The Doctor Who Real Time Marathon

THE KING'S DEMONS  (Part One)  15/03/2023  I can't help but think this story might have been better placed between Snakedance and Mawdryn Undead  to break this season up a bit. We're back in 1215, a few months from Magna Carta at Fitzwilliam Castle, a mere four hours by horse from London. King John is in residence, being a general pain in the arse to resident Lord, Sir Ranulf, which is very odd because he's also in London (where he's actually documented as having been). The story started off with a jousting match between Ranulf's son and the King's Champion to defend Ranulf's honour. It was interrupted by the arrival of the TARDIS, and King John, weirdly, welcomed the Doctor, Tegan and Turlough as his 'Demons'. The rest of the episode played out slowly addressing the mystery of what was going on which is all very well were it not for the fact that from quite early on it was clear that the King's Champion, Sir Gilles, was in fact the Master in...

  ENLIGHTENMENT  (Part One)  01/03/2023  Wow! Why the hell couldn't the rest of this series have been as good as this? Fantastic lighting, brilliant sets, an amazing script c/o Barbara Clegg (is this seriously the first time the show has had a sole female scriptwriter? WTF have they been playing at???). It had atmosphere in droves, and at points felt wonderfully Sapphire And Steel . The Doctor, Tegan and Turlough were brilliantly written and, although I missed Nyssa during the first few minutes, I'm actually enjoying this dynamic. The first few minutes in the TARDIS were beautifully lit as the power was drained, but somewhat poorly performed due to the presence of Cyril Luckham with his tedious, atmosphere-free repetition and Valentine Dyall's annoying appearance. I know that they're the driving mechanism for the story, but it all felt rather hamfisted compared to how wonderfully creepy the rest of the episode was. And I should have mentioned this before, but why the...