Episode #145 : Terror of the Vervoids

"This is a situation that requires tact and finesse. Fortunately, I am blessed with both."

Episode 145:   Terror of the Vervoids.
Companions:   6th Doctor and Mel.
Air Date:        1st to 22nd November 1986.

In a desperate bid to clear his name, the Doctor presents his defence to the charges laid against him. In the year 2986, the starliner Hyperion III makes its way to Earth... but all is not well. The Doctor and Mel arrive in response to a distress call, although not in time to prevent a murder. And this will not be the only death: someone aboard will kill again and again to protect their secret. And while the murderer closes in above decks, in the Hydroponic Centre a terrifying new breed of creature is about to awaken.

By far the best of the adventures in the Trial of a Time Lord story arc. We are introduced to a new companion, Melanie Bush (Mel), who we never see the Doctor actually meet because this is all out of temporal order. Unfortunately Mel is a fairly terrible companion. Played by Bonnie Langford, famous for her stage and dance work, is so well out of her depth here and it shows. She just isn't companion material and it shows. She does her best to be fair, but it isn't good enough.

The story has plot holes that the canny observer may spot. If the Vervoids are genetically created life forms made to replace robots, why would you give them a poisonous sting? Or give them human intelligence for that matter? I can't fault their appearance though which I don't find laughable at all, even if they are the week's "man in a monster suit." I think they look pretty good for what they are.

In this story the courtroom scenes are a little unnecessary as the adventure on the Hyperion III is far more interesting. Bouncing back to the court starts to get irritating by this point. I'd rather focus on the story in front of me to be honest.

Episode #63 : The Mutants

"Grey cities linked by grey highways across a grey desert. Slag, ash

and clinker - the fruits of technology."

Episode 63:   The Mutants.
Companions: The 3rd Doctor and Jo Grant.
Air Date:        Six episodes. 8th April to 13th May 1972.

The Time Lords send the Doctor and Jo on a mission to deliver a sealed message pod to an unknown party aboard a Skybase orbiting the planet Solos in the 30th century. They are caught quickly in a power struggle between the cruel Marshal of Solos and the young Solonian Ky over the future of Solos - a future that hinges on the contents of the message.

The Mutants is a tale based upon an issue at the time in South Africa, apartheid. In this tale, the human "Overlords" from Earth have segregated themselves from the local primitive Solonians, and mining their planet for precious minerals needed back on Earth. When the Solonians begin to transform (a natural survival mechanism exacerbated by the mining pollution), the Overlords consider them diseased and shot on sight, or hunted down, uncaring as to why they are mutating.

The story as a whole isn't too bad though the pacing could be better in places. The story works well and the effects are very much the classic style that I grew up with. giving me good memories of my childhood viewing. The look of the mutant costume (above) is rather good especially when you see them in dim light in the caves of Solos. Sometimes I really do miss these old costume designs and special effects.

The villain of the story, the Marshall, is a megalomaniac madman who has worked for years to achieve everything he has on Solos, and cannot grasp of the Earth government giving the planet back to the primitive Solonians. All of which plays in even further to the apartheid overtones of the story.