DOCTOR WHO: SEASON-BY-SEASON - SPECIAL REVIEW! THE "PAUL McGANN SEASON"!

Paul McGann's time as the Doctor has deeply fascinated me. I have actually written quite a few different entries that specifically covered the notorious Telemovie in 1996 (for once, I'll just post a bunch of links at the end of the entry rather than right here). I see the whole thing as: "Doctor Who that Could Have Been" and have dreamt endlessly of what we might have had if the feature-length backdoor pilot had been picked up as an actual series. 

Sadly, of course, that never happened. Instead, we're left with a single night in 1996 (up against the final episode of Roseanne, no less) where the Doctor briefly came back to life and gave us a bit of hope. And then disappeared as quickly as he had come. 

This whole event creates a bit of a paradox for a hardcore fan such as myself. Where does The Enemy Within actually fit within the whole structure of the series? Do we consider it a sort of Coda to the Sylvester McCoy Era? Or is it a a pre-emptive strike that takes us toward New Who? I spent an entire entry debating this, once. And the honest answer is: Paul McGann is kinda doing his own thing! 

Which means it should get its own separate section in my Season-by-Season Reviews. This is a very unique period in the show's history and ought to have a special entry all its own. But Paul's premiere in 1996 is not enough. I think we should also include his all-too-brief second appearance all those many years later where he ends up regenerating into the War Doctor. Put the two together and you have a nice comprehensive overview of the Paul McGann Era. There's not much to it, of course. But it still merits an entry all its own. So, for the next little while, I'll rant and rave about the scant video evidence that we have of the Eighth Doctor... 

THE TRANSITION

The Paul McGann Era begins in the most curious of manners. It takes the trouble to bring back McCoy at the beginning and let us witness the regeneration (still the best visuals the process has ever received). At the same time, the Master goes through a regeneration of sorts, too. 

The first fifteen minutes of the adventure handles some very heavy transitions in the show's Lore. One incarnation of the Doctor transforms into another while the Master takes over a new body. It's a lot to take in. No doubt, people exploring the show for the first time were probably a little overwhelmed. RTD, himself, points out how he specifically avoided doing something like this on his attempt to bring the show back. Many would even say that trying to link The Enemy Within so strongly to the first 26 seasons of Doctor Who was a huge factor in its failure. They should have started with a fresh brand-new Doctor already fully-formed like they did with Eccleston. 

I do find myself agreeing with RTD's opinion. This was not the best way to bring the show back after it had rested for a good seven years. There would be a lot of people trying the show out for the first time. They would have heard about it but never seen it back when it was on. And would, therefore, be curious. And then there's also the fact that it was being broadcast on a major channel in North America. This would attract even more potential new viewers. Bogging down the first chunk of the story with a bunch of events that link it to its extended and contrived history certainly turned a lot of people off. Even some of my friends who had never seen Who before and wanted to finally give it a try told me how they just gave up on it after about 20 minutes. There was just too much going on that they didn't really understand. 

Having said all that, I still actually adore the beginning of this story. I'm a hardcore fan so I found none of it particularly alienating. But I also just loved how the whole transition was executed. It moves along at a great pace as we watch Seven die and change into a bewildered Eight. At the same time, a gooey Master slowly forms into a cobra and takes over poor Bruce. The way the two sequences are interwoven works beautifully. The first time I watched all this, I was very excited. The Doctor and the Master were clearly getting ready for another big fight. They just needed to shed their previous skins first. 

AMAZING GRACE 

With transitions completed, we get on to the story, proper. 

The Doctor losing his memory is a clever device, of course. As he remembers more and more who he is, he explains the premise of the show to a new audience. This is done quite well. Unfortunately, the uninitiated don't always make it this far and, thus, never get the exposition they needed. But this part of the story is still working fairly well. 

The way the characters are distributed in the plot is, perhaps, a tad off-putting for a long-term fan such as myself. Aside from the Doctor, Grace, Chang-Lee and the Master, all other characters are very incidental. They are only getting two or three scenes, at best and then fade back out of the story. This is not the way supporting cast were used in the Classic Series. So it does throw me off a bit. Even makes the whole adventure seem, perhaps, a bit insubstantial. But, overall, I'm still okay with everything. 

