‘May I say what a pleasure it has been to see two such dedicated trenchermen enjoying their food. Unfortunately the reckoning is rather high.’ In the end I think this is a failure, but it’s a Robert Holmes script and it’s at least an interesting failure. Broadly, I think the problems with it are that Holmes’ script is too thin to sustain the equivalent of an old six-parter, and that the direction does nothing to lift the material.
‘I think your Doctor’s worse than mine.’ This plays more like a comeback for Jamie than the second Doctor. Frazer Hines fits right into the line-up, with an easygoing rapport with Baker that suggests, given the right companion, the sixth Doctor would be a much more attractive proposition. The difference is his disagreements with the Doctor are banter rather than snide asides, and taken in good spirit, whereas half the lines Peri gets are acidic put downs or complaining that would make Tegan look mellow by comparison. The Baker-Bryant-Hines trio make this quite fun, even when a lot of the content is grim verging on inappropriate.
‘I can’t bear the sight of gory entrails. Except, of course, on the stage.’ All the ingredients of a Robert Holmes concoction are here: the baroque dialogue, a series of double acts, moments that recall past triumphs (the perils of the abandoned Space Station Camera reminded me of Nerva in The Ark in Space). The Time Lords are characterised as the pompous hypocrites of The Deadly Assassin, using the Doctor as their agent to give themselves plausible deniability. Their engagement in space politics with the Third Zoners on the cusp of a time travel breakthrough feels more like one of Gary Russell’s Gallifrey audios than anything else in the classic series.
‘The Rani is a genius. Shame I can’t stand her.’ It isn’t as good as Part One, largely because the story fizzles out and is replaced by a string of scenes of the Master, Rani and Doctor bitching at each other. Fortunately, these scenes are quite fun: Ainley plays the Master more subtly than in his Davison stories, almost like he’s aware he can’t out-camp Colin and O’Mara, and it’s more fruitful to make the Master seem more thoughtful and conniving than usual. And yet, he still get’s the campest line in the piece: ‘Luke, I want you to swallow this very special sweetmeat.’
‘The beginning of a new era.’ The third and fourth Bakers arrive with the first of 11 episodes they’ll write over the next two series. Presented with the kind of shopping list that Grimwade would have baulked at (introduce a female Time Lord villain, include the Master and set it in Earth’s history) they come up trumps with what’s easily the most solidly-conceived and scripted sixth Doctor episode to date. True, it lacks Vengeance on Varos’ red-top front page approach (although there are more exploited miners), but what we get instead has some of the gentleness of a Davison story wedded to the glossier style of Season 22.
‘I want to hear them scream until I’m deaf with pleasure.’ This helps make more sense of the previous episode, has some good jokes, and treats the Doctor like the hero of his own series. As such, it’s the best sixth Doctor episode so far. Baker gets a good mix of material, confronting Quillam in a faux-polite sneering contest, and quickly discerning the reality of Sil’s motives and the situation on Varos through observation and a few well-chosen questions. ‘He smells the truth of things,’ the Chief says, with a shudder. I much prefer the Doctor being the one to give the monsters rather than his companion nightmares. Peri even gives him a hug.
‘When did they last show something worth watching?’ It’s clearly a step-up from The Twin Dilemma and Attack of the Cybermen, neither of which appeared to be about anything in particular, whereas this practically bashes the audience over the head with a point. What that point is is harder to define. Everything I’ve read says this is “about” video nasties, and that’s in the mix (the Governeur is selling tapes of the executions).
‘It didn’t go very well, did it.’ The big problem with Attack of the Cybermen is it’s essentially Jackanory, telling the attempt to change history and save Mondas rather than showing it. We never see the Cybermen’s home planet – it all happens as noises off. Even their time ship remains offscreen. Instead, we have endless scenes of the Doctor chatting to Lytton and then Flast about events of The Tenth Planet, about the Cyber-plan to divert Halley’s Comet, and the history of the Cybermen and the Cryons. We don’t see any of it.
‘This is a hoary old one. Talk about neglect.’ Back on Saturdays in 45-minute episodes, this could have been the opportunity for an exciting new phase of the show. Location filming on the streets of London, stylishly directed by Matthew Robinson, makes this look more like an episode of The Sweeney than anything the series has tried before. A gritty diamond heist that inadvertently uncovers a Cyberman invasion is a good hook. The opening of this is pure Season Seven: workmen being attacked by something monstrous; the Doctor and companion dashing about run-down looking urban locations. It’s an instant step up from The Twin Dilemma.
‘Our genius has been abused.’ So, the climax of this boils down to the Doctor learning Mestor’s true plan and deciding to assassinate him with poison. He’s only prevented from doing so by Mestor’s mind powers, at which point Mestor informs the Doctor he intends to transfer his brain into the Doctor’s body, but before doing so he will demonstrate what he’s about to do by transferring his brain into Azmael’s body. The Doctor then dissolves Mestor’s old body with acid (another Season 21 death by gloop), and Azmael commits suicide.
Next Time... 