Officials (dressed like a couple of Leathermen off for a night out at G.A.Y.) have turned up, detected some traces of Vraxoin in the Doctor's pocket and chased him to the room where Tryst's CET machine is and the Doctor and Romana have only gone and jumped into the Eden log!
So, tonnes going on, but not quite so good as last week. I'm enjoying the mystery, though, and Tryst and Della's Han Solo outfits (clearly cosplay fanatics). Hopefully a little more of the plot will be revealed next week.
Nightmare Of Eden: Part Three (08/12/19)
Better this week. Lots going on again. The monsters are called Mandrels and come from Eden. Stott is an investigator who was placed on Tryst's expedition to find out who was smuggling drugs and was trapped in the crystal when it got made. After the collision, he found the edges of the section of Eden in the CET were shimmering and he could escape into the ship. There was a short scene where it was made blatantly obvious that Tryst and Dymond are working together and are therefore the smugglers and, whilst working on separating the Empress from the Hecate, the Doctor accidentally electrocuted a Mandrel which crumbled to dust - a dust that's Vraxoin! I really like that idea, very clever and original. Also quite pleasing was the fact that earlier, the Mandrel had attacked the Doctor and Romana in the Power Unit and been shot by K9. Concerned about jumping over the body, Romana was told by the Doctor that it was dead (he kicked it to prove the point) but then in a long shot it was clearly seen to be breathing. I thought that was just a fuck up missed by the editing team/Director so it was quite cool to fond out is actually was alive!
Less cool was the set for the Power Unit which just looked cheap; a set of computer banks on a scuffed studio floor with a few lines and colours painted on it to look 'futuristic' and a black cyc behind, seemingly because they'd run out of budget for the Power Unit walls. Not exactly a clever, prime design! At least Eden looked good, even if it wasn't as nice as the jungle sets of Chloris; but then, it wasn't shot on film, either.
Pretty cool scenes early on of the passengers being massacred by Mandrels and a quip from doomed druggy Riggs about them only being Economy Class. Some neat dialogue underlining Fisk and Costa's petty bureaucracy too, but Della was conspicuous by her absence.
Pretty good overall, if showing some budget issues this far into the season (a notable issue with Season 15, too), and a nice, clever script.
Nightmare Of Eden: Part Four (15/12/19)
That wasn't bad! Some of the Direction was a bit shoddy; for example, nobody seemed to know how to be attacked by the Mandrels, and they themselves tended to shamble more than anything. There was an awkward bit near the end where the Doctor was attacked by Mandrels off-screen which may have been improved if Dudley Simpson had bthered to underscore it, but then Tom's dialogue was a bit daft in that sequence, too, so I'm not sure he could have done much to help the situation.
Della was back, helping Romana and the Doctor until Dymond shot her (she didn't die). Fisk and his cronies were after the Doctor (who got transported onto Dymond's ship when it separated and found his laser gun attached to another CET machine ready to transfer the Eden crystal, thus incriminating both Tryst and himself), until Stott turned up and informed Fisk who the smugglers were. Then the Doctor and Romana had all the Mandrels rounded up and put back into the machine before using it to grab Dymond's ship like Tryst did with the surfaces of the planets he visited and trapped them as they tried to get away.
That was a nice pay-off, as was the Doctor's incredibly cold reaction to Tryst's pleas for mercy and help. Given that he was trafficking a drug that was killing millions, I think that the Doctor's response was brilliant. Possibly one of the best bits of acting that Tom's done! I also liked the fact that the Doctor and Romana set off to return the planets' surfaces at the end, allowing the Mandrels to live.
So, all in all a pretty good story which okay model work and decent sets for the most part (Dymond's ship interior was a vast improvement on the Power Unit!), a great script and some good acting, albeit some odd choices. Geoffrey Bateman was by far the best, though, bringing believability to Dymond's limited role. It's just a shame some of the Direction wasn't up to scratch. Still, we're off on another adventure next week (and on my birthday!).
Another very good episode slightly let down by one or two things. Some of the Direction was a bit lacking in drama, particularly the collision between the two spaceships and the cliffhanger. However, it's a fantastic premise - a space liner coming out of hyperspace has collided with a smaller vessel and the two are meshed together with areas of unstable interface. This all happened because the co-pilot keyed in the wrong materialisation co-ordinates because he was high on drugs. In fact, drug smuggling seems to be the main drive of the plot as someone has taken the co-pilot's stash and the co-pilot has been attacked and killed, possibly by the alien we saw at the cliffhanger.
