The Doctor Who Real Time Marathon: Four To Doomsday
FOUR TO DOOMSDAY (Part One) 18/01/2022
That was quite an interesting episode which felt a lot like some of the old Hartnell stories - The Sensorites in particular sprang to mind as the Doctor and his companions investigated a spaceship on which the TARDIS has materialised.
Despite the continuity announcer claiming this story was set in the far future it is, in fact, set in the past; specifically, on the day Tegan walked into the TARDIS. She's having a bad day. Even though she knows she's in a Time Machine (I assume) she thinks the Doctor has lost her her job by taking her to the Urbankan ship instead of Heathrow Airport. As such, she got a bit pissy, not helped by Adric also having a bad day and being openly obnoxious and incredibly sexist, especially to Tegan. It's no wonder the Doctor split them up, taking Tegan with him when Monarch (the leader of those on the ship) acceded to the request that the Doctor meet him (realised by some rather nicely realised floating black orbs - CCTV cameras called Monopticons). Adric was left with Nyssa whilst she fiddled with some equipment in the tech room the TARDIS landed in but he got pissy with her, too, so she sent him into the TARDIS.
Meanwhile, the Doctor and Tegan met Monarch and his Ministers of Enlightenment and Persuasion, who got Tegan to do a rather good drawing of a man and a woman in 1981's fashions (sort of). Nyssa was taken off for refreshments by an old Greek dude called Bigon and Adric was led to the Doctor and Tegan who, having provided the Urbankans with the drawings, joined Nyssa.
Over dinner, they met three more Humans - a Maya princess, an Australian Aborigine (Tegan apparently speaks at least one native Australian dialect as she translated for him in something of a wtf moment), and a Chinese man (at which point the Doctor chose to make a casually racist joke...). Then Enlightenment and Persuasion turned up looking like the Tegan's drawings (instead of the not-that-great, green, knobbly-faced aliens we'd previously met - I'm still deciding whether the makeup is effective). Since Monarch told 'Control' (the local computer voice) to switch on life support so that the Doctor and Tegan could take off their space helmets, I'm assuming these aliens are actually robots and manufactured their new bodies. OOH! Maybe they're actually Autons! Anyway, a very interesting and intriguing start to the next story.
FOUR TO DOOMSDAY (Part Two) 19/01/2022
As I said yesterday, this story really does feel like an old Hartnell serial which is definitely a good thing. Following an awkward exchange with Enlightenment and Persuasion, the Doctor et al. were taken to Bigon's old quarters (he has no need of them anymore). Here, Nyssa pointed out that the Urbankans are incredibly advanced and the Human-like bodies for Monarch's Ministers must have been made by machines. This backs up my theory that they're actually robots, as did exchanges between Monarch and Enlightenment where e chastised her for referring to the 'soul' in the past tense and mentioned 'the Flesh Time'.
To find out more about their visitors, Monarch arranged entertainment for them and whilst the Doctor and Tegan watched some cultural stuff from each of the Earth groups (Urbanka has no culture, apparently), Adric and Nyssa were separated and allowed to roam the ship. It's full of Human androids from the four representative races, presumably programmed machines to keep the four cultural leaders sane, or maybe other kidnapped Humans given android bodies like the one Bigon revealed he had at the cliffhanger. To be fair, it wasn't much of a cliffhanger as it simply confirmed everything we'd seen so far - the hints and references, a Greek fighter being stabbed to death then turning up in the Mobiliary Nyssa and Adric were in to be repaired. That bit was interesting for Tegan - she'd been getting more and more on edge as the story's progressed and the stabbing had her running from the arena.
It was quite nice to have Nyssa explaining photosynthesis to Adric as one point, too; more harking back to the educational slant of Seasons 1 & 2. Likewise, the pace is quite sedate, but doesn't stop it from being interesting. The script feels like it has room to breathe.
I'm really warning to the new Doctor. Already showing his intelligence and authority, but in a thoughtful and caring way, keeping Tegan calm, playing mentor to Adric, and once again on a level with Nyssa - I think the Doctor and Nyssa's relationship is the most enjoyable as they bounce off each other incredibly well. The other two are currently different levels of annoying. So, a throwback to times past, but a welcome one!
FOUR TO DOOMSDAY (Part Three) 25/01/2022
Another pretty decent episode. They're using the main cast very well. While the Doctor and Tegan learnt about Monarch's plans from Bigon, Monarch explained it in his own way to Adric and Nyssa. He's told them he's returning to Earth to gift Humanity with the advanced technology he's developed; to save us all from the horrors of the Flesh Time (disease, illness, hunger, etc.) by transferring everyone's minds and memories into advanced androids like Bigon and the others. Adric thinks this is a great idea. Nyssa very much doesn't. Adric then told Monarch all about the TARDIS and Monarch asked for a tour.