I'm especially happy with Grace. She's interesting and quirky and clearly a very intelligent woman. It's an absolute tragedy that she doesn't leave with the Doctor at the end. It's hoped that, if there had been a series, that the Doctor does something similar to what he did with Rose and pops back almost immediately to scoop Grace up. They would have made a great duo. 

Of course, the super-controversial stuff happens around this time. Two big things occur in the span of a few minutes that had fans doing somersaults from the shock. We learn that the Doctor has been half-human all this time and we've never known it.  And, more significantly, the Doctor actually kisses someone!!!! 

While the half-human reveal is pretty massive, seeing the Doctor kiss was probably still the more brutal of the two. It was just so weird to see a character who had been so avuncular for so long suddenly seem to develop a libido of some sort. Of course, nowadays, it almost seems impossible for the Doctor to stop snogging! But this was big stuff back then. 

"OPEN THE EYE!" 

As Grace and the Doctor make it back to the TARDIS with the chip they needed, things do start to unravel a bit. Not as much as some fans might try to lead you to believe. But the story does still get pretty rough to watch for a while. 

One could almost argue that The Enemy Within is maintaining the "Ambiguous Storytelling" traditions of Seasons Twenty-Five and Twenty-Six. But it would be a pretty big stretch to stand behind such a claim. The truth of the matter is: we need just a bit more of an explanation for what happens during the battle over the Eye of Harmony. I mean, if we're being really nitpicky, we need a bit more of an explanation of what the Eye of Harmony is! Last we heard, it was powering all of Gallifrey. Why is it in the TARDIS now?!   

Naturally, I have my own headcannon for all of this. TARDISes are all linked to the Eye of Harmony as a power source and that's what we're actually seeing in the Cloister Room. It's a portal that takes you directly to the Eye so you can access its energy. Open that portal for too long, and it starts causing all sorts of damage to whatever point in Time and Space the TARDIS is in. You can, however, undo that damage if you re-route the power and complete a Temporal Orbit. When a TARDIS does this, it becomes a very rudimentary Time Manipulator (similar to the one the Rani was trying to create in Time and the Rani). You can, essentially, control a small portion of reality and bend it to your will. But you can only stay in Temporal Orbit for so long. Your TARDIS will, automatically, remove itself from this mode after a period of time. If it doesn't - it will blow up! 

Who actually can manipulate time while a TARDIS is in temporal orbit works in a similar way to who controls  reality when you're in the Matrix. Whoever has been there the longest has the strongest control. Since the Doctor has owned that TARDIS for centuries, he is the Master of the Universe! For the short time that the TARDIS is in temporal orbit, he's God. He uses these circumstances to save the Earth from being destroyed  and resurrects Grace and Chang-Lee. Before he can do anything else, the TARDIS shuts things down and returns to just being a standard time vessel. 

That explanation works for me, at least!  

I do feel, however, that this is one of those situations where I am providing too much headcannon for why the TARDIS can sprinkle pixie dust on people and bring them back to life. We needed more from the actual script. 

"YOUR KISS WAS A FLAME...."     

After a fairly confusing Third Reel, we reach a nice open-ended conclusion. The Doctor is back in what is, easily, the best-looking console room. He's listening, once more, to the Torch Song he had on the record player at the beginning of the story. He resumes reading HG Wells (but has no one to brag to that he's actually met him!). He's ready to go adventuring again...

Clearly, Production is totally teasing things out for a series. And there was a great potential for one. Even if there would have been a fairly strong "American flavor" to the whole proceedings. McGann was brilliant in the role and I do think we could have gotten some very interesting stories over the next few seasons.  The very fact that American writers would have been involved is intriguing. Plots would have flowed a bit differently from what we had gotten before. Which would have taken the show in some cool new directions. And it would have had a great budget! 

It does seem, however, that trying to make Doctor Who  into a hybrid of a British and American TV show was its ultimate undoing. American viewers felt alienated by how British some of it felt. And the English believed the show had sold itself out to the US! This version of Doctor Who couldn't find itself a home, anywhere. And, thus, was never developed. 

But, seriously, what could have been....

"JUST NOT THE DOCTOR YOU WERE EXPECTING...."    

Night of the Doctor is a tricky one to stay objective about. When it came out, it had been over fifteen years since Paul McGann had graced our screens as the Eighth Doctor. Fans seemed to have loved him during his all-too-brief stint (really, is there anyone out there who didn't enjoy his Doctor?!).  Because of this, we were all just a bit aggravated that he'd never gotten a proper regeneration scene. It looked like it was going to be another damned Colin Baker situation. 

