Terror of the Vervoids

Yes, it looks EXACTLY like that.

‘Terror of the Vervoids’ is a solid enough story with just two, rather significant, drawbacks. Firstly, the design of the Vervoid creatures themselves, especially the face which does indeed look like what many have joked it does over the years, and secondly, the dialogue. For example:

‘Can I have clarification of that extraction, sir?’

‘That is hardly a denial, simply a bromide.’

‘Is the vocabulary of all Time Lords so antideluviant?’

Boonie Langford as Mel.

Pip and Jane Baker’s first story was ‘Mark of the Rani’. It was a period piece, and perhaps that masked some of the dialogue which really in this story appeared geared towards a theatre performance rather than a science fiction television programme. There’s a strange overuse of ‘passive voice’ in this one too. The concept of a ‘murder-mystery in space’ was a solid one, and although this is not as good as ‘Mark of the Rani’, it’s not a bad story by any means.

Colin Baker and Honour Blackman.

Chris Clough takes the reins in his first stint as director. It was a technically very difficult story I think, and many of the video effects – specifically moving the Hyperion III through space, are somewhat poor. For the first episode or two we are thankfully not constantly interrupted by court room scenes thankfully. I find the idea of the defence coming from the Doctor’s future though a bit hard to swallow. You are tried for things you have done in the past. The future, in this case presumably a possibly future, is irrelevant. This is the Doctor’s defence though – that he improves. Again we have the accusations that the matrix is lying, or being deliberately manipulated. Scenes appear different to the Doctor than when he viewed them in preparation.

Michael Craig as Travers.

New companion Mel, played by Bonnie Langford. She seemed ok in this story, a little more positive and pro-active than Peri, no complaining which was nice. I think they should have made this her introductory story though, it would have been nice to get some back story to the companion instead we are presented with a companion that has already been travelling with the Doctor for some time. A good match for Colin.

We have veteran GP actor Michael Craig as Commodore Travers, which is nice. Very strong casting throughout with Honour Blackman as Professor Lasky as Denys Hawthorne as Security Chief Rudge. Some very clever moments when the Doctor does some deducing. Nice twists with the Mogarians hijacking the ship at one point, the Vervoids slowly killing everyone and the reveal of who is responsible in the final episode. It’s well paced and keeps the interest up throughout.

The Vervoids are a mix of good and bad. It’s not exactly clear if they are a mix of plant and human DNA which could account for their humanoid shape. Their faces though apart from the very dubious appearance are also very clearly material-based, making them a bit muppet-like for my liking. And some of the dialogue goes a bit hammy and over the top for my liking.

6.5/10

Mark of the Rani

Pip and Jane Baker contributed this story, with an historical setting set in the Luddite Riots and including George Stevenson, the man who invented the steam train. We see the introduction of a new villain (ess) in the Rani, a Time Lady played by Kate O’Mara, and the return of the Master from what appeared to be certain death in ‘Planet of Fire’.

The story is very solid, and has the feel of a more traditional story than those of recent times. It has its issues and its embarrassing moments – principally in the second episode where Luke Ward is turned into a tree which then saves Peri by moving its dodgy rubber branch from the dame fate – but it is basically a tight and enjoyable tale. Pip and Jane Baker, a husband and wife team, seem to write well for the time its set, no doubt Eric Saward also had a strong hand in parts of the script too.

Anthony Ainley and Kate O'Mara

Having said that, the Master was definitely superfluous to requirements in this one. We do get a great dynamic between Anthony Ainley and Kate O’Mara, that’s for sure. It’s even a little bit humorous at times, but it does prevent the writers from exploring the Rani character further. As a new villain, I as an audience member would have liked to know more about her and see more scenes with her opposite Colin Baker.

Thankfully the Doctor-Peri relationship has cooled down somewhat by this stage, and they clearly care a lot about each other. The use of George Stevenson as a character was well written and realised, thankfully because it was possible that it just would turn out cheesy and pointless. The direction is strong, and the location, in a sort of open-air museum I think, was just perfect. You couldn’t asked for a better place to shoot and hence it all feels very authentic.

The cast help sell that too, it’s solid all the way across and features some pretty special beards too! I really enjoyed seeing the interior of the Rani’s TARDIS, which I thought was well done. What wasn’t well done was the dinosaurs. They were fine when stuck in a jar with some sort of green liquid, but the final scene when the TARDIS is hurtling through time and they fall and grow was, along with the tree-incident, the main effects-failure of the show.

The story features a large amount of location filming, which is what makes the setting so convincing. To be able to use the trolleys and train tracks, and to see the whole town functioning, is the highlight of this story.

7.5/10