The Doctor Who Real Time Marathon: Mawdryn Undead

MAWDRYN UNDEAD (Part One) 01/02/2023 

That was an episode which started off incredibly badly but improved as it went along. This story is set at an all-boys Public School and started off with one of the students, Turlough (a ginger kid who just about looks 18 if you squint), and his put-upon mate, Hippo (who is similarly age-affected and clearly meant to be fatter than the actor is... an actor who seems to think that speaking in a higher register will make him sound younger) stole an expensive old car belonging to one of the teachers, encountered a white van in a narrow country lane, and crashed into a field. Firstly, this driving sequence was accompanied by the most god-awful music I've ever heard on the show. I don't have words to describe how unbelievably terrible the score was at this point, but I hope we never hear anything like it again! We then cut to a shot of Turlough watching himself from above, unconscious by the car, against a backdrop comprising possibly the worst 'Special Effect' ever seen! It was a blue and green sort-of tunnel effect seemingly knocked up by the work experience kid on a BBC Micra. I mean, why the Production Team actually okayed the effect is a mystery! Substandard is an understatement!

However, this is where the story started to get interesting. Turlough was in this situation because he'd been snatched by the Black Guardian, intent on making a deal with the boy to kill the Doctor. He can't do it himself because he can't be seen to act in such matters and, in hindsight, I do feel he could have come up with a better plan than making a deal with a Public Schoolboy, but overall it's giving Turlough some incentive and drive. I say this because, it seems, Turlough isn't from Earth. In his initial conversation with the Black Guardian he said he hated the planet (something I'm sure plenty of kids have said at some point) but subsequent dialogue has indicated that he ain't from around here - not to mention him being an orphan whose legal matters are dealt with by an strange Solicitor in London!

Anyhow, not only this, but the car he stole only belonged to the bloody Brigadier! It looks like he's a teacher at the school, but so far nothing else has been said as to why he left UNIT.

Meanwhile, the TARDIS got caught in the fixed orbit of a spaceship which has been circling near Earth for 3,000 years. Every six years it passes close to Earth and last time a transmat pod left and landed in the grounds of Turlough's school. Subsequently, the Black Guardian had Turlough locate the pod and take it back to the ship where he eventually met the Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan. And 'Hippo' Ibbotson saw it happen and went to fetch the Brigadier.

Earlier in the episode, we had some nice discussion about Tegan being free of the Mara, making up for Snakedance's rather blunt ending. Nyssa has another new outfit - not as nice as the last one, and I'm not sure about her yellow eyeshadow, either - but overall I'm enjoying the interaction of this team. It's only just occurred to me that this is the first time we've had the Doctor accompanied by two companions both of whom are women. I think it's quite a good dynamic. That came to mind because it briefly looked like Tegan might leave this week, saying she'd like to return to Earth for a rest (I think having her come back for 2¼ stories for the anniversary season would have been a nice touch), which is how they got caught in the spaceship's orbit. That effect - a very one dimensional image on the scanner - was pretty awful, too.

Anyhow, the Doctor and Turlough returned to Earth in the Transmat pod while Nyssa and Tegan went in the TARDIS with preset co-ordinates. The cliffhanger had the Black Guardian telling Turlough to kill the Doctor "in the name of all that is evil" - a bit odd since he'd won Turlough over by describing the Doctor as one of the most evil creatures in the universe! Still, Turlough found a rock and was about to cosh the Doctor over the head as he fiddled about with some device he'd found. So, a very interesting set up. We'll just have to see how it pans out tomorrow.

MAWDRYN UNDEAD (Part Two) 02/02/2023 

Today we found out who Mawdryn is, but more of that later. There was a lot this episode worthy of it being part of the Anniversary season. The TARDIS travelled down to the location of the Transmat pod but arrived six years early, on June 6th 1977 (but Tegan only found this out later). She and Nyssa witnessed the pod arriving and assumed the badly burned occupant was a regenerating Doctor, so took him into the TARDIS, covered him with blankets the Fourth Doctor's burgundy coat, and Tegan went to see if she could find help at the school. Here she bumped into the Brigadier who realised the Doctor was involved when Tegan inadvertently mentioned the TARDIS. He went back with her, finding out the school was celebrating the Queen's Silver Jubilee on the way.

Mawdryn, meanwhile, is claiming to be in a state of 'perpetual regeneration' (which has convinced Nyssa that the transmat has triggered a regeneration) and wants to become a Time Lord. He's clearly a bad 'un. The cliffhanger had him turn round to reveal he has a cone-shaped head with red goo on the top! No wonder Tegan screamed!

Anyhow, that wasn't the best bit. The 1983 Brigadier had lost his memory and didn't recognise the Doctor. He took Turlough back to the sick bay, then agreed to chat with the Doctor after he mentioned UNIT. Here, the Doctor jogged his memory with talk of Jo Grant, Sarah Jane and Liz. This led to a cool montage of Yeti, Cybermen, Axons, Zygons, that daft fucking Robot, plus all the Doctors until the Brig got his memory back. It was really nicely done and had all the right nostalgia feels. Then the Doctor mentioned he was worried about Tegan and Nyssa at which point the Brigadier explained he'd met Tegan in 1977.