But then, Steven Moffat gives us a beautiful gift during the 50th anniversary. A mini-sode is produced in secret and released on Youtube. The fans go mad. Finally, after all this time, we get to see Eight pass the baton to the next incarnation. Who we thought, initially, would be Christopher Eccleston. But things didn't quite go that way! 

But, beyond the excitement of seeing Paul McGann back in the role and getting killed off, is this actually a good piece of entertainment? Admittedly, the mini-sodes that were being made at the time could be quite hit-or-miss. I found a very few of them to be genuinely enjoyable. Most were just, sort of, okay. And some were pretty awful. So, just because we're finally getting something we've always really wanted doesn't mean we're going to be genuinely happy with it once we've settled down. 

"PHYSICIAN, HEAL THYSELF!"    

Fortunately, even after the excitement has dulled, Night of the Doctor is still quite excellent. I'm amazed at just how well the Eighth Doctor is re-created. Both by the script and McGann's performance. In those few short minutes, several of Eight's more prominent traits are put on display. He still possesses his lofty principles and refuses to fight in the Time Wars. He also hasn't lost his wit as he mocks the Sisterhood of Karn and asks for knitting when he's told how much time he has left to live. And then, of course, there's that nice angry yell he can belt out from out of nowhere. He suddenly uses it when he wants to be alone to drink his poisoned chalice.

It's all quite brilliant to watch. And amazing that it gets compressed into about eight minutes!   

It helps that Moffat didn't just give us this purely for fan service. It also relates to an arc he has been building over the last few episodes. Thanks to Night of the Doctor, we now understand where John Hurt's incarnation comes from. I like how Moff used a gap in the Lore's history to his advantage. We finally got to see something we've always wanted and the Road towards Day of the Doctor is now better-paved. That's some very clever multi-tasking! 

"DOCTOR, NO MORE."    

And so, as we see the reflection of a young John Hurt, we realize that the Eighth Doctor Era has come to an end. It was way too short. We should have gotten more. I know, I know, I could go listen to Big Finish. I have actually done that a bit. It's great stuff. But it's just not the same. A handsome fella like Paul McGann should be seen and not just heard. 

This is far from the first time that I've watched Survival, The Enemy Within and Night of the Doctor in rapid succession. Usually when I do this, I decide to be super-chronological and watch Day of the Doctor and then Rose. I focus on the War Doctor during Day and imagine the story mainly from his perspective. If I'm trying to watch the whole series, I'll re-watch the 50th anniversary special again when I reach the appropriate moment in Eleven's timestream. It's super-pedantic, I know. But it is a fun way to view this set of stories. Give it a try sometime if you want!     

For the sake of this particular exercise, however, we'll skip Day of the Doctor and resume watching the show in production order. Night of the Doctor was a bit of a cheat, I'll admit. But skipping to it allows us to, at least, make the Eighth Doctor Era a bit more comprehensive. But now that we've accomplished that, we'll get back to doing things the way they're meant to be. 

Which means, of course, that it's time to embark upon the New Series....

Other entries about Paul McGann:   

A silly way to watch the 96 Telemovie

https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2020/05/complete-and-utter-silliness-if-96.html

Is The Enemy Within New or Classic Who? 

https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2020/01/points-of-debate-96-telemovie-new-or.html

Questioning what the Eye of Harmony is doing in the 96 Telemovie...

https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2019/08/points-of-debate-what-is-up-with-eye-of.html

 

 

DOCTOR WHO: SEASON-BY-SEASON - SEASON TWENTY-SIX

"THERE ARE WORLDS, OUT THERE, WHERE THE SKY IS BURNING...."    

We're here. We've reached the final days of Classic Who. It's all very sad, of course. But, if we're being really honest, it could have been much worse. We could have actually been pleased that the show was ending. That Doctor Who had gotten so bad that it needed to be put down once and for all. That the embarrassment was finally over. 

Instead, we got the exact opposite.  Many of us wept hatedly when Doctor Who went off the air because it was absolutely brilliant at the time. It might have even been at its very best. What an absolute shame it was to see it get chopped off at the knees. Just as it was producing content that was years ahead of its time. It was not just entertaining and engaging television, it was the sort of stuff that left you genuinely impressed by its artistic merit. 

