If I
was making a list of most inventive classic Who
plots, this serial would probably be on it.
While there are other stories that are better done, the idea of this one
just dazzles me with its sci-fi/fantasy creativity, and that’s a surefire way
to get me to like it (a few spoilers.)
The
last of the “Black Guardian” trilogy, “Enlightenment” places the Fifth Doctor,
Tegan, and Turlough on what at first appears to be your basic Edwardian racing
yacht. Although little things seem off,
our heroes don’t twig to the big
difference until they go out on deck, when they realize they’re actually
sailing through space. They’ve landed
slap-bang in the middle of a contest between the Eternals, immortal beings
whose attempts to fight the boredom of eternity often involve co-opting mortals
for their own amusement. In this case,
they’ve retrofitted a bunch of ships from various points in Earth’s history,
nabbed themselves human crews, and are taking part in an incredible race. As the Doctor and co. soon discover, the
stakes are as high as they are dangerous.
I can