POINTS OF CRITERIA: THE MORE SUBJECTIVE STUFF
Blah Blah Blah ... I was being a bit more objective .... Blah Blah Blah .... now I'm being more opinionated .... Blah Blah
(Blah Blah .... link here if you don't know the Points of Criteria: https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2022/03/review-overview-which-is-best-umbrella.html ....Blah)
5. The Actual Central Premise
When I covered this category in my Key to Time review, I emphasised how a Quest to bring together parts of an object to create some Great Totem of Power is hardly original. I even pointed out how it had been done in the show before.
I suppose I could say something similar about Trial of a Time Lord. Doctor Who is no stranger to courtroom drama. Keys of Marinus, the story that I claim Key to Time does a slight re-tread of, goes into an extended court scene for a bit. The Doctor also gets put on trial on a fairly regular basis throughout the course of the show. Key to Time even does this to him during Stones of Blood. Being tried by his own people is also highly commonplace. We see that happening in The War Games and Deadly Assassin and there seems to be a third trial being described in Frontier In Space.
What makes Trial of a Time Lord original is that the whole story is set in court. Whereas these other examples I gave only happen for a portion of the adventure. Making the entire tale about a trial brings out all kinds nuances that we wouldn't see when it's only in a part of the plot. A movie like 12 Angry Men that is a pure courtroom drama is a very different kind of film than, say, Mrs. Doubtfire which shows Robin Williams' character in a courtroom now and again.
So I don't feel Trial of a Time Lord is something that has been overdone in the show. For the most part, it's something quite new and different. It was an interesting way to look at how the Doctor's travels through Time and Space can truly impact things. I also quite like how it was echoing what was actually happening in the show. The undertones of those first few lines between the Valeyard and the Doctor in Part 1 are particularly poignant.
All in all, I enjoy the central conceit of this Umbrella Season and am quite glad that it was pursued at such great length. It all works quite nicely for me.
6. The Quality of the Stories
The Mysterious Planet
Most of what I needed to say about this story was already covered when I was discussing how it works as a Foundation. As I stated before, it starts the whole season off on a very strong foot and presents some interesting mysteries that won't be solved til much later. Since I've still got a few paragraphs to fill, though, I will bring up some subtler points.
Mysterious Planet does show the beginning of a progression Colin wanted to create within the character. His Doctor has softened considerably since Season 22 but still remains a bit spiky. Which works well. To make him a totally different man overnight would have been a bit unrealistic. But it is nice seeing him strolling arm-in-arm with Peri at the beginning of the adventure. I do really enjoy it when an arc is built into an incarnation's personality rather than just making him more-or-less the same in every story.
This is also the story that introduces Glitz. A great character who totally merited his three appearances on the show. In fact, it would have been great to see him come back in New Who. Perhaps one of his dodgy schemes finally made him the fortune he yearned for and he now runs a small empire. Or perhaps he's still trying to make it big. Either way, I would have loved to have seen him return. Sadly, Tony Selby is no longer with us.
And, of course, if you were paying careful attention to my entry about The Key to Time, you will have also noticed that Glitz and Dibber are my all-time favorite Holmsian Double Act. The two of them do work great together, here. I like that they aren't just a pair of harmless scoundrels. They represent a serious threat and can be genuinely cruel. It gives them a nice edge.
There are also those really nice speeches that Sixie delivers to Drathro in the final part about the value of human life. I'm amazed those monologues never get talked about. To me, they're up there with Twelve's moment in his Zygon story. It's some really powerful stuff. Even if it doesn't get Drathro to change his mind!
All in all, a good solid story that starts off the saga nicely.
Mindwarp
Easily, one of the strangest stories in the history of the show. Mindwarp veers in all sorts of odd directions. To the point where it's impossible to pinpoint what sort of story it's actually meant to be. It certainly wants to satirize some things like corporate greed and warmongering. But it also really plays up the courtroom element of the Umbrella Season. At times, it even seems to be a medical drama!
But its weirdness is what makes the story so wonderful. Mindwarp can't make up its mind what it is and doesn't need to. It just does whatever the Hell it wants and I love it for that. Philip Martin's first script for the show was absolute brilliance. This one actually comes pretty close to matching it. It really does its own thing and doesn't care about the fact that it can't be pigeonholed.
Bringing Sil back and showing us where he came from was a particularly nice gesture on Martin's part. Like Glitz, this is another excellent recurring character who I would love to see updated in the New Series. This is one of the great hallmarks of 80s Who. It really did have some great villains that deserved to come back again and again. Sil is definitely up there as one of the best.
Having said that, there's some great one-time-only characters in this story, too. Crozier is a great mad scientist. It was also wonderful to see that Sil had a boss who was even nastier than he was. But King Ycranos is truly the best of them all. Brian Blessed attacks the role with his usual vivacity and gives us a great time watching him. All in all, this is a great guest cast.
There are some bones of contention that some of Fandom have about this story. Some people seem upset by the fact that we are never actually shown what truly happened in the scenes that were falsified by the Matrix. I'm not sure why this is so important to them. I'm happy to just have it left to the imagination. Mindwarp also has a tonne of courtroom interruptions. Which, as has been mentioned, was something that bothered certain fans greatly. But I absolutely love how much of a role the trial has to play in this section of season. We really get a sense that the Doctor just might lose his case. And that really ups the stakes of the whole season-long arc. The stories on the screen should not be the only dramatic intensity that we're getting.
Given that I can't even agree with the fan objections, you can safely guess that I have a lot of fondness for the second tale of the season. I'll still love Vengeance on Varos better, but this is a pretty damned good sequel.
