The story slowly builds up a mystery, cutting between two seemingly unrelated events and throwing in loads of confusing detailing. The first half keeps dragging out the mystery to the point of exhaustion. The Amsterdam parts, in particular, seem to not move toward at all, while the Gallifrey parts move towards a very predictable reveal. The central mystery isn't very engaging and the menace of Omega doesn't feel very real. Things are fairly well tied together in the final episode, however.
Peter Davison and Sarah Sutton make for a good TARDIS team. The Gallifreyans are all pretty bland, except for Borusa and Hedin. It's strange to see Colin Baker, who will be playing the Doctor merely one year after this story was broadcast, playing Commander Maxil. He's pretty much as much a prick here as he is as the Doctor.
The Doctor once again has to prove himself innocent once death comes to Gallifrey. He seems more rash and energetic here, which might be due to him realizing what is going on before anybody else.
Happy to see Nyssa remain with the Doctor since she stands out when she is alone. This is not her best story, but at least she's allowed to gain her place in the spotlight. Tegan returns of course, but her part in the story remains somewhat superfluous, other than once again going through some rough stuff.
Omega is an interesting, albeit slightly too perfect, Time Lord villain. When played by Ian Collier, he becomes slightly more believable than when Stephen Throne portrayed him.
There are some bizarre visual effects in this story, and they work pretty well (except for the Matrix effect in Part Three). Also the first dramatic use of slow-motion since that unforgettable cliffhanger to Part Nine of The War Games (1969). Part Two is also strangely over-saturated.
Despite being a Gallifrey invasion story-line, featuring one of the more pompous Doctor Who villains, this story is surprisingly slow and devoid of true variation in pace. The final episode flows pretty nicely though.
There's a lack of excitement, tension and creepiness, that defined some of the better stories from Davison's debut season. A story set on Gallifrey could be epic and exciting, but here the threat is underplayed by the mostly superfluous scenes in Amsterdam and the rather bluntly handled reveal of the villain. That being said, the last episode is both interesting and pretty exciting. That's one of my favourite single episodes of the Davison era.
This story brought back the Time Lords and Gallifrey repeated the gimmick of having a villain look like the Doctor and brought back Tegan directly after writing her out. Make of that what you will.
Despite some good moments and several familiar elements from the series' history, this adventure just isn't interesting enough to warrant any replays anytime soon.
RANDOM OBSERVATIONS:
Gallifrey yet again looks different, as do the people inhabiting the planet. They never seem to settle on one style, do they? That being said, it's great to finally see a female Time Lord in a high position.
Omega returns here, having previously appeared in The Three Doctors (1972-1973). He isn't played by Stephen Thorne this time around, however.
Several Gallifreyans are played by returning actors among them Michael Gough (The Celestial Toymaker, 1966).
The last time the Doctor entered the Matrix was during The Deadly Assassin, and will so so again a few times in his future.
The Doctor is pitted against a villain who looks like himself like he did in The Massacre (1966), The Enemy of the World (1968) and Meglos (1980).
Why Omega looks so vastly different from his previous appearance, I don't know. Has he regenerated?
Why is the Doctor so disappointed by having Tegan back onboard? Is it because she complains so much? Honestly, she was already much better here!
Review by Theo KallströmVIP 6BlockedParentSpoilers2020-07-07T13:13:00Z
The story slowly builds up a mystery, cutting between two seemingly unrelated events and throwing in loads of confusing detailing. The first half keeps dragging out the mystery to the point of exhaustion. The Amsterdam parts, in particular, seem to not move toward at all, while the Gallifrey parts move towards a very predictable reveal. The central mystery isn't very engaging and the menace of Omega doesn't feel very real. Things are fairly well tied together in the final episode, however.
Peter Davison and Sarah Sutton make for a good TARDIS team. The Gallifreyans are all pretty bland, except for Borusa and Hedin. It's strange to see Colin Baker, who will be playing the Doctor merely one year after this story was broadcast, playing Commander Maxil. He's pretty much as much a prick here as he is as the Doctor.
The Doctor once again has to prove himself innocent once death comes to Gallifrey. He seems more rash and energetic here, which might be due to him realizing what is going on before anybody else.
Happy to see Nyssa remain with the Doctor since she stands out when she is alone. This is not her best story, but at least she's allowed to gain her place in the spotlight. Tegan returns of course, but her part in the story remains somewhat superfluous, other than once again going through some rough stuff.
Omega is an interesting, albeit slightly too perfect, Time Lord villain. When played by Ian Collier, he becomes slightly more believable than when Stephen Throne portrayed him.
There are some bizarre visual effects in this story, and they work pretty well (except for the Matrix effect in Part Three). Also the first dramatic use of slow-motion since that unforgettable cliffhanger to Part Nine of The War Games (1969). Part Two is also strangely over-saturated.
Despite being a Gallifrey invasion story-line, featuring one of the more pompous Doctor Who villains, this story is surprisingly slow and devoid of true variation in pace. The final episode flows pretty nicely though.
There's a lack of excitement, tension and creepiness, that defined some of the better stories from Davison's debut season. A story set on Gallifrey could be epic and exciting, but here the threat is underplayed by the mostly superfluous scenes in Amsterdam and the rather bluntly handled reveal of the villain. That being said, the last episode is both interesting and pretty exciting. That's one of my favourite single episodes of the Davison era.
This story brought back the Time Lords and Gallifrey repeated the gimmick of having a villain look like the Doctor and brought back Tegan directly after writing her out. Make of that what you will.
Despite some good moments and several familiar elements from the series' history, this adventure just isn't interesting enough to warrant any replays anytime soon.
RANDOM OBSERVATIONS:
Gallifrey yet again looks different, as do the people inhabiting the planet. They never seem to settle on one style, do they? That being said, it's great to finally see a female Time Lord in a high position.
Omega returns here, having previously appeared in The Three Doctors (1972-1973). He isn't played by Stephen Thorne this time around, however.
Several Gallifreyans are played by returning actors among them Michael Gough (The Celestial Toymaker, 1966).
The last time the Doctor entered the Matrix was during The Deadly Assassin, and will so so again a few times in his future.
The Doctor is pitted against a villain who looks like himself like he did in The Massacre (1966), The Enemy of the World (1968) and Meglos (1980).
Why Omega looks so vastly different from his previous appearance, I don't know. Has he regenerated?
Why is the Doctor so disappointed by having Tegan back onboard? Is it because she complains so much? Honestly, she was already much better here!
Score: 55/120