Contributor: John Keegan
Written by David Fisher
Directed by Michael Hayes
I hadn’t heard much about this serial before watching it, but I had heard that the season was very uneven, and worried that this might turn out to be one of the weaker links. I was surprised, then, at how very watchable it really was. And a large part of that is the stunning turn by Mary Tamm, taking on four roles in what is essentially the Whovian version of “The Prisoner of Zelda”.
I’ve since learned that Mary Tamm felt that the wardrobe selected for her in this production didn’t suit her at all, so she pieced together the purple-infused outfit that she wears through much of the story. It certainly got my attention. Tamm was eye-catching from the moment she hit the screen, but she is utterly gorgeous here. It might be a superficial observation, but it’s an important one, as it’s distinctive enough to allow the various characters played by Tamm to be visually distinct.
The story itself is nice and cozy, taking place on a relatively small scale, which keeps events in proper perspective and allows the writing to take precedence. And it helps that the key villain of the piece, Count Grendel, is hardly one of the over-the-top fools that have populated all too many of the Williams era serials. Grendel is fun to watch, and even when things get a little silly towards the end, as with the duel that does little more than highlight the idiocy of fencing while wear a scarf, it’s solid material.
Adding to the excellent scripting and solid work by the cast is the near-perfect use of location shooting. Yes, Leeds Castle is fairly familiar at this point, from the myriad productions that have made use of it, but there’s a reason it works for this sort of story. There’s nothing like an actual castle to project the right kind of mental landscape for a story about vying royals!
I also found it hilarious that the whole notion of the “Key to Time” fetch quest is more or less set aside in the first few minutes of the very first episode. Romana finds the piece, which then allows the rest of the story to ignore the framing device and proceed as if it didn’t even exist! The result is a stand-alone tale that doesn’t try to be more than it needs to be.
Perhaps because I enjoyed the simplicity of the setting and the highlight on Romana (this is some of her best material to this point), I found myself enjoying the humor far more than I thought I would. I’ve warmed up to Baker in a big way over the course of my Classic Who education, and this is one of his best outings yet. It doesn’t descend into ridiculousness, but instead, the Doctor retains his absurd nature while keeping the air of gravitas intact.
But the crux of it is this: everything about this serial compels the viewer to sit back, relax, and enjoy the story as much as everyone involved clearly did while making it.
Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 3/4
Final Score: 9/10