Meanwhile, there's a subplot with a scientist called Tryst and his assistant, Della, who have a machine which contains the flora and fauna of a bunch of planets converted into living crystal recordings. The CET machine is primitive and unstable, though, which could lead to problems thanks to the instability on the ship caused by the crash. I imagine that's where the creature came from.
Romana has also seen a figure watching her from the projection of the section of Eden Tryst took (they leave bald patches on the planet when they take the recording) which was rather creepy, and now she's been stung by something (an insect?) which came out of the projection.
The guest cast are mostly good. Full marks to Geoffrey Bateman as Dymond, the pilot of the smaller ship, who's had some great lines and is playing the frustrated second party having to deal with everyone fannying about very well. The guy playing the co-pilot was decent enough playing 'high' but less so when he started to come down, but I guess that's because he's quite posh. David Daker is good as Captain Rigg, and had some great scenes with Tom who seems to be taking the drugs theme quite seriously whilst eating up some of his more flippant scenes. Tryst, however, is a little OTT, Lewis Fiander playing him as an eccentric Dutchman, but this plays well against the more sombre, normal and down-to-earth Della.
Plenty of plot and mystery set up with some nice sets and costumes to offset the slightly average model work. Nevertheless, a good start.
Nightmare Of Eden: Part Two (01/12/19)
A slightly slower episode this week but with plenty going on. There are monsters in the interfaces between ships which resemble the type of Muppet that has a person inside - I'm thinking Sweetums but with bug-eyes. There's also a bloke in goggles who nicked the Vraxoin sample from the Doctor last week loose on the ship who the Doctor chased and lost, and who then saved Romana from one of the monsters.
Meanwhile, Captain Riggs drank a spiked drink meant for Romana and is losing it like his co-pilot, and Tryst suspects Della and his missing-presumed-dead crew member, Stott, are the drug smugglers. If so, he's probably the guy we saw in the Eden projection, but then why did he save Romana from the monster? Unless it was someone else? I could easily be Tryst himself trying to lay blame elsewhere, but where did he get the Vraxoin as it wasn't there at the start of the episode when Rigg scanned the ship?
Oh, and the Doctor failed to separate the Empress from Dymond's ship so Dymond isn't a happy chappy. Still. And now a couple of Customs Officials (dressed like a couple of Leathermen off for a night out at G.A.Y.) have turned up, detected some traces of Vraxoin in the Doctor's pocket and chased him to the room where Tryst's CET machine is and the Doctor and Romana have only gone and jumped into the Eden log!
So, tonnes going on, but not quite so good as last week. I'm enjoying the mystery, though, and Tryst and Della's Han Solo outfits (clearly cosplay fanatics). Hopefully a little more of the plot will be revealed next week.
Nightmare Of Eden: Part Three (08/12/19)
Better this week. Lots going on again. The monsters are called Mandrels and come from Eden. Stott is an investigator who was placed on Tryst's expedition to find out who was smuggling drugs and was trapped in the crystal when it got made. After the collision, he found the edges of the section of Eden in the CET were shimmering and he could escape into the ship. There was a short scene where it was made blatantly obvious that Tryst and Dymond are working together and are therefore the smugglers and, whilst working on separating the Empress from the Hecate, the Doctor accidentally electrocuted a Mandrel which crumbled to dust - a dust that's Vraxoin! I really like that idea, very clever and original. Also quite pleasing was the fact that earlier, the Mandrel had attacked the Doctor and Romana in the Power Unit and been shot by K9. Concerned about jumping over the body, Romana was told by the Doctor that it was dead (he kicked it to prove the point) but then in a long shot it was clearly seen to be breathing. I thought that was just a fuck up missed by the editing team/Director so it was quite cool to fond out is actually was alive!
Less cool was the set for the Power Unit which just looked cheap; a set of computer banks on a scuffed studio floor with a few lines and colours painted on it to look 'futuristic' and a black cyc behind, seemingly because they'd run out of budget for the Power Unit walls. Not exactly a clever, prime design! At least Eden looked good, even if it wasn't as nice as the jungle sets of Chloris; but then, it wasn't shot on film, either.
Pretty cool scenes early on of the passengers being massacred by Mandrels and a quip from doomed druggy Riggs about them only being Economy Class. Some neat dialogue underlining Fisk and Costa's petty bureaucracy too, but Della was conspicuous by her absence.
Pretty good overall, if showing some budget issues this far into the season (a notable issue with Season 15, too), and a nice, clever script.