Basically, if you have to end a show - this is the note to go out on....

"....WHERE THE SEA'S ASLEEP AND THE RIVERS DREAM...."

As was the case with Season Twenty-Five, there's a "weak link" in this season, too. In this case, it starts the whole year off. Which, in some ways, is a good place for it. From here, things just get better. 

I call Battlefield the weakest story of the season but it's not because it's genuinely bad. It's more a case of just having to compete with some other material that is so outlandishly excellent that it feels a little lower in quality. But I still enjoy a lot about this adventure. 

It's most significant trait is the fact that this will be the last time we will see Nick Courtney in his most beloved of roles (no, I'm not talking about Brett Vyon!). You can, of course, make the point that he does return in Sarah Jane Adventures but I don't really count the spin-off stuff as canon. So, as far as I'm concerned, this is where the Brigadier makes his last stand.  

It's a damned good one. The Brig gets some great dialogue and does all kinds of wickedly cool stuff. Including, of course, taking out a world-eating demon that was about to consume the Earth. It's an awesome note for the character to go out on. Instead of finishing off his presence on the show as an unlikely math teacher recovering from a nervous breakdown, he saves the world one last time. It's a great final memory to have of the character. It might have even been a good idea to kill him off, here. Which I believe, at one point, had been the intention. 

But there's more to Battlefield than just the Brigadier. 

While shortening the seasons has saddened my heart, it has led to certain advantages. One that we see greatly on display during Battlefield. Prior to the 14-part season, action sequences tended to be a bit of an embarrassment on Doctor Who. A good fight scene requires a lot of time and attention in order to look convincing. Most production teams just didn't have the proper resources to accomplish this, though. Which could be very unfortunate since Doctor Who is an adventure series and, therefore, requires some action now and again to propel the plot along. 

Some of 70s Who was fortunate enough  to have access to some very dedicated stuntmen who did get certain sequences to work quite nicely. But the only other period that really had the resources to put together some great action was this one. Having to get less episodes "in the can" per season now meant they could take their time a bit more and get those fight scenes to work. When you're producing a story called Battlefield there's probably going to be quite a few altercations going on!  Most of them end up looking quite good. Which is nice. Poorly-executed action sequences in a story this dependent on them would have been painful to sit through! 

The other thing that really stands out for me with this tale is how it demonstrates an increasing effort to make the show more timey-whimey (not sure if I spelt that right and there's not really a way to check it!).  An attempt had been made in the previous season but had ended up getting cut out in the final version of Silver Nemesis that went to air. But, this time, making time travel more than just the device that gets the Doctor and companion(s) into the story was far more intrinsic to the plot. I love the idea that the whole story is a sequel to an adventure the Doctor has yet to have. It's just the sort of thing you should see happening in a time traveller's life once in a while. It's all very cleverly structured. I particularly love how one of the main conflicts is solved by just having the future Doctor leave a note for himself! 

It would be nice, of course, to produce some episodes that finally show the current Doctor "going sideways in time" and having adventures in this Arthurian Dimension. Where he assumes the identity of Merlin  and spirits away the King's corpse to our reality. He then leaves a note for himself in the tomb he constructs. But I know it would never happen. It's just far too contrived. We will only ever see this side of the whole plot and that's okay. Cause it's quite brilliant even without ever getting the full picture. 

I mentioned in my last Review how much I enjoy the "Evil Girl Power" of the Seventh Doctor Era. Morgaine is yet another great villainess. But there's one more prominent trait during this phase of the show that Battlefield shows off quite nicely. During this period, Sylvester McCoy is written some of the most amazing speeches that he delivers beautifully. We loved it in Season Twenty-Five when he talks the roof sniper out of using his gun in Happiness Patrol. And it's totally awesome when he, literally, monologues the Black Dalek to death in Remembrance. But his description of a nuclear war that he delivers to Morgaine while trying to abort the launch of a missile might just be the best one of the bunch. It resonates on several levels. While it is mainly an attempt to appeal to the sorceress' sense of honor (so cool that the baddies of the story actually adhere to such a code), it also speaks of the fears all of us were experiencing as we lived under the shadow of the Cold War. It's a really great moment that demonstrates the Doctor's "brains over brawn" philosophy. Rather than coming at Morgaine with some Venusian aikido or something like that, he reasons with her.  And triumphs.   

