The Doctor Who Real Time Marathon: Vengeance On Varos
Vengeance On Varos: Part One (19/01/25)
Well, that wasn't a bad episode, more straight forward than the last story and obviously limited y being studio-bound but nonetheless interesting and a further step towards the Doctor Who we all know. The start wasn't great, to be frank, with the writing of the new Doctor being a little too reminiscent of the easily defeated, petulant and self-centred characterisation of the early episodes of The Twin Discrepancy, but once he and Peri arrived on Varos he became the Doctor we've been following for the last 20-odd years, albeit filtered through Colin Baker's boisterous personality.
So, Varos! It's an ex-prison colony where the descendants of the prisoners live as second class citizens with an impoverished lifestyle where they're fed a diet of violent torture and executions of dissidents via a live stream and the requirement that they frequently vote for their puppet Governor in a mock of democracy, whilst the descendants of the officers live a (relatively) comfortable life as the ruling elite, with the exception of the Governor himself who is at the mercy of the public vote and forced to negotiate with alien companies for better trade deals whilst hamstrung by the legal red tape spewed by his Chief Officer (wonderfully portrayed by Forbes Collins) who is in the pocket of Sil, the current envoy from Galatron (planet or company?).
On the whole, it's a very good political satire of corrupt politics and the increasing extremes of televisual entertainment. Dissidents are sent to the Punishment Dome and their torture and execution entertains an increasingly desensitised population represented here by Arak and Etta, a prole couple with opposing views of their Governor, who act as something of a Greek Chorus. They get some of the best lines and it's a very nice case of simple world-building through two characters who have no real interaction with the rest of the story but are very accessible to the viewing audience.
Speaking of which, Peri is back in her Lycra top and shorts from the start of the series but this time in blue instead of pink, and without the padding to hide her nipples on location - it seems they'd switched the heating off in the TARDIS! Some of the dialogue seemed to forget she was American (whilst some pointed it out - "Zee??? Oh! Zed!") or even from 1984, and her relationship with the Doctor is veering back to 'spiky' after last week's episode, but they're settling into their roles in a sort-of Five and Tegan way, although I'd prefer a more amicable relationship.
Elsewhere, we've got Martin Jarvis putting in a noble performance as the Governor, and Nabil Shaban as the maggot-like alien, Sil. His is one of the weirdest yet entirely convincing performances of recent years with Shaban relishing his role as a Yuppie-cum-corporate lacky, ruthlessly trying to milk whatever he can out of the Varosians whilst gurgling over the torture and subjugation in a satisfyingly vile way. The cliffhanger, with the Doctor alone and dying of dehydration brought on by hallucinations in the Punishment Dome, was nicely done with the Governor directing the transmission to the public with "And cut it... now!" followed by their numerous screens going to static and Sil's gurgling laughter. It was an effective, if not entirely successfully produced episode with some nice socio-political commentary, well rounded design, and mostly good performances.
Vengeance On Varos: Part Two (26/01/25)
That was okay. It was an interesting story about politics, Capitalism and violence as entertainment, and there were some good performances and a few witty quips. Not everything worked but Colin is getting into his stride and I'm starting to feel he'll do well as the Doctor. Peri, I'm afraid, seems to be turning into a Sarah Jane, largely there to get caught or put in jeopardy, which is a shame as she was quite good with Peter Davison. At least the Doctor/Companion relationship was less abrasive this week!
Nabil Shaban put in a very memorable performance as the alien Yuppie, Sil, and his odd speech patterns were comically explained as him having an eccentric translator which the Governor didn't mention because it was his only source of amusement. Arak and Etta got some of the best scenes as the Varosian civilians with some satirical humour and commentary; and Colin got an amusing line prior to his staged execution - "Do you always get the Priest parts?" but I was less convinced by the James Bond-esque quip of "Forgive me if I don't join you" after the acid bath scene. The first guard was knocked into the vat by accident and the second pulled in by the first, and there was no way of the Doctor knowing it was acid at first, until the first guard pulled his colleague in, but the comment just felt callous. I'm trying to imagine another Doctor saying it and, to be honest, I can easily see Peter Davison saying it and me not being quite as bothered by it. I think it's because Colin's characterisation is so much more brash. Neither would put the Doctor in a good light but from Colin it felt dismissive.
Of course, his intentional slaughter of the Chief Officer, Quillam and their accompanying guards was far worse. That was intentional murder. The Doctor knew beforehand that the vines would kill but got Jondar to set a trap anyway. I'm not saying there was a better way - the whole point of the story was a criticism of people using violence and murder as entertainment and a way of controlling the public, and it's not like the Doctor hasn't killed vile characters like Quillam before; Solon in The Brain Of Morbius wasn't half as unpleasant and Tom's Doctor was more than happy to kill him. But it just felt a bit off. It also felt a bit rushed, but I guess it was necessary since without the Chief Officer and Quillam, Sil had no support and the Governor no opponents.
There was a slight diversion which felt more like padding than anything where Peri and Areta were put into a transmogrifier and mutated into an anthropomorphic bird and lizard respectively (which featured some good makeup) but it ultimately felt pointless. It did underline how cruel and ruthless Quillam was, though, and he had little impact last week so I suppose it had a point.
Overall, a fairly grim and harsh tale, but one where Colin continues to settle into the role. I do hope the next story is more traditional, though, and not quite so brutal.
There's lots to like here, but quite a lot that raises an eyebrow as well. The critique of 'reality TV' - a concept that didn't even exist in 1984/5, as far as I know - is prescient and well ahead of its time, and the examination of politics and democracy is on point, too. (I'd call it satire, but it's too close to reality.) Sil is one of the two best things Colin Baker's era gave the show, along with Glitz. The character and the performance are both wonderful, and there are some impressive performances elsewhere as well. But then others are terrible, and some of the writing is as well, particularly to do with the Doctor and Peri - whether that's Eric Saward's fault I don't know, but I suspect so. There's no excuse for your leads to take almost an entire episode to even arrive in the story, especially when all they do in between, and to some extent thereafter, is bicker and sulk. A mixed bag then, worthy and somewhat successful in its intent, but also with its problems, some of them significant.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that struck me as I was copying my Blog from my note book onto here is how little actually happens during the episodes. It was at the back of my mind last night when I was writing down my observations on Part Two, and that is reflected in how little I wrote compared to other stories. A fair amount happens, but events don't exactly propel the plot along; and before you know it there's five minutes left, the Doctor has Quillam and the Chief Officer executed by Jondar and they all head back to the Governor's HQ in time to witness the Galatron Mining Corporation send Sil a message saying to give Varos whatever they want. The secretary/video editor (Bax, if the Programme Guide is anything to go by) who seemed to be fairly intrinsic to the plot in Part One makes a brief appearance in Part Two then vanishes, and Arak and Etta end up staring at static without a clue what to do with themselves.
DeleteIt's a story which has plenty to say and is built around a brilliant central idea, but spends half its time not really saying it. And Peri and Areta are fairly poorly served by the script. It feels as if Areta is only there because Jondar needs a girlfriend. She has next to no interaction with anyone but him even though she spends a lot of time with the Doctor and Peri, and both are merely used as damsels in distress. As would be made clearer in Mindwarp and even more so in the awful Big Finish serial The Creed Of The Kromon and the embarrassingly bad Mission To Magnus, Philip Martin is something of a misogynist with a limited selection of ideas and tropes which includes an obsession with body horror. Nevertheless, as a one off this script works as a piece of socio-political commentary (and we know that's always a plus point for me) even if it is quite flawed.