Nightmare Of Eden: Part Four (15/12/19)
That wasn't bad! Some of the Direction was a bit shoddy; for example, nobody seemed to know how to be attacked by the Mandrels, and they themselves tended to shamble more than anything. There was an awkward bit near the end where the Doctor was attacked by Mandrels off-screen which may have been improved if Dudley Simpson had bthered to underscore it, but then Tom's dialogue was a bit daft in that sequence, too, so I'm not sure he could have done much to help the situation.
Della was back, helping Romana and the Doctor until Dymond shot her (she didn't die). Fisk and his cronies were after the Doctor (who got transported onto Dymond's ship when it separated and found his laser gun attached to another CET machine ready to transfer the Eden crystal, thus incriminating both Tryst and himself), until Stott turned up and informed Fisk who the smugglers were. Then the Doctor and Romana had all the Mandrels rounded up and put back into the machine before using it to grab Dymond's ship like Tryst did with the surfaces of the planets he visited and trapped them as they tried to get away.
That was a nice pay-off, as was the Doctor's incredibly cold reaction to Tryst's pleas for mercy and help. Given that he was trafficking a drug that was killing millions, I think that the Doctor's response was brilliant. Possibly one of the best bits of acting that Tom's done! I also liked the fact that the Doctor and Romana set off to return the planets' surfaces at the end, allowing the Mandrels to live.
So, all in all a pretty good story which okay model work and decent sets for the most part (Dymond's ship interior was a vast improvement on the Power Unit!), a great script and some good acting, albeit some odd choices. Geoffrey Bateman was by far the best, though, bringing believability to Dymond's limited role. It's just a shame some of the Direction wasn't up to scratch. Still, we're off on another adventure next week (and on my birthday!).
It *is* rather blandly shot, and it *does* look a bit budget's-running-out, and the monsters *are* a bit too cuddly for their own good, and Tom Baker *does* go a bit OTT at times, and Lewis Fiander's accent *is* a very odd choice, but still, this is one of the most adult stories the series has ever done, and that was back in 1979. As with quite a few classic stories, it's the sort of thing they wouldn't touch with a barge-pole these days, despite the more enlightened (and soapboxing) era the show's now being made in. Sadly, the story's remembered for all the wrong reasons when it actually is very worthwhile and makes a pretty good fist of it. Overall it's probably my second-favourite of the season.
ReplyDeleteThis used to be my favourite of the season (sod 'City Of Death' - this is a really good look at drug addiction and the amorality of dealers). I still absolutely adore the story because of what it has to say and how it says it, but watching it in context revealed its shortcomings. Nevertheless, comparatively it stands up alongside its predecessors as the fourth in a line of very strong stories. Destiny is a flawed but very strong season opener. City Of Death is a work of beauty. The Creature From The Pit is clever and wonderfully realised, if a bit dubious in places, and Nightmare Of Eden is the most adult story since the Pertwee years (maybe even Season 3!). In its way, it gives a pretty good representation of the effects of drug addiction and, by making Vraxoin fatal, you get the morality pushed in your face. Your'e right that it's content is too strong for the modern series, which is sad because it's exactly the kind of thing the show should be tackling. Doctor Who is always best when it addresses controversial subject matter, something which was a regular feature during the Cartmel and RTD era, and whilst the Chibnall era has addressed some important issues we're currently in a world where people are so fickle that harder topics get sidelined due to the fact that they *are* controversial and difficult to address. And surely that's the point of fiction, and particularly Science Fiction?
DeleteAnother reason why this story scores so highly for me is its similarities to my favourite TV series of all time - Farscape. The Henson show would copy the basic premise of 'Nightmare Of Eden' with Virginia Hey's swansong as Zhaan: 'Self-Inflicted Wounds' - the two parter which saw Moya collide and mesh with a spaceship as it left a wormhole. It also foreshadows another of my favourite Farscape episodes later in the same season which deals with drug dealing and addiction; 'Scratch 'n' Sniff' saw Jool and Chiana caught up in a drugs ring which would prove potentially fatal to them both and was dealt with in a similarly chaotic and hyper-real style to make the episode palatable to the viewing public. Nonetheless, the BBC chose to air the episode at 11pm instead of the usual 6pm due to its subject matter, and this was back in 2001.
So far, Season 17 has scored 4 out of 4 with each story a massive improvement on what went before in one way or another. Some are not perfect, but each is remarkable in one way or another (even the Terry Nation episodes). The season is on its way to be a competitor with Season 14 for best Tom Baker series!