With all this praise that I'm singing, you might be wondering why I actually consider this story the weak one in the season. I suppose if I were to be super harshly critical, I would say that Battlefield would have probably flowed better as a three-parter. Episode Two does feel like it's got a bit of unnecessary padding to it. It's barely noticeable, but it's there. 

"....CITIES MADE OF SMOKE AND PEOPLE MADE OF SONG ...." 

Next up, of course, is the ever-enigmatic Ghostlight. I spoke in my last Review of the "Ambiguous Story-telling" that starts to proliferate during this period. Well, it doesn't get much more ambiguous than Ghostlight!   

I always say that you can take six Doctor Who fans and put them in separate sound-proof rooms so they can't hear each other. Then ask them to describe the plot to Ghostlight. You will get half-a-dozen different explanations!    

Which is what I love most about this tale. You decide what you think it's about. It's all left so subjective that interpretations will wildly vary. The boldness of creating a story in such a manner on what is meant to be a popular family TV show astounds me to this day. I'm still amazed this script was ever produced. And I don't just mean on Doctor Who. But by anyone! 

Just in case you care: I think Light is a sentient quasi-organic computer created by an ancient civilisation that was already highly-advanced when the Universe was still young. Like the Time Lords, they had begun to stagnate (which is why Light has the attitude that he does). But they still acknowledged that there were parts of the Universe that needed exploring. So they created Light. They gave him a ship and a crew of sorts and sent him off into the cosmos to survey certain corners of it that they had yet to peak into. Light makes it to Prehistoric Earth but has over-extended his resources to get there. So he puts himself and the ship into a sort of standby mode to recharge. Leaving his crew to look after things as he sleeps. From there, of course, complications ensue....

That's my appraisal, of course, but it doesn't need to match yours. Take Ghostlight whichever way you want! 

Some more gorgeous speeches crop up in this one. The Doctor describing the things that he detests is always well-liked. But I really love the end where Seven monologues another opponent to death. The way he drives Light to insanity by noting all the mythical creatures he has failed to document is positively brilliant. Again, another great demonstration of the Time Lord genuinely using his wits to save the day. 

Sylvester is making some strange choices with some of his more serious moments during this season. There's a good demonstration of it during the "I didn't get caught napping!" confrontation that he has with Light. He seems to be almost having difficulty delivering the line with the proper level of intensity. He even seems a tad comical. 

Given that he had no trouble last season doing any of the dramatic stuff, I'm guessing that the execution is intentional. He wants to appear slightly ineffectual in that moment. This does, often, suit the context of the scenes where he performs in such a manner. Even in the scene with Light that I just mentioned, he seems to be flustered. He's trying to put out too many fires at once and it's got him distracted. So he can't quite manage the level of menace he's trying to create. 

Of course, others are prone to saying that Sylvester's acting chops weren't up for the challenge. They feel this all-the-more strongly since McCoy is better known for his comedic roles than dramatic. To such individuals I must, once more, bring up my "if you don't like it in 80s Who then you have to complain about the way it happens in Golden Age Who too!" argument and invite them to watch those final few minutes of Spearhead from Space. Where the silly face Pertwee is making completely ruins any tension the Nestene's tentacle attack on the Doctor was meant to have. They should also investigate several other instances during Seasons Seven and Eight where he resorts to the "gurn" he keeps doing whenever he is meant to be suffering torment. This, to me, is a genuine example of an actor playing the Doctor failing to meet what a scene requires of him. The stuff McCoy briefly does during Season Twenty-Six is far more subjective. He really could be playing the lines that way on purpose rather than failing to deliver them with the gravitas needed of him. Whereas Pertwee is genuinely acting poorly when he gives us his gurn. 

"....SOMEWHERE, THERE'S DANGER. SOMEWHERE, THERE'S INJUSTICE...." 

Curse of Fenric is, pretty much, flawless. I do tend to favor the Director's Cut (or Extended Version or whatever-you-want-to-call-it) which does have an excellent flow to it. The cut-for-time version that ended up being transmitted on television does feel ever-so-slightly choppy. in places. But that's about the only problem I can legitimately find with it. This is yet another story that nearly makes it into my Top Ten (I envision a whole slew of tales that are all tied in Eleventh Place!). 