This isn't surprising as he left out the main reason for going to Earth from his explanation. As Bigon told the Doctor and Tegan, Monarch actually wants to plunder Earth for its silicone and carbon so he can create android bodies for the billions of Urbankans he has saved on circuits in drawers aboard the ship. He destroyed his own planet using up all its resources to try and travel faster than light. Apparently, he wants to travel back in time to before the Big Bang and meet himself because he thinks he's God.
He plans to use a poison once excreted by Urbankans to kill Humanity - it causes matter to fold in on itself. Understandably, Tegan wasn't too happy about this and while Bigon showed the Doctor everything to back up his claims including the poison in the Mobiliary, Tegan knocked out Adric (who was looking for the Doctor) and legged it to the TARDIS to try and warn Earth. Unfortunately, it seems she's both hysterical and managed to dematerialise!
In the Mobiliary, the Doctor and Bigon found and rescued Nyssa who Monarch had sent there to be turned into an android because she opposed him (but is very intelligent so worth keeping). However, Lin Futu overheard the Doctor and Bigon plotting to destroy the Urbankan memory banks and told Monarch who sent some servitors off to de-circuit Bigon and execute the Doctor!
It was wordy rather than action-packed, but that again is harking back to the Hartnell era which I rather like. Nyssa, again, is the only seemingly sane companion this week, but it's a good way of mixing things up rather than have them wandering round asking questions!
FOUR TO DOOMSDAY (Part Four) 19/01/2022
Well, that was rather enjoyable! Not quite as good as 'Castrovalva' but still very fresh and it did feel very much like a Hartnell story. So far this series is a very nice contrast to Season 18; whilst it harks back to the original few series in many ways - three companions, the motive of trying to get someone back to Earth, etc. Next thing they'll have a proper Historical LOL! - it still feels very modern and new.
Davison is completely settled in as the Doctor already - I've taken to him far more quickly than I did to his predecessor, but that is probably entirely due to his personality. He seems perfectly suited for the role. He has a great command of authority about him, but not in an overbearing way. Whilst Baker came across as superior because he thought he was superior, you get the impression the Fifth Doctor comes across as superior because he knows he is.
The scene with Adric and Monarch after the stay of execution (Oh, Nyssa saved the Doctor from being beheaded by using his sonic screwdriver and a pencil to carry out a short circuit she'd specifically borrowed them for at the end of the last episode - she's definitely my favourite of the three companions so far!) showed how much contempt the Doctor had for Monarch without him actually stating it. A later scene where he talked Adric round started off with the rather wonderful line "Now listen here, you little idiot...", yet the Doctor used reason to persuade Adric Monarch was a bad 'un.
Tegan spent the episode in the TARDIS floating around beside the Urbankan ship and the Doctor was equally short with her when he reached it (via cricket ball through space - not sure about the science there).
Having talked Lin Futu round, stating that the Chinese were the most numerous and powerful people on Earth (quite correctly, despite what the USA may think) so why would Monarch give him their leadership, the Doctor defeated Monarch (Enlightenment and Persuasion had their circuits ripped out and tossed into space - a bit harsh!) by chucking his own poison at him. Apparently he was still partly organic, though a drop of poison would have shrunk Tegan to the size of a grain of rice (so said Bigon) yet Monarch got the lot and ended up the size of a kettle. Not sure about that bit, but alien physiology, etc.
On the whole, though, it was a pretty good story and certainly a contrast to the last seven years! Lovely sets, great costumes and casting, decent script, good use of the main cast, and even a Hartnell-style end-of-story-cliffhanger! Nyssa collapsed! Given that she was having her memories recorded prior to being recycled in the Urbankan greenhouse at the start of the episode and was subsequently sedated and kept prisoner to get the Doctor to co-operate, I'm not surprised! Perhaps next week's story will be about figuring out what's wrong with her? Very Hartnell era. So far I'm enjoying this series more than I have is quite a long time!
'Sedate' is a good word to describe this story, although it does verge on 'sedated' at times. That's very much a Terence Dudley thing - unhurried, relatively low stakes and quite heavy on conversation. All that said, it works better than it might, and I've always liked it for the fact that the first two cliffhangers are so unorthodox. (The third seems utterly banal by comparison, simply for reverting to type.)
ReplyDeleteConsidering this was Peter Davison's first story, he does seem remarkably at home in the role, and decided on his character, from the off. But with Tegan - whose grasp of the exact one of the hundreds, possibly thousands of Aboriginal languages spoken in Australia is an astounding coincidence - being sarky and sullen and Nyssa being clever, there's really no need for Adric to exist any more, but then they'll sort that problem out in a few stories' time ;)
And yes, the Hartnell-era parallels are definitely there. I wouldn't want every story to run directly into the next, but this and Kinda being linked liked that is effective. Even in the new series, the odd time they've done it it's worked well - perhaps even more so when it's between standalone episodes/stories.
I entirely agree that Davison takes to the role incredibly well, especially given this is the first story he recorded - it certainly doesn't feel that way. He seems to have a very winning personality (at odds with what I've seen in interviews and heard on commentaries over the years) that makes it easy to accept him as the Doctor. Thus far I'm completely failing to see why so many fans claim he is/was too young for the role as that certainly isn't what I'm seeing on screen; he's a much better actor than Tom, and is already much more likeable (I slowly grew to accept Tom in the role but never really *liked* him).
