The Doctor Who Real Time Marathon: The Ultimate Evil

The Ultimate Evil: Part One (18/01/26)

Shades of Vengeance On Varos this week. An alien called Mordant from a  race who engineer addictions or problems on planets in order to sell the inhabitants the drug or solution is using a 'Hate Ray' on the people of Tranquela (is this a Terry Nation script?), a country on the planet Amaltron, who have a tentative peace treaty with their neighbouring nation of Ameliora. He intends to start a war after 150 years of peace (and no contact between the two nations), in cahoots with the rather obvious Tranquelan, Escoval (who, as a high ranking member of the Second Family, has designs on becoming ruler) so that he can sell them weapons. Yes, it's another commentary on the evils of Capitalism and, subsequently, very much of its time.

Much of the episode was spent world-building and we have a few more interesting characters here than we did on Varos or Karfel. The Tranquelans have the ability to teleport to anywhere they think of, an ability that fades as they get older unless they use 'Thought Bubbles' which have been outlawed since the peace treaty with Ameliora. There's Locas, who's the equivalent of Jondar, but this guy decided not to be chained up (the way the Tranquelans deal with the Hate Ray) and ended up killing his fiancée by pushing her off a cliff. Then there's Ravlos and his wife Koreelya who are scientists who are trying (and succeeding) to find out why their people are suffering from mass episodes of rage. Ravlos is also an old friend of the Doctor (we seem to have encountered a lot of those since he regenerated!).

Oh yes, the Doctor! He and Peri spent even longer getting to Amaltron than they did Varos (but not Karfel)! This time, though, the TARDIS hadn't broken down - the exact opposite, in fact. The TARDIS was working so perfectly that, in lieu of any tinkering, Peri persuaded the Doctor to take them on holiday (since their holiday in Blackpool had been such a success). Instead of picking somewhere, the Doctor dug out a Salkan Holiday Ball - basically a Travel Agent - given to him by Mordant which unfathomably suggests they take a break in Tranquela. Conveniently, it's also a tool used by Mordant to spy on people, so he knows the Doctor is going to turn up.

Upon arrival, Mordant (from his ship orbiting Amaltron) uses the Hate Ray on the locals who attack the Doctor and Peri. The Doctor makes it back to the TARDIS where Mordant uses his magic ball to make the Doctor forget about Peri and be under his control. Peri is saved when the Hate Ray is turned off and befriends Locas who was about to beat her to death (apparently, she looks like his dead fiancée) and he gives her the lowdown and takes her to the cliff where he killed Mariana (a bit dodge!). The Doctor materialises in Ravlos' laboratory just after Escoval trashed it just as Ravlos and Koreelya return, and Mordant (afraid they're too close to uncovering his scheme) increases the Doctor's aggression so that he'll kill them. At the same time, he uses the Ray on Locas who attacks Peri.

There's a lot going on here which seems to be, on the whole, only happening because the plot needs it to happen. Mordant (in the original script a dwarf which, again, parallels Varos) seems capable of doing a lot of different things with his Ray and his Balls. It seems he can affect everyone in Tranquela (but not Ameliora, presumably) but also target individuals (else Ravlos and Koreelya would have been affected by the same ray as Locas). He can remove specific individuals from the Doctor's mind and do all this via his Holiday Ball whilst it's inside the TARDIS. I'm not going to think about it too hard.

On the whole, it's an interesting set up which I hope won't unravel next week like The Nightmare Fair did. On the plus side, despite being separated from the action for over 2/3 of the episode (something of a motif for this Doctor) the scenes with the Doctor and Peri were much better than for most of last season. It didn't amount to much but was greatly appreciated. I just hope this Hate Ray used on the Doctor doesn't lead to him trying to strangle her again. Having him act so aggressively really did bring back concerns reminding me of The Twin Dilemma and bits of The Two Doctors. Overall, though, a step up from last week.

The Ultimate Evil: Part Two (25/01/26)

That wasn't a bad story. It held together fairly well despite having numerous plot holes, and was an improvement on The Nightmare Fair. Ravlos and Koreelya managed to stop the Doctor being susceptible to Mordant's Hate Ray with the use of the helmet they've made to block the ray which they've established causes the episodes of rage, and Koreelya worked out that the Hate Ray was being directed at the Doctor via his Holiday Ball. Meanwhile, Escoval interrupted Mordant who stopped the Hate Ray allowing Peri to avoid meeting the same fate as Locas' fiancée, and Locas teleported them both to the Tranquelan armoury where they were caught by his father (Tranquela's leader, Abotan) who chained them up for breaking the law.

Escoval then brainwashed a guard, Shankel, into lying to Abotan and framing Ravlos and Koreelya as spies for the Ameliorans, and used the same weapon to make the pair confess, but by this point the Doctor had gone to Ameliora to try an broker a peace. This, incidentally, felt a bit like padding or at the very least a feeble reason to get the Doctor out of the way whilst Peri persuaded Locas to use his teleportation abilities to get them out of their prison in the armoury and to find the Doctor. After an accidental side trip to Mordant's spaceship so they could see his spying devices and tell the Doctor about them later, they joined the Doctor (who had been interrogated by the Ameliorans and allowed to leave in order to tell the Tranquelans they were now at war) and he worked out that it was all a plan to plunge Amaltron into perpetual war in order to profit from arms sales, went to Mordant's ship and confronted him, persuading him to invert his Hate Ray to bring peace to the planet or incur the wrath of the Time Lords (due to his spying devices).

Meanwhile, back on Tranquela, Ravlos and Koreelya talked Abotan round and exposed Escoval as a traitor who was then accidentally killed by Shankel. And then it was revealed that Mariana hadn't fallen to her death but had safely teleported herself back home so that she and Locas could live happily ever after.

There were some good ideas in there and it was obviously a commentary on how governments and companies manipulate in order to profit from arms trading with other nations who are at war, but certain things feel like they were happening solely in order to push the plot in the right direction. That, in itself, isn't anything unique to this story, but it did feel a little more obvious than usual. The Hate Ray, when being used on the Doctor, did also have the effect of reminding one of his violent outbursts in The Twin Dilemma and certain other serials last year, but fortunately, his general demeanour this year, and his relationship with Peri since Slipback (if not Timelash) has improved enough for me to overlook that. It doesn't change the fact that, after over a season of adventures, and with the need to develop this incarnation beyond those early episodes (both televisual and emotional), it was perhaps unwise of John Nathan-Turner and Eric Saward to commission a story which so obviously brought back recollections of the rather turbulent and difficult start this particular Doctor had to his era. That said, I'm enjoying Colin's portrayal as a Doctor not quite as alien as the previous Baker and one who is often far more likeable. Hopefully, this season will see the series settle further and not be quite so chaotic and disjointed as last year.