BOOK OF LISTS: TOP TEN WHO STORIES #3

Well, I thought I would get through all ten of these before the year was over. No such luck! A lot of this was due to some hardware issues I was having with my internet service. But we're back in operation and I can conclude this countdown within the next week or so...

                        
Vengeance On Varos

            
No doubt, my most controversial choice in this whole Top Ten List.   Not only am I claiming that this story deserves to be an all-time favourite, but I'm giving it a ridiculously-high ranking, on top of that!   I mean, if I had put Vengeance On Varos at, perhaps, Nine or Eight in the ranking process - I might have been forgiven.    But to claim it's the third-best Doctor Who story ever?    Sheer blasphemy! 

            
And yet, if we look at what so many fans claim makes Doctor Who great - we can easily see that Vengeance On Varos possesses these qualities in great abundance.   So, bear with me, if you will.    Not only will I praise this story, but I will build a case for it.    For I know what "Popular Fan Consensus" says about this tale and I intend to dispute it with great vehemency!   

            
First off, fans love to talk about how deeply "iconic" good episodes of Doctor Who are.    How the stories that are well-loved have imagery in it that stay with us, forever.   If that is the case, then is there anything more iconic than some of the sequences we find in Vengeance On Varos?  

            
Right in the opening scenes we get Jason Connery strapped to a wall as a camera turns to record him.  He begins a hopeless game of dodgeball with a deadly beam of energy.   Then everything cuts to an image on a TV screen being watched by an enthralled Varosian.    Here is the whole story summarized in just a few, succinct images.   There's not too many opening sequences in television that are quite as effective or iconic.   The fact that some equally-effective iconic imagery is created in its final seconds adds credence to the "Classic" status I am trying to assign, here.   Add to it that there a few more instances of this nature in between these bookends - and we have to start admitting that Vengeance is a pretty damned iconic story.   Whether we like it or not (as a great man once said at the end of his first story)! 

            
Fans also love to go on about how Doctor Who is never afraid to challenge and stretch its own limits.   Even in New Who, we praise a story like Midnight for the way it breaks all the rules.  How it presents to us a direction the show has never gone in before and shakes up all the boundaries that truly define what constitutes a "proper" episode of Doctor Who.    Vengeance on Varos, to me, is the Midnight of 80s Who.   Never has Doctor Who gone to a darker more morbid place than the Punishment Dome on Varos.   Never have we seen such genuinely twisted and bizarre characters.   On top of that, we're not even sure if we have any real confidence in the Doctor throughout most of this story.  Although, in this case, we doubt his effectiveness because he still seems to be having trouble with his recent regeneration.   Which is a far better reason for his lack of competence than the sudden spell of uselessness that seems to come out of the blue with Doctor Ten during Midnight.   It amazes me, actually, that fans don't just completely gobble up the trend-breaking that this story accomplishes.   Instead, they seem to claim that things "go too far" in this tale.    To which I can only reply:  "Isn't this what Doctor Who is supposed to be about: stepping beyond the limitations it imposes upon itself?"   

            
Finally, my third main point in my case For Vengeance On Varos and Against Popular Fan Wisdom is that being a Who fan has always been about loving a great script.   Phillip Martin serves up one of the most solidly-written stories in the entire Series.    Not only does he do some of the best world-building the show has ever accomplished, but he skirts around so many obstacles that other "society-based" tales tend to suffer from.   We learn the ins and outs of Varosian society by simply watching the story rather than having a tonne of expository dialogue forced down our throats.   We enjoy a whole host of diverse characters that are as interesting as the world they inhabit.    They are not merely components of a civilization that is far more fascinating than they are - they are people whose lives we find engaging and want to learn more about.    And, most importantly, Vengeance On Varos not only creates a fascinating social structure for us to unravel - it also remembers to hand us a whole bunch of really great action sequences.    We get a great little thrill ride along with our wonderfully-imaginative and complex society. 

            
Now, just to complete my case for the defense - I shall deal with the objections:   

            
The story is too violent - Yes, yes, I know theatrical spotlight torture is an intensely disturbing image to watch.   As is men in nappies being killed by creepers!    Are you getting the sarcasm, yet, folks?    Most of the violence we complain about in the story is pretty operatic.   Had there been blood and guts spewing out all over the place - I might be more inclined to agree.   But even the fellow in the acid bath is mainly just a guy in torn clothes reaching out of water coloured green with a bit of dry ice in it.    The Death Count in Varos isn't even that high.    Particularly since these were the seasons when Eric Saward loved having full-cast slaughterfests.    In fact, considering the story takes place in a building dedicated to the execution of criminals - the amount of people that actually die in this story is embarrassingly low.    Maybe the Punishment Dome isn't such a terrible place, after all!   Whatever the case, I find this argument that the story is too violent to be ridiculous.    The violence seems to be kept to a bare minimum so that we can actually focus on plots, themes and characters.  

