Episode #127 : Enlightenment

"You are a Time Lord, a lord of time. Are there lords in such a small domain?"

Episode 127:          Enlightenment.
Companions:         5th Doctor, Tegan, and Turlough.
Air Date:               1st to 9th March 1983.

The White Guardian warns of impending danger and directs the TARDIS to what appears to be an Edwardian sailing yacht, the SS Shadow, but is actually one of a number of spaceships taking part in a race through the solar system, the prize being Enlightenment. The yacht's Captain Striker and his fellow officers are Eternals who feed off the thoughts and emotions of their kidnapped human crew - Ephemerals - in order to fill their own empty existences.

Enlightenment is a very strange story, almost surreal in fact. I can remember a lot of very similar weirdness coming out of the 1970's British science fiction so it isn't out of place. However, sailing vessels from Earth's history racing around Earth's solar system crewed by drugged/mind controlled sailors and commanded by beings from outside our space time continuum doesn't quite fit in with the Whoniverse we know of, but then in other ways it is the sort of thing I can see fitting in well with the 1st Doctor's adventures. This strangeness doesn't spoil the story but if it seems out of place you might not enjoy as much as you could do.

The Black Guardian is defeated this time though for how long we don't know. The White Guardian makes a reference to the Doctor having a third encounter but so far it has not happened on screen. It would be a nice idea to bring that into the current incarnation of the show. As it stands though watching my way through the classic show again, I'm glad that we won't see him, as just three adventures back to back and I'm bored of the villain already.

At the end of the story the Guardian is defeated and Turlough's activities are revealed though the Doctor seems to forgive him and he joins the crew as a proper companion. One thing we don't get often enough are male companions for the Doctor and even though Turlough does seem a whiny coward a lot of the time, it is nice to see a non-female companion.

"Be vigilant, Doctor. Once you denied him the Key to Time, now you have thwarted him again. He will be waiting for the third encounter, and his power does not diminish.... While I exist, he exists also... until we are no longer needed."

Episode #100 : The Stones of Blood

"If they should break through, run as if something very nasty were after you,

because something very nasty will be after you."

Episode 100:  The Stones of Blood.
Companions:  4th Doctor, K9 and Romana.
Air Date:         Four episodes. 28th October to the 18th November 1978.

The Doctor, Romana and K9 are led by the tracer to the Nine Travellers, a circle of standing stones on Boscombe Moor in present-day England, but the third segment is nowhere to be found. They meet elderly archaeologist Professor Emilia Rumford and her assistant Vivien Fay, who are surveying the site, and learn that the circle appears to have had a variable number of stones over the years.

With this adventure we have a rather unusual story. The first half of the story has a strong 70's Hammer Horror feel to it with a dark druidic cult, blood-drinking stone creatures and some good atmospheric set pieces. The second half however goes full science fiction with a prison ship stuck in hyperspace, alien justice machines and a one sided court of law. It doesn't spoil the story but does give it an unusual twist half way through.

There are some obvious influences to this story most notably being Celtic mythology. Unlike The Daemons though, where someone did their research to give the Old Ways a sense of realism, The Stones of Blood goes very 70's horror and just uses it to have an "evil" druidic circle worshipping a dark and evil goddess. It works for well for what it is in the context though.

It is the second half of the story which I feel lets it down slightly. The shift to hyperspace and then the kangaroo court with bobbing motes of light while the Doctor tries to save his own live but also implicate the villain doesn't work as well as the first half.

The Stones of Blood is still a well written and made story. It is quite possibly the highlight of the Key to Time story arc.

Episode #98 : The Ribos Operation

"Ground rules. Rule one: Always do what I say. Rule two: Stay close to me, and rule three: Let me do all the talking. Do I make that perfectly clear?"

Episode 98:   The Ribos Operation.
Companions: 4th Doctor, K9 and Romana.
Air Date:       Four episodes. 2nd to 23rd September 1978.

The White Guardian gives the Doctor a quest to find the six disguised segments of the Key to Time which, when assembled, will be used to restore the balance of the cosmos. To aid him he is given a new companion, a female Time Lord called Romana, and a tracer device. He tracks the first segment to the city of Shur on the planet Ribos. There con men Garron and Unstoffe are engaged in a scam to sell the entire planet to the Graff Vynda-K, deposed ruler of Levithia. The Graff has been tricked into believing that Ribos is a rich source of jethrik, a rare mineral vital for achieving space warp drive.

The series returns with a new season long plot arc and a new companion, Romana. I never used to enjoy these stories but when you watch them as I have recently you realise that they are much better than first thought and gives the show a more traditional direction in having a story arc.

The storyline starts with The Ribos Operation. Coerced into this task by the White Guardian of Time, the Doctor is joined by a new companion Romana. Romana is easily a match for the Doctor in intellect and the sense of irritation that the two have with one another gives us a whole different layer to the character of the Doctor. As a companion I really like Romana and her appearance enhances the show for me.

I do have a question about this story, and it crops up again before and after. Why do so many worlds out there resemble Earth's medieval period. Ribos looks like it is in that transitory period between the middle ages and the renaissance. Even the soldiers of the Graff Vynda-K look like medieval knights, though not explained could have been a disguise knowing they were coming to a more primitive backward world.

The story flows at a nice pace and being just four 25 minute episodes works so well. It feels like two modern stories which I find just right. It is almost as if having the summer break has given the writers of these stories some much needed downtime to come up with a well written and presented adventure. This story is almost what I expect from Doctor Who now. Although the story itself isn't fantastic it does a grand job of setting up the Key to Time arc.