The Doctor Who Real Time Marathon: Full Circle

Full Circle: Part One (25/10/20)

That was very good. Certainly a lot glossier than any previous story filmed on location and continuing the feel of the last two stories but already feeling a lot more considered and interesting.

Returning to Gallifrey, the TARDIS encountered something K9 couldn't identify while the Doctor was consoling Romana in her bedroom (not like that!). The scanner, on arrival, showed the outer wastes of Gallifrey but, upon leaving the TARDIS, they found themselves in a rather gorgeous, Summery forest by a river. They've not got involved in the plot much yet, but the Doctor thinks they've travelled out of 'Real Space' altogether and are somewhere with negative co-ordinates.

The majority of the episode was spent building up the local society, better drawn than the Tigellans but more Human looking than the Argolin. They have three leaders - Deciders - the chief of which was dragged into the river (seemingly) by humanoids which resemble the Creature from the Black Lagoon (appropriate as Hallowe'en approaches). They're based in a Starliner (which won't take off) but seem to live by the river. Until now, that is, as Mistfall has arrived - a time every 50 years when the atmosphere becomes toxic and the locals have to hole themselves up in the safety of the ship.

There's a group of youths, too, called Outlers who have rejected their society, led by Varsh whose annoying younger brother, Adric, wants to join them. Fey Neil Tennant clone Tylos and the vaguely bitchy Keara don't want him. The other two have legged it back to the Starliner and Adric, who was trying to steal Riverfruit so he could join the Outlers but failed, was chased by the head Decider and witnessed him being dragged into the river, has stumbled into the TARDIS with warnings of Mistfall, piquing the Doctor's interest.

None of the younger characters are particularly likeable here. Even Adric is incredibly snobbish just because he's a member of the Elite due to being good at maths. But it's a good start with some nice design work, great locations, a decent cast (better than 'Meglos' had) and the setting up of some intriguing mystery. Tom also looks a lot better than he did. Perhaps he was ill while filming 'Meglos'. Or maybe he's buoyed by it already being a better script. A pretty good start, all said!

Full Circle: Part Two (01/11/20)

This is a pretty good story, but today's episode was a bit slow. Adric is a bit of a div and went off to look for his brother and the other Outlers, told them about the TARDIS and let them gain access to escape Mistfall (thanks to him showing them the homing device that would get him back there).

Romana spent most of the episode in the TARDIS doing calculations or being threatened by kids with knives. The Doctor watched the Marshmen which are acclimatising  and learning very quickly. Very quickly, in fact, since they picked up the TARDIS and carried it to the Outlers' cave, seemingly to use it as a boulder/battering ram to get into the Starliner (the cave is on a mountainside overlooking the Starliner, apparently, although how they expect to roll a flat-sided box down a hill is anyone's guess!).

K9 went off following the Marshmen while the Doctor went to the Starliner and gained access using his sonic screwdriver. A young Marshman followed him and they both got caught by the liner's inhabitants and taken before the Deciders, now joined by Keara's dad, Login. Nefred is now in charge and has learnt 'terrible secrets' about his people. The Marshchild was taken to Dexeter, the local scientist, and the Doctor has persuaded him to let him help examine it.

The episode ended with the Marshmen fleeing the cave because spiders were bursting out the Riverfruit, the Outlers hid in the TARDIS and Adric accidentally dematerialised it, and Romana, raising a Riverfruit to defend herself, had it split open and a spider land on her face, biting her and seemingly poisoning her! That bit was pretty good, definitely unnerving, and the spiders are a decent mechanical effect.

Oh! And the Marshmen smashed K9's head off when he reached the cave! They're not treating him particularly well this series which feels a bit mean.

A note about the costumes, which are otherwise nicely designed, but everyone seems to wear the same orange and yellow except the main characters who wear a variety of colours (despite being physically very different, so it isn't so we know who's who), and surely the Outlers' clothes would be a bit dirty if they've been living in a cave for ages and not essentially dirt free? Minor quibble, though. Otherwise, it's all pretty good so far!

Full Circle: Part Three (08/11/20)

About halfway through tonight's episode I found myself thinking this was actually quite boring. It's not; it's quite an interesting idea and there's some quite good stuff going on. For example, Dexeter was experimenting on the Marshchild and asked the Doctor for his help, which he gave, but wasn't impressed when he found out that Dexeter had already taken skin samples from the anaesthetised child. What he was actually doing was pretty shitty, so when the creature woke up as he was about to vivisect its brain and killed him I wasn't exactly gutted. It was a bit dark when the child then accidentally electrocuted itself smashing a telescreen having seen the Doctor on it - the only person it trusted.

The whole episode was a bit dark, to be fair. It seems the Starliner is actually ready for take-off, but the secret the Deciders are keeping is that they don't actually know how. On top of that, there's something linking the spiders with the Marshmen.

Meanwhile, Romana seems to have been taken over by the Marshmen after being bitten by a spider as she first went into a coma, then woke, left the TARDIS (which she'd set the co-ordinates for the Starliner to before being got by the spiders - Adric then accidentally set the TARDIS in motion, picked up the Doctor whilst dropping off his brother and the Outlers, picked up Romana, then returned), and let in all the Marshmen.

Varsh and the others have been let off, then set about replacing working parts with working parts on the Starliner. It seems he and Adric are orphans as he's "all Adric's got". Keara continued to be a self-centred bitch when she learned this, claiming also to be an orphan because her dad's been made a Decider.

Overall, it was an okay episode but not fantastic. I have to concede that Andrew Smith has really put a lot of thought into the Alzarians and the main characters, but the episode lacks fun and humour.

Oh, and no K9 (again!) because Adric couldn't find his head! I can only hope it's a plot device and he's put back together next week because it just feels like they're being shitty to him on purpose now.

Full Circle: Part Four (15/11/20)

That was a pretty good story, all said. Turns out the crew of the Starliner weren't the crew of the Starliner but descendants of the Marshmen evolved over 40,000 generations. The Marshmen, for whatever reason, didn't like them because of this and, once in the Starliner, went on a killing spree, first killing off Tylos, then Nefred, then Varsh. The Doctor worked it all out in Dexeter's Laboratory, found a cure for Romana and found out the Marshmen couldn't adapt quickly enough to blasts of pure oxygen so they flooded the ship with it and drove them out. Then Garif and Login eventually decided to leave Alzarius in search of a new planet away from the Marshmen after the Doctor showed them how to pilot the Starliner, and he, Romana and a reassembled but silent K9 left, now able to see where they're going after Adric left them an image translator from the ship.

This story was a lot better than the first two and looked just as good but it was perhaps a little dry. It was quite shocking when Tylos was killed, but then he's the second juvenile in two weeks to be killed. I'm not sure they've ever killed any children before in 'Doctor Who'. I mean, granted, Tylos was in his mid-late teens, probably around 17 or 18, but the other was quite clearly described as the 'Marshchild'. Pity they didn't kill Adric and Keara too!

K9's head was stuck on a stick and used as a totem or something. The Marshmen seemed a bit in awe of it when the Doctor grabbed it off them and put it in front of his face. After some decent use in the last story, it's a shame he's gone back to being incapacitated or ignored. I guess they're starting to phase him out.

Overall, this was a decent end to a decent story, but I'm hoping next week will feature a bit more humour. Seriousness is all very well, but I'd rather have something that was clever and enjoyable.