DeleteAs for the companions, on the face of it, if you're looking at pigeon-hole dynamics, then Adric does seem a little superfluous, but from what I've seen so far (I won't project forward at this point), we have Nyssa being intelligent and dependable, a logical and moral focus for the majority of the audience and a clear ally for the Doctor - reference is even made to her knowledge of bioengineering and she's the first to pick up on how advanced the Urbankans are and that the bodied they've created/have are synthetic. Monarch sees her as a threat, but too intelligent to be killed and used as fertiliser (which he no doubt would have done with Tegan) so he chooses to process her instead. Tegan is the touchstone for the younger audience who don't get all the sciency stuff, reacting emotionally and getting herself hysterical. She's the typical companion who's capable (as we saw in Castrovalva when she had Nyssa to ground her and a mission to fulfil dictated by the Doctor) but prone to being impulsive and emotional. She starts off dialled up to 9 because the Doctor hasn't got her to Heathrow, then meets her first alien-looking aliens, and by the time she coshes Adric in Part Three she's dialled up to 11. I do like the fact that she gets hysterical and starts pressing all the console buttons trying to fly the TARDIS, at one point in tears, but I wouldn't want her to be quite so highly strung in every story. Adric sits between these two scales being intelligent but easily riled. I can see why a lot of young fans liked him (and equally how many really didn't) as he's clever and self-assured and thinks girls are silly and stupid. Here he's won over by Monarch and it makes perfect sense. Nyssa can see beyond the logic and science of Monarch's proposed plan while Adric sees the benefits and can't understand why anyone would want to live with illness, hunger, infirmity. He's also eager to please the Doctor, who so far he's seen as his mentor - he and the Fourth Doctor had a very good rapport, their scenes together being some of the few decent things about The Keeper Of Traken and Logopolis - and I think this is where it starts to become apparent that things have changed. The Fifth Doctor and Adric really don't have the same dynamic. Baker's Doctor would certainly not have been as snappy with Adric; I imagine he would have explained Monarch's motives much more calmly, but he's not around anymore. There isn't that closeness.
DeleteActually, I think this story works incredibly well as a character piece. The plot is both complicated and basic - I don't really follow the whole timescale of Monarch's visits, nor why he's taken the Humans and made them into androids - but it's basically an Earth invasion story. This allows the companions to react in different ways which establishes their relationship with the new Doctor and allows the audience to see the new Doctor stop the bad guys using his wits and intelligence. The companions each get into trouble and need helping - Nyssa because she stands up against Monarch, Tegan because she has a breakdown and steals the TARDIS, and Adric because he's duped by Monarch's words. It may be fairly wordy and slow at times, but the more I think about it, the more I'm liking the story. There's actually a lot going on despite not much really happening. Later in the series it would probably not have worked as well, but as a new Doctor's second serial, like The Highlanders, New Earth, The Beast Below (shit, am I really mentioning a Matt Smith story in a positive light???) and The Ghost Monument, it's not so much about what's going on as it is establishing our new lead and their relationship to their companions.
Good grief! I went on a bit there! As for Tegan being able to speak a 30,000 year old Aboriginal language... yes, well. Perhaps she had a bit of help from the TARDIS lol
Can't disagree with any of that :)
DeleteI do wonder whether Terence Dudley was specifically asked to make the story less of an action adventure runaround and more of a character piece, but as uncharitable as it might sound, and possibly is, I'm not sure whether JNT would have seen it as necessary. Perhaps the script editor? Whoever it was at that point. I think Bidmead had stood down by then, so maybe Antony Root. Who knows.
The language thing has never been consistent in the series (on TV or in the novels*) or indeed in this story: why does Kurkutji not speak English, or whatever it is that everyone's hearing, but Lin Futu does? Not that it really matters, but still.
*In his novelisation of The Reign of Terror, for example, Ian Marter goes to greath lengths to explain that Ian and Barbara - and, by extension, the Doctor and Susan - are all actually speaking French (to varying degrees of fluency), occasionally adding that one or two of the French characters try out some schoolboy English.
Anthony Root was the script editor to Four To Doomsday, The Visitation and Earthshock. Eric Saward was script editor to the rest. I think you're right that JNT wouldn't have thought it necessary to have the story more character-led but think Root was experienced enough to know that was the best option. As for the language, it hadn't really occurred to me that Kurkutji was the only one speaking his own language while everyone else spoke English. It feels very odd in retrospect.
DeleteIt's not important, obviously, but I suppose they could have (or someone could now) come up with a hand-waving explanation like Kurkutji and his tribe being lifted out of their proper time and place retrospectively erased their language from history or something and that's why the TARDIS didn't recognise it but Tegan did. Or something :D
DeleteInteresting idea. I expect to find a Big Finish audio based all around this theory within the next 18 months! ;)
Delete