At this point, the Seventh Doctor is deeply immersed in his role as the Cosmic Chessplayer. His battles, quite frequently, are on a smaller scale. He's freeing the Psychic Circus of the Gods of Ragnarok or dealing with the sense of evil Ace felt when she burnt down an abandoned Victorian mansion in Perivale.. But, occasionally, he has more epic battles. Like the ones that took place during Remembrance of the Daleks and Silver Nemesis. In those, he takes out a major threat to the Universe. Curse of Fenric is another of his great fights. This time, however, there are no Ancient Gallifreyan Superweapons in sight! 

I make this jest but I do appreciate just how differently this plot plays out from his other two epic battles. He doesn't have the Hand of Omega or some Validium to assist him, but he's still deadly powerful. Almost god-like. It took some time to build the character up in such a manner. We had to watch him stumble around for quite a bit during Season Twenty-Four. But now, he really is awesome. This just might be the best interpretation of the role in the whole history of the show. And he shines particularly well in Curse of Fenric. I would have loved so much more of the Doctor like this. Strolling into these seemingly simple situations with deep, complex intentions. Saving worlds with manipulation and deceit. Such a great direction for the character to go in.  

The number of ongoing arcs that run through Fenric make it even more impressive. We are mid-way through the Tutelage of Ace (what's that about? Read here: https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2017/08/analytical-companion-retrospectives-2_31.html)  This time, she must learn to let go of past resentments.. There are some vague hints of the Catmel Masterplan (but then, most hints of this are extremely vague!). But, most significantly, it deals with an arc that's been happening under our noses the whole time without us knowing it. Since the ending of Season Twenty-Four, Fenric has been slowly-but-inexorably drawing the Doctor towards him. Til, at last, they can meet for a final confrontation. Whether this was genuinely being woven into the last two seasons or the writer just used some things that had happened in previous stories to his advantage - who can say for sure? But it's a brilliant moment when Fenric reveals his presence in the Doctor's life over the last little while (and equally cool when the Doctor tells him he's known it the whole time). It shows just how great of a vision Cartmel was creating throughout this era. This is magnifiecent story-telling. Not just for Doctor Who, but television, in general. Lately, TV execs have been getting really good at staying out of the way of the writers and  letting them do some really complex stuff. Particularly with ongoing arcs. But a lot of it still doesn't touch the level of sophistication we see in these last two seasons. And these stories were made over thirty years ago. It's truly gorgeous. 

Curse of Fenric is an absolute triumph. It's got all the great superficial stuff that a good Who story needs. A chilling villain, scary monsters (so cool how faith repels them), the Doctor being clever and heroic, Ace kicking ass, some great concepts at work, etc.... But, just like Maiden's Point, it also has deep undercurrents that are there for us to enjoy if we want to. 

An absolute Classic. 

"...SOMEWHERE ELSE, THE TEA IS GETTING COLD...." 

Rona Munro holds the distinction of being the only writer to have contributed to both New and Classic Who (thus far, at least, maybe they'll eventually let a few more of the surviving Classic Series veterans take a crack). She certainly deserves such an honor since both of her scripts are quite excellent. I'm most impressed by how diverse of an author she is. She tells two stories that are very distinct from each other. You almost can't tell that they're written by the same person.   

It will, of course, be quite some time before we get to Eaters of Light, but we'll definitely discuss the merits of Survival right now!   

Commissioning Rona was a brilliant choice by Andrew Cartmel. At this point, he had built an excellent stable of writers who were producing fantastic scripts (even if some of their work was a little rougher in Season Twenty Four!). Stephen Wyatt, Marc Platt and Ben Aaronovitch (to name a few) were all delivering great material. But Andrew was making sure there was always a bit of "new blood" coming in. It was a great way to ensure that things stayed fresh. Adding Munro to the mix definitely achieved this. She offers us a very different story from what all the other writers were contributing and really changes the tone of the whole season. But, at the same time, it still fits in nicely with everything else that came out that year. 

The core message of Survival is fairly obvious.The basic idea that civilisation cannot prosper on a Survival of the Fittest mentality is illustrated on all sorts of levels throughout the plot. Even the two shopkeepers in Part One complaining about having to work on a Sunday echo the idea. At no point, however, do we feel the moral of the story is hitting us over the head like a hammer.  It's portrayed succinctly but subtly. 