            
The Doctor is not likeable and, therefore, out of character -   It's funny how some fans claim early Sixth Doctor is out of character.    Particularly since these fans often claim to know their Who inside and out.    If they did, would they not remember how the Doctor started?    An irrascible old man who was, at best, an anti-hero.    At worst, he was selfish to the point of being prepared to kill in order to get what he wants (the famous "almost killing the caveman" moment).    All Colin was doing was taking the character back to its roots and building him back up again into the warm-hearted personae he became.   But some folks, regardless of how knowledgeable they claimed to be, didn't really know what they were talking about when they made such a comment.

            
And the third Popular Objection is, basically, a hybrid of the first two:

            
The Doctor is uncharacteristically violent -   There seems to be two sequences that fans point out ad nauseam to support this -

            
1)   The Big Nasty Blue Laser Beam That Kills the Guard -   "Oh look!   Nasty guards are following us.   What shall I do to stop them?" ponders the Doctor.  "I know!   I shall set up a big bright blue laser beam to shoot across the room.   Surely it will be so bright and blue that any old fool will notice it and stop rather than be harmed by it."   And then a dumb guard in a hurry doesn't notice it and dies.   Is this even the Doctor's fault?    Has not the Doctor set things up like this before and not been critized for it?   I seem to recall the Doctor causing equipment to blow up in a scientist's face in The Mutants in order to fascilitate an escape.   That's actually probably a bit more mean-spirited than a big bright blue laser beam that anyone in the world should notice before they walk into it.    Can we really call the Doctor evil and malicious because someone else was dumb and inattentive?   

            
2) The Acid Bath -  A very carefully-choreographed sequence that shows the Doctor fighting to protect himself.   It is a completely defensive battle, too.   At various points, he has an oppurtunity to throw his enemy into the acid bath but merely puts up a barrier to protect himself rather than try to harm his opponent.   It is the first person who accidentally falls into the bath (having been surprised by the Doctor's apparent ressurection rather than any deliberate attempt on the Doctor's part to push him in) that causes the death of the second attendant - not the Doctor. Because, as can clearly be seen, he is fighting a defensive battle.     

Again, many of the fans who site this are long-termers.   Have they forgotten, then, of the Doctor throwing a Horda at a Sevateem tribesman in Face Of Evil?    Or the Doctor running around a moonbase and weather-control station mercilessly slaughtering Ice Warriors and then plunging their fleet into the sun?   Or let's even go into the future and watch the Doctor ruthlessly drown the Rachnos!    All are far more ruthless acts of violence than anything the Doctor gets up to during his visit to Varos.
But wait!   Some will say it's not the fight at the acid bath that makes him uncharacteristically violent - it's the flippant remark he makes afterwards.    That's what makes him evil.    "You'll forgive me if I don't join you." is just so cold and callous.   But go look at those other three violent sequences I just described and note some of the things the Doctor says during them.    He's just as flippant with the Horda.   He's so cold and vicious with the Rachnos that he's actually a bit scary.   And with the Ice Warriors, he seems almost gleeful over their demise.   Personally, I find what he says at the acid bath almost warm-hearted compared to how he's behaving in those other scenarios!   But, you know Popular Fan-Consensus, once It makes up Its mind about something, all the contrary evidence in the world won't get It to review the inconsistency of Its opinion!       

            

Okay, that's out of the way.   Let's move past merely defending the story and actually concentrate on praising it.  Vengeance On Varos, to me, is a work of sheer art.    Everyone is getting it right, here.   Philip Martin serves up a script that is legitimately dark.   A term that is, without a doubt, overly used in the analysis of TV and film - but it really does apply to this tale.   There is nothing happy about the planet of Varos.   Even moments of triumph like the one that occurs at the end when Jondar successfully kills the corrupt leaders of state with some tied off creepers is a pretty morbid sequence.    It's a kill-or-be-killed scenario that makes the action justifiable.   It also neatly cleans up one of the major plot conflicts.   But it's still a merciless slaughtering of a group of men.    And that's what makes me love this story so much.    The writer decided to create a dark story and he sticks to it all the way.  