Terror of the Vervoids
I have an interesting history with the reviewing of this story. A publishing company had been reading some of the stuff I'd been posting about Doctor Who and had invited me to participate in an anthology they were making. They, basically, assigned me a story to review from the Classic Series. The tale I got was Terror of the Vervoids.
While I'd love to be lazy and just cut-and-paste in the review, here. I'll try, instead, to summarise what I wrote.
Vervoids is, admittedly, my least favorite story of the season. Which is not to say that it's bad. It's just got some pretty stiff competition. While all the other stories have almost no real flaws to them, there is one fundamental issue that I have with this particular adventure:
There's just too much going on in it.
We've got spies and murderers and killer plants and hijackers. And a Black Hole thrown in just for fun! Some of these plot points, at least, relate to each other. The spy is on board the Hyperion to catch the hijackers. And the murderer is killing people to protect his claim on the Vervoids. But it's still too much stuff happening on just one spaceship. Which does stretch the credulity of things, slightly.
It's hardly the worst of sins, though. One of my biggest grumbles about The Key to Time (and a lot of other 70s Who tales) is that there is often not enough plot to fill the episode count. So doing the exact opposite is, at the very least, a bit of a treat. This does seem to be a problem with some other stories from the 80s. Resurrection of the Daleks and Attack of the Cybermen are two other stories of this nature that immediately come to mind. But having more than you need shows that the writers were trying to do their job properly. Rather than just being lazy and coming up with filler.
Aside from this problem, though, there's a lot to enjoy about Terror of the Vervoids. Some folks seem to like to pick on Pip and Jane Baker. But I always thought they were very competent writers. They don't quite fit in with the vision Andrew Cartmel will have for the show when he comes onboard as script editor next season. But, in this era, they do quite well.
The Ultimate Foe
The shortness of the Colin Baker Era makes it easy to classify. Most fans will tell you that Twin Dilemma and Timelash are the "duds" of his period (although neither is as bad as they say!). On the other end of the spectrum, Vengeance on Varos and Revelation of the Daleks are considered Classics. The other seven stories from his two seasons are, generally, seen as "mid-rangers".
I would suggest Ultimate Foe be re-assigned. Personally, I think it belongs up there with Varos and Revelation.
It's the twists in the plot that I think are its most magnificent trait. The Master suddenly appearing out of nowhere on the Matrix screen and giving away two gigantic Reveals in the first few minutes of Episode 13 has already completely won me over. Even at this point, this story is already awesome. The fact that we then get one of the best speeches the Doctor has ever given just affirms my sentiments about the whole thing. All those courtroom interruptions have led up to this moment and the ultimate payoff is glorious.
Suddenly shifting all the action to the Matrix takes the whole tale in a great new direction. Yes, this could have just turned into a re-tread of Part 3 of Deadly Assassin. But the surreal quality of this virtual reality is portrayed in a whole new way that keeps it fresh and interesting. Mister Popplewick is particularly fun and bizarre as he puts the Doctor through the paperwork he must process to meet his demise. It's all so brilliantly morbid.
Episode 14 continues to deliver wild changes in direction. The power struggle developing between the Master and the Valeyard is great fun. The Master tries desperately to gain the upper hand over his greatest adversary. Realising, all-too-late, that his every move has been anticipated and countered. As is often the case when he's fighting the actual Doctor rather than the shadow of his darker self.
Glitz, of course, adds a whole extra dimension to the battle. It's great fun as he switches alliances whenever it suits him. His involvement in the whole conflict really propels it into something truly fantastic. We especially love it when the Master fails to hypnotise him!
It is, of course, a screaming shame that the Valeyard and the Doctor never fight again (even though a potential return was heavily teased in the final scene). Those brief few minutes when the fight really is down to just the two of them is a remarkably nice piece of drama. It's like a twisted version of a multi-incarnation encounter. The Doctor is not getting along with himself - but in a much deeper way than we've ever seen before. It's a magnificent sequence that shows off what the Sixth Doctor does best: putting baddies in their place.
There's just so much going on here that I adore to death. I'm even quite happy with Mel in this story and glad to see her and the Doctor riding off into the sunset as the Doctor speaks his most anti-climactic of final lines (and yet, how can we not love: "Carrot juice! Carrot juice! Carrot juice!"). Some fans were not happy that Peri was given a happy ending, after all (including Nicola Bryant, herself) - but I even find this pleasing.
Anything I don't like? The Doctor being sentenced to execution and suddenly being led in a horse and wagon by Gallifreyan guards doesn't exactly make the most of sense. But it's still a pretty awesome image!
FINAL VERDICT?
As mentioned previously, my final sentiments about this Umbrella Season will be voiced in a special entry that will pit Key to Time, Trial of a Time Lord and Flux against each other. I will not only express my general sentiment about each saga, but I will rank them from worst to best.
I think it's fairly evident, though, that I am very happy with what Trial of a Time Lord gave us. It's just sad that the show was up against such huge opposition when Season 23 first came out. It took a long time for people to really start appreciating this one. Sadly, some still insist it was awful. I'm not sure why they feel this way.
If I'm totally honest, I actually think Trial was years ahead of its time.
And the Review of our second Umbrella Season is in the can. On we go to the Flux...
Want to read some other stuff I've written about Trial of a Time Lord?
Who is the Valeyard? - Part One:
Who is the Valeyard? - Part Two:
How do you feel about Chris Chibnell's criticism of Trial of a Timelord and Vervoids in particular?
ReplyDeleteClearly, I disagree with much of what he said. I think those comments, in general, have come back to haunt him. As fans now criticize him just as harshly as he once did when he was someone watching the show rather than making it. As much as I actually really enjoy much of what Chibnall has done with Doctor Who - some of the criticism he gets is a sort of divine retribution for the piss-poor attitude he once showed toward the show!
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