Story: Destiny of the Daleks
Written By: Terry Nation
Length: 4 Episodes
Year: 1979
Season 17 starts off rather lackluster. Many changes occur at the beginning of this season. First and foremost Mary Tamm decided she wasn't entirely happy on the show, she felt she was promised to be more of an equal of the Doctor, but to her the writers didn't live up to their word - she was just as incapable as previous companions. I don't know if I completely agree with that statement, but I don't think she should stay if she wasn't happy. Add to that, while on hiatus she became pregnant, it seemed as if all parties involved felt happier with her leaving.
So the inevitable regeneration scene was needed...but Tamm was visibly pregnant and unable to help out with that scenario. So our opening scene has a big canon dispute inducing regeneration. Romana tries on several bodies before choosing the body of Princess Astra, from the previous story Armageddon Factor. The scene is played for laughs, but is unfortunately not all that funny. That becomes a big problem this season, lots of attempts at humor with little promising results.
Such rises debate, as humor novelist Douglas Adams took over as script editor, people tend to blame him. The results are definitely mixed, but I think Adams once summed it up nicely. When he would write humorous scenes the actors would play it over the top, acting silly...which Adams felt was the completely wrong way to go about it. Really if you look at Baker over the last couple of seasons you can see that he was off the leash and trying to make it overly comedic.
As for the story itself, this is a lame Dalek story, in which the Daleks and Davros both make their first appearance since "Genesis of the Daleks". Neither are all that scary or interesting. Davros should have stayed dead. I always feel that way. As the last story Terry Nation would contribute to Doctor Who, it is a pretty lame way to go out.
NEXT TIME: Curse of the Sephiroth
Written By: Terry Nation
Length: 4 Episodes
Year: 1979
Season 17 starts off rather lackluster. Many changes occur at the beginning of this season. First and foremost Mary Tamm decided she wasn't entirely happy on the show, she felt she was promised to be more of an equal of the Doctor, but to her the writers didn't live up to their word - she was just as incapable as previous companions. I don't know if I completely agree with that statement, but I don't think she should stay if she wasn't happy. Add to that, while on hiatus she became pregnant, it seemed as if all parties involved felt happier with her leaving.
Such rises debate, as humor novelist Douglas Adams took over as script editor, people tend to blame him. The results are definitely mixed, but I think Adams once summed it up nicely. When he would write humorous scenes the actors would play it over the top, acting silly...which Adams felt was the completely wrong way to go about it. Really if you look at Baker over the last couple of seasons you can see that he was off the leash and trying to make it overly comedic.
As for the story itself, this is a lame Dalek story, in which the Daleks and Davros both make their first appearance since "Genesis of the Daleks". Neither are all that scary or interesting. Davros should have stayed dead. I always feel that way. As the last story Terry Nation would contribute to Doctor Who, it is a pretty lame way to go out.
NEXT TIME: Curse of the Sephiroth
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