Fans claiming this was Anthony Ainley's best performance as the Master always felt like a bit of a bank-handed compliment to me. It implies that this is the way he should have been playing the part the whole time and that he only figured it out after several years. For the most part, I liked the way Ainley chewed up the scenery during his reign. Playing the role in a more subdued manner was probably done to convey that the Master was being affected by the Planet of the Cheetah People. The scene in Part Three where he is trying to keep himself under control as he stares into the mirror always struck me as being really intense and well-executed. He also makes a wickedly savage expression whenever he bares those fangs! 

All in all, Ainley is great here. But I prefer to think he's always been great. 

The popular complaint about the Cheetah People does confound me a bit. Lots of folks say they look too much like Puss in Boots. An anthropomorphic cat wearing clothes certainly has that connotation. But I'd hardly say they look exactly like the popular children's character. This isn't another Bertie Bassett situation! I'd even go so far to say that they're really great costumes. Even under modern-day scrutiny, these look like humanoid cat creatures rather than the "artistes in unconvincing costumes" scenarios that we got for most of the show's run! 

Aside from looking good, the Cheetah People are also convincingly-written. Just like actual cats, they love to toy with their prey. So you're less likely to get attacked if you don't make any sudden moves. And if you do try to run from them, you're definitely dead. Clearly, Rona knew how felines work! 

I also like the whole concept of how the planet can, literally, infect you and change your physiology. It's particularly cool how committing acts of violence seems to accelerate the process. It's all very cleverly done. Which shows us the author isn't just trying to get up on a soapbox. She's also done some excellent world-building. 

The motorcycle collision is not the easiest sequence to deal with. The actual explosion looked quite good. It's the aftermath that's a bit hard to swallow.  Midge dies with a bit of soot on his face and the Doctor lands on a conveniently-placed old couch that is a ridiculous distance away from where the bikes hit each other. It's largely unconvincing. 

This is, however, the only shortcoming to the story. Otherwise, Survival is as brilliant as the rest of the season. And, as I said, Munro gives things a very different flavor from what the Boys' Club was writing at the time! 

"...COME ON, ACE. WE'VE GOT WORK TO DO!" 

And, just like that, Doctor Who is done. No grand final adventure. No huge upset in the Doctor's life. No Daleks, Cybermen, the Master, the Sontarans and the Ice Warriors uniting in some epic battle to defeat him once and for all (although I have just vaguely described Power of the Doctor!). Just the Doctor and Ace walking into the sunset with a nice monologue in voiceover. 

And yet, it works quite nicely. 

Doctor Who may have died. But it did it with dignity. Its last two years were some of the best. In fact, I'll take Seasons Twenty-Five and Twenty-Six over so much else the show produced. I know folks go on endlessly about stuff like Pyramids of Mars or Genesis of the Daleks and the stories that surround them. But I look at such tales and just see a plot about an Osiran god being provided by his goalers with the means of escape from his own prison and a six parter that, if you take out all the captures-and-escapes, is only about two (that also has a cliffhanger as bad as the first episode of Dragonfire)! Whereas when I look at the fruits of Carmel's labor in his final two runs, I see a tonne of amazing material with only a small handful of legitimate missteps . It's a pity that Who gets cancelled, of course. Especially since Season Twenty-Seven sounded like it was going to be more magnificence. But I'm glad I could, at least, be proud of how glorious the show was during its final days. 

And, of course, it wasn't really gone. It would try to come back in 1996 and give us just a little bit more Sylvester McCoy. And then it would return properly in 2005. Many would note just how heavily-influenced it would be by these final two seasons. The Doctor would continue to be a fairly sneaky and ruthless bastard. Just as he had started being in his seventh incarnation. And a tremendous amount of attention would go towards developing the companion. The same level of attention Ace was getting. This, more than anything, shows how good Doctor Who was during this time. It has left indelible marks on the show that all future seasons pay their respects to. 

So I'm glad we get such a simple ending to Survival. The implication that's made is that the Doctor and Ace will continue their adventures without us. And that, more than likely, the Time Lord will lose his current companion and go on to find others. Just as he's always done. Which is exactly what will happen. It takes quite a while for us to properly re-join the Doctor on his travels, but we are given some of the best final memories of him before we get to see him again.