Why
does a two part story broadcast 33 years ago leave such a strong impression?
Maybe it’s because while it contains many elements you might expect to
encounter in an Eighties Doctor Who story, `The Awakening` cuts out a lot of
the filler that often extended stories unnecessarily cutting to the essence of
the series. In a lot of ways it’s similar to the series we have now- 50 minutes
of mystery, excitement. It is indeed something very wonderful and strange!
Little was known by fans about Eric Pringle before he wrote it and the story
proved to be his sole contribution to Doctor Who. This always seemed a shame as
he appeared to have found a way to create a well thought out story packed with
interesting characters, an alien with real visual impact and romps along at
quite a rate. I used to think it should have been 3 parts but now I realise it
is perfect as it is.
