This story has a very weird beginning, on a planet with a strange political system and lots of even stranger executions. After that things just kind of run their course with very little soul; there are opposing factions, a megalomaniac leader, amulets and beliefs and it's all mixed into a pretty messy affair. It feels like a leftover from the Jon Pertwee era dropped due to the lifeless characters and stereotypical revolution plot. The plot never gets going, it lacks dramatic tensions and makes little sense. The Borad is defeated halfway through the last episode and the rest of the story is devoted to half-heartedly stop a war and make a pointless reveal about one of the characters.
Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant are fine but none of them seems very comfortable with this story. Most of the guest actors are wooden throughout this serial. It takes away from the overall experience. I can't point out anyone specifically, because everyone's equally bad. That being said, Dean Hollingsworth's android acting is pretty spot-on.
The Doctor is as smug and confident as ever. They make a point about him having visited Karfel before all the time, but don't do very much about it other than mentioning it. The constant continuity mentions make the story quite frustrating to watch times. Sixie isn't very likeable here, even for me.
Peri isn't utilized well at all. She's of no use, shares almost no scenes with the Doctor and spends most of the story being chased, held captive or the like. And once she is finally reunited with the Doctor, he treats her very badly.
The Borad is an okay concept and he looks fantastic - one of the best-designed aliens the classic series has done. Too bad that he's boringly acted and written to not stand out in terms of motive or personality. There also isn't any real menace with anything he says or does, not even once he finally meets the Doctor.
The production isn't on par with the previous stories, with ugly sets and not very exciting incidental music. The Borad is the only successful creation design-wise.
The pacing is slow in the first part, which barely has any action and while it's swifter in the second part, it' still not very good.
There's no tension to this story and even the violence and excitement feels like a second thought. There's no real heart to the action scenes or most of the proceedings, so the atmosphere falls very flat.
This serial is often seen as one of the worst and I can see why. There is nothing here that could or should be remembered fondly, except for the Borad's design.
Another story I won't be watching again.
RANDOM OBSERVATIONS:
The Doctor mentions having visited Karfel before, and Peri reveals it was during his third incarnation since he was travelling with Jo Grant at the time. For some reason, they've painted the Third Doctor's face on the wall.
This story features the biggest amount of horribly acted, agonizing death screams in any Doctor Who story ever. A good example is the Maylin in Part Two.
The Sixth Doctor uses his position as the President of the High Council of Gallifrey to get his voice heard, despite the Fifth Doctor kind of running away from the position in Arc of Infinity (1983).
Review by Theo KallströmVIP 6BlockedParentSpoilers2020-07-10T09:12:07Z
This story has a very weird beginning, on a planet with a strange political system and lots of even stranger executions. After that things just kind of run their course with very little soul; there are opposing factions, a megalomaniac leader, amulets and beliefs and it's all mixed into a pretty messy affair. It feels like a leftover from the Jon Pertwee era dropped due to the lifeless characters and stereotypical revolution plot. The plot never gets going, it lacks dramatic tensions and makes little sense.
The Borad is defeated halfway through the last episode and the rest of the story is devoted to half-heartedly stop a war and make a pointless reveal about one of the characters.
Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant are fine but none of them seems very comfortable with this story.
Most of the guest actors are wooden throughout this serial. It takes away from the overall experience. I can't point out anyone specifically, because everyone's equally bad. That being said, Dean Hollingsworth's android acting is pretty spot-on.
The Doctor is as smug and confident as ever. They make a point about him having visited Karfel before all the time, but don't do very much about it other than mentioning it. The constant continuity mentions make the story quite frustrating to watch times. Sixie isn't very likeable here, even for me.
Peri isn't utilized well at all. She's of no use, shares almost no scenes with the Doctor and spends most of the story being chased, held captive or the like. And once she is finally reunited with the Doctor, he treats her very badly.
The Borad is an okay concept and he looks fantastic - one of the best-designed aliens the classic series has done. Too bad that he's boringly acted and written to not stand out in terms of motive or personality. There also isn't any real menace with anything he says or does, not even once he finally meets the Doctor.
The production isn't on par with the previous stories, with ugly sets and not very exciting incidental music. The Borad is the only successful creation design-wise.
The pacing is slow in the first part, which barely has any action and while it's swifter in the second part, it' still not very good.
There's no tension to this story and even the violence and excitement feels like a second thought. There's no real heart to the action scenes or most of the proceedings, so the atmosphere falls very flat.
This serial is often seen as one of the worst and I can see why. There is nothing here that could or should be remembered fondly, except for the Borad's design.
Another story I won't be watching again.
RANDOM OBSERVATIONS:
The Doctor mentions having visited Karfel before, and Peri reveals it was during his third incarnation since he was travelling with Jo Grant at the time. For some reason, they've painted the Third Doctor's face on the wall.
This story features the biggest amount of horribly acted, agonizing death screams in any Doctor Who story ever. A good example is the Maylin in Part Two.
The Sixth Doctor uses his position as the President of the High Council of Gallifrey to get his voice heard, despite the Fifth Doctor kind of running away from the position in Arc of Infinity (1983).
Score: 29/120