Episode 112: State of Decay.
Companions: 4th Doctor, Adric, K9 and Romana.
Air Date: 22nd November to 13th December 1980.
The Doctor, Romana, K9 and Adric - an Outler from Alzarius who has stowed away aboard the TARDIS - arrive on a planet where the native villagers live in fear of 'the Wasting' and of three Lords named Zargo, Camilla and Aukon who rule from an imposing Tower. The Lords are soon revealed to be vampire servants of the last of the Great Vampires, a race referred to in Time Lord mythology.
State of Decay brings back to the excellent horror stories that were the most memorable adventures of the 4th Doctor. This stories deals with vampires. Vampires so terrible that the ancient Time Lords under Rassilon fought a war against them to eradicate them from the universe. We learn that all but one were slain by "bow ships" and that last one vanished. We now know it arrived in E Space drawing an Earth vessel through with it.
The story is really no different than most vampire stories in science fiction where the ruling monsters keep the human population uneducated and superstitious so that they are easier to rule and intimidate through fear. What makes the story work so well is both the excellent way the story is plotted out, the camp-ish acting from the vampire rulers, and the excellent early Romanesque set designs (not rococo like the Doctor thinks it is). State of Decay is a story where everything works well and fits into place perfectly.
Adric is taken in by the Doctor and Romana despite stowing away. For his supposed intelligence he does seem a bit thick in this story though. Maybe he has never heard of vampires if there aren't any in E Space or maybe the writer tried to make him more independent that previous companions. It is the only thing that doesn't sit well with the rest of the story.
State of Decay is another excellent adventure that I recommend.
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