Elsewhere, Turlough spoke to the Headmaster (who played the original Borusa!) and decided he wanted to pull out of his deal with the Black Guardian because he'd lied about what the Doctor was like. I assume this was a reference to the Black Guardian admitting he was evil at the end of Part One but, if so, why did Turlough not just put the rock down and go "Hang about...!" instead of being stopped by the gadget the Doctor was fiddling with exploding? Oh yeah, that's right; cliffhanger. However, the Headmaster was actually the Black Guardian who threatened Turlough and imposed his will onto him, resulting in Turlough legging it for the Transmat.

Overall, this was a pretty satisfying episode without any of the naff effects and music from Part One. It's certainly a convoluted plot which, like Arc Of Infinity seems to rely on coincidence quite a bit with the exception of, as the Doctor noted at one point, events (seeming to be) influenced by some greater/outside force. It's also quite nice to have a story taking place in two different time zones of the same location. I'm surprised they've never done a story like this before!

MAWDRYN UNDEAD (Part Three) 09/02/2023 

This story has a very interesting premise to it and I really am surprised they haven't done something like this before. Using the TARDIS and the Transmat, the Doctor and Turlough, and Nyssa and Tegan have become separated in time but not space and encountered the Brigadier at the Public School he now works at (having retired from UNIT) in 1983 and 1977 respectively.

This week mostly focussed on both groups returning to the spaceship in 1983 and the Brigadier joining both groups. Should the two Brigadiers meet it could be catastrophic - "'Zap!' as Tegan would say!". Meanwhile, we have the main plot of Mawdryn, the lead alien of eight from the ship, using the Transmat to try and find a way to end his group's torment of perpetual regeneration - having stolen some Time Lord Tech in order to become immortal, he made some alterations which resulted in a painful mutation. His planet's elders exiled them in the luxury ship with the possibility of passing an inhabited planet every 70 years in the hope of finding help or a cure. Having encountered the Doctor, Mawdryn believes he finally has a way to end the cycle, but the Doctor says it will mean the end of him as a Time Lord.

Elsewhere, Turlough has been in communication with the Black Guardian again who says his plans are in place that will result in the "total humiliation" of the Doctor - a bit less severe than the death he originally requested. He's also ordered Turlough to stay on Mawdryn's ship (he was trying to work out how to leave in the TARDIS at the time) so that he can witness 'the Doctor's nemesis'. I feel that this was a clumsy turn of phrase since, whilst it's a perfectly acceptable way of saying retribution or punishment, the fact that the word is more commonly used to describe an adversary or individual bringing about the retribution left me wondering who else was going to turn up to kill the Doctor.

Ultimately, I think the Black Guardian element of this story is its weak point. Valentine Dyall's appearance in the last few minutes of The Armageddon Factor was memorable and sustained the idea that he was an all powerful higher being. Here, his surreptitious and ham-fisted manipulation of Turlough makes him somewhat diminished. Turlough, on the other hand, is a much more interesting character, especially since the Doctor discovered the Black Guardian's communication crystal abandoned in Turlough's room after he legged it to escape in the Transmat. It hasn't been stated that the Doctor has worked out what's going on with him, but there have been several moments where his suspicion of Turlough has been clear.

One final note on the look of Mawdryn and his people. Are they naked? Or do their clothes regenerate like the First Doctor's did? If it's meant to be their bodies, then are they meant to be jellyfish people with legs beneath their skirts? It's all quite confusing and the use of foam-type fabrics and diaphanous ribbons reminds one more of the Optera from The Web Planet than anything else. A very odd design which I'm not sure quite works!

MAWDRYN UNDEAD (Part Four) 10/02/2023 

Well, that was quite a good story. The establishment of Mawdryn as not quite the villain he at first seemed to be, yet still pretty unscrupulous was rather good, especially when he allowed the Doctor, Nyssa, Tegan and the 1983 Brig to return to the TARDIS and try to leave knowing full well that Nyssa and Tegan had been infected.

I think the conclusion would have been better if it hadn't been a little obvious that the two Brigadiers would meet and the energy that produced would solve everyone's problems. Nevertheless, it's been quite refreshing to have a story where there wasn't an actual villain - except, of course, for the Black Guardian.

I'm still not sure about him. I think Turlough is an interesting character and wasn't remotely surprised he joined the Doctor at the end given how much work has been put into fleshing out his character, but given the Doctor was clearly seen to suspect something dodgy was going on yesterday, I'm not sure why he allowed him to stay. Perhaps it's a case of keeping your enemies close, etc. That said, the Black Guardian ordered Turlough to keep the two Brigadiers apart (so that the Doctor would have his regenerations used up helping Nyssa, Tegan and the aliens) or he'd destroy him, yet Turlough failed and lived, finding the Guardian's crystal had cracked. Does this mean Turlough is free of his control? Somehow, I doubt it.

And about the whole 'Doctor no longer being a Time Lord if he used his regenerations to help Mawdryn' - does that mean every Gallifreyan in their 13th incarnation is no longer a Time Lord? If so, then the Master is no longer a Time Lord but still gets referred to as one. Doubly so now he's running around in Nyssa's dad's cadaver! Probably best not to think about that bit. Or about the fact that, if Mawdryn's people had spent centuries on the ship experimenting to find a cure only to discover there wasn't one, why didn't they just blow the ship up (as happened at the end)? Perhaps they'd've ended up in tiny, still-alive pieces floating around in space!

As good as this story was, I'm not feeling as enthusiastic about this series as I was about the last one. I'm not sure if it's the tone, or the Direction, or the design, but we're three stories in and the show doesn't seem as exciting or as vibrant as it was this time last year. Still, we're not even half way through the series, so I guess there's time to improve.