Today we have the end of the Davison days, and the start of the Colin Baker era. I have to say, for the idiots throwing an unwarranted amount of spite on the Chibnall and Whittaker years, you have no idea what a show in crisis looks like, as the Saward era I would mark as Who’s low point. But I get ahead of myself, and trying to stay positive, so let’s begin with what’s easily the highwater mark of the season, and quite possibly eighties Who...
Year 21: 1983 to 1984 - The Caves of Androzani
Who is this to elevate the fortunes of the Davison era towards the end? Why, it’s Robert Holmes to the rescue! I have already made clear that I criticise Saward for a lot, but I will give credit for one good move of his; getting Holmes back in. Peter Davison has said that this was one of his favourite scripts he ever had for the show, and if more had been written and directed like this (more on that direction in a moment), he might have stayed on a bit longer. Makes you wonder how that might have gone, eh? Still, it’s an excellent one to end on, a story that frequently takes the top spot for best serials in the show’s history. In fact, in the most recent Doctor Who Magazine poll, just out the other day, it came in number four, behind Heaven Sent, World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls, and Genesis of the Daleks, and just beating The Day of the Doctor remarkably. I think there are a lot of reasons behind it; from a writing stand-point, Holmes does a great job with a story of petty human greed and revenge that the Doctor and Peri get caught up in. It has that classic Holmes trope of a masked villain skulking in the shadows, but in this case Sharaz Jek is one of the best of that archetype, he’s a fascinating character, not least for the fact that whether he’s the “villain” of the story is arguable. Plus, what an end for the Fifth Doctor, not going out facing some huge universal threat like the previous ones, but in the end giving his life just to save one friend.
Also, we have to talk about Graeme Harper’s direction in here. Television is far more a writer’s medium than a directors one, and in Doctor Who that’s no different, we don’t tend to talk about episode directors nearly as much as we do writers, despite the fact we really should, it’s a team effort after all. Harper is one of the best to work on Who, and interestingly still the only person to have directed episodes of Classic and New Who. (He also did a few episodes of Inside No 9, including The Devil of Christmas and Bernie Clifton's Dressing Room, but I digress.) His style here is unlike anything else in the show at the time, with some great tracking shots, inventive angles, and overall he shoots in a way that really enhances the story. Just watch that cliffhanger above and see what I mean. By all accounts he was very good with actors too, which I can believe given everyone’s performances here. The next season he would do Revelation of the Daleks, and I’d argue that the main reason that’s thought of so well is far less down to the script than down to him, he made that story look incredible. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention excellent uses of Roger Limb’s music, there are some great tracks in here, which I’m actually listening to now whilst writing this.
The point though where all these points come together though is in the very last scene, the regeneration. Firstly, it’s beautifully played by Davison and Nicola Bryant, showing the Doctor fully ready to accept that he might not be able to regenerate out of this one, and Peri genuinely distraught that he gave up his life to save her. Then we get one of the most visually and conceptually fascinating regenerations in the show’s entire run; in terms of pure visuals, I’d argue that, though the CGI ones we’ve had in the new series are fun, the only one that really holds a candle to this aesthetically is Jodie’s up on the cliff. Seeing all the faces of the past is a great touch, a reminder of the whole era, and it’s a nice touch that the one that really seems to make him turn away from the light and regenerate is the Master’s taunting. (Hell, the Master’s cameo here is probably the best moment for Ainley since Logopolis!). And the scene is all tied together with a great track by Roger Limb. It’s an incredible moment… that I wish I had got to see in full from a younger age, as the VHS my mum recorded the 1992 repeat on cut off before it finished. So things go!
Year 22: 1984 to 1985 - “And cut it… now!”
Now I am very critical of the Colin Baker era overall, but let me state right now that all my issues are with the behind the scenes of the time, with the writing, with the mean spirited tone that seems to permeate a lot of Eric Saward’s time on the show. It is nothing to do with Colin Baker himself, he was dealt a really bad hand and tried making the best of it. I’ll be getting into this a bit more when I come to talk about the Big Finish years, but it’s worth mentioning here that with the opening few years of the audios, it was quite common for fans to say that, with the right material to work with and being able to play the part the way he wanted to, Colin rapidly went from one of their least favourite Doctors to one of most favourite. It does make me think that maybe Mark Gatiss, with his idea of a docudrama about this era as an Adventure in Space and Time sequel, might be onto something.
Still, his years did have their odd moments, including this marvellously meta cliffhanger. In this, the Doctor is trapped in the Punishment Dome on the planet Varos, and is falling victim to one of its illusions. This is being broadcast to the people of Varos, so as well as watching the Doctor in danger, we are seeing the people’s reaction to it, and in the control room as it’s all happening. As it happens, they actually start discussing the camera shots of the scene as it happens, the real life direction of the episode and this scene merging together in a weird way. And at the moment it looks like The Doctor’s fully succumbed to it, we get the Governor (Martin Jarvis) just say “And cut it… now!”, and as it happens, the cliffhanger synthesiser sting comes in. The writer of the episode, Philip Martin, had previously written the drama Gangsters, which in its second season didn’t so much break the fourth wall, more maimed it, and this moment feels very much like an echo of that approach. The cherry on the cake being the villain Sil (Nabil Shaban) giving his truly unnerving laugh at the end too. Colin’s era was deeply flawed, but every so often, we got moments that really stand out and stand up.
Next time, we’re looking at how the show tried to hook everyone back after the hiatus, and the start of what might be my favourite era of the show ever…
No comments:
Post a Comment