Season 21- The Caves of Androzani

Is `The Caves of Androzani` the best Doctor Who story ever? It’s a bold claim that’s not quite as unanimously supported as people imagine. Looking at old zines recently I found a letter from someone who preferred `The Twin Dilemma`! What we can say is that it is the best of this season by a significant distance and probably the best story for eight years at least. Had Robert Holmes not been contracted (producer John Nathan Turner was initially opposed to any old writers returning) or had Graeme Harper not been given a chance despite relatively little overall directorial experience, then the fifth Doctor’s finale might have turned out rather differently. The old hand and the new recruit combined to create something that still seems fresh and which, unlike most old Doctor Who, could still be shown to modern audiences and appeal to their sensibility.

The Dalek Masterplan

 

With two further episodes of this story having been recently found and now available to watch on BBC iPlayer, we can get a broader impression of `The Dalek Masterplan` though there is still more than half of it missing. The lengthy gap since any other missing episodes were found raises hopes that it may still not be too late for more from this story to be found. Given the speed with which characters and locales change there’s still a fair amount of significant material we’ve not seem. Nevertheless we now have the first three episode plus part five giving us a large portion of the first half. Let’s be optimistic that some more of the second half might be found to join the only later episode available. Anyway, this does seem an opportune moment to review the episodes we do have, in sequence.

Season 21 - Planet of Fire / The Twin Dilemma

 Planet of Fire

`Planet of Fire` seems to have been somewhat forgotten over the years despite being only the second time the show filmed overseas as well as Turlough’s farewell and Peri’s debut. Yet amidst gemstones like `Revelation, `Frontios` and `Caves` its volcanic landscape cannot really compete when the drama happening within it is comparatively tepid. Its just one of those Doctor Who stories about which few fans have strong feelings about either way. So is that reputation justified?

Season 21- Resurrection of the Daleks

One of the aspects that distinguished the Hinchliffe/ Holmes era was that, however bleak the scenario, lively dialogue, character interaction and some dark humour gave it more depth. Eric Saward seems to have watched that era but perhaps not as closely as a script editor should because while he brings the nihilistic grit, he omits the nuances that made it more palatable. Sometimes this works giving the show an unexpectedly dark thematic palette. Sometimes however it can be too unrelenting. The Daleks were never a barrel of laughs so one expects their stories to skew grimmer than others and `Resurrection of the Daleks` definitely does that.