            
Design sticks to this motif religiously.   The sets are dark.   The costumes are dark.    Even the lighting is dark (a rare feat in 80s television and film - most of the time, lighting technicians loved to turn everything up full blast!).   The actors know to play their characters harsh and gritty - or even grotesque.    Arak and Etta, our two Varosian citizens observing the whole thing, are so twisted and unlikeable that we find ourselves' wondering if they deserve to have their society saved.   And I love that Philip Martin goes there like that with innocent civilian characters.   Usually, they are the ones that get painted purer than pure by a Who writer so that the Doctor can seem all the more heroic when he rescues them from whatever form of oppression is affecting them.   But Martin chooses to manipulate this convention into something far more strange and sinister.   Again, another great example of his commitment to truly write a dark story.

            
While on the subject of our two Varosian viewers, can I just say that their inclusion in the story was utterly brilliant?!    What an absolutely awesome way to provide us with a bit of a Greek Chorus throughout the production.   Another subtle way of world-building without cramming it down our throats, too.    Arak and Etta reveal all kinds of things about Varosian society by simply interacting with each other.    I absolutely adore every one of the scenes they have.    They enhance the story to no great end.   And:  "I like that one!   The one in the funny clothes!" is another all-time favorite line of dialogue.

Wait a minute - have I made it this far into the review without mentioning Sil?! What the hell is wrong with me?!    

Yes, a villain that chooses to financially oppress a culture is not entirely new. But Sil does it with such style and relish that it's difficult to not want to see him again and learn more about his origins (which, thankfully, we get in the equally-bizarre Mindwarp). Much of the credit must go to Nabil Shaban, of course. He truly makes Sil alien. Both with delivery of dialogue and physical behavior. The costume, though it would look better in the sequel, also helps a whole lot. But we must also compliment Martin on the way he wrote the character. The attributes he gives to Sil: his foul temper, his love of others' suffering, his lust for wealth and power - they're all pitched just right so that Sil's personality is as repugnant as his appearance.  Seeing a third appearance of this Thoros Betan in the New Series would be so wonderful.                   

Colin Baker, himself, deserves some heavy praise, too.  He has frequently said in interviews that he enjoyed this story best and this is reflected in his performance.    The Sixth Doctor is firing on all cylinders, here.    Not just through Colin's portrayal but Phillip Martin also seems to have gotten his head around what makes this incarnation of the Doctor tick and has created a script that shows off all of his greatest strengths.   The Sixth Doctor thinks quick on his feet and isn't afraid to bluff when he needs to.    We see him doing this as he first meets Maldek and claims to be the technician who's come to fix the anti-hallucination helmet or the way he feigns interest in Quillam's experiments in order to create a moment of distraction so that Jondar can disarm a guard.    This version of the Doctor is also wonderfully sardonic.   Lines like:  "You're the only one who hasn't tried to kill us!" or "Do you always get the priest parts?" show this off beautifully.   But it is Doctor Six's skills as an orator that are best showed off in this tale.   The Doctor's poignant speech from the hanging gantry is delivered pitch-perfect.    Colin not only does the speech excellently but its placing within the plot is masterful.    Because of one well-spoken speech, the tide of the whole story begins to truly shift.   The Governor sees hope in the Doctor and works towards protecting him.   From there, the fate of Varos changes, too.    And, again, the Doctor is actually bluffing through all this!    But his bluff is so eloquently presented and arranged that the whole story turns on its ear.   This, my friends, is classic story-telling at its best.   And yet, Fandom seems to refuse to acknowledge this.   Instead, they'd rather focus on spotlight beams killing guards that can't look out for themselves' or acid baths that kill off clumsy Torture Dome employees.   It's sad how many people seem to miss the point.  

I know that anyone who reads this review and has already made up their mind about Vengeance On Varos will probably not be swayed by my words.  They will probably even think me quite mad that I've ranked this story as Number Three on my list.   But, in the end, that's quite all right.  I love this story.   And, in the same way that I don't think my opinion will ever change - I don't expect yours to change either.   But I shall, forever, adore those go-kart chases through dark tunnels....     

Sorry if you don't feel the same way.






Previous rankings....


#10 - http://robtymec.blogspot.ca/2015/12/book-of-lists-top-ten-who-stories-10.html

#9 - http://robtymec.blogspot.ca/2015/12/book-of-lists-top-ten-fave-who-stories-9.html

#8 - http://robtymec.blogspot.ca/2015/12/book-of-lists-top-10-fave-who-stories-8.html

#7 - http://robtymec.blogspot.ca/2015/12/book-of-lists-top-ten-who-stories-7.html

#6 - http://robtymec.blogspot.ca/2015/12/book-of-lists-top-ten-who-stories-6.html

#5 - http://robtymec.blogspot.ca/2015/12/book-of-lists-top-ten-who-stories-5.html

#4 - http://robtymec.blogspot.ca/2015/12/book-of-lists-top-ten-who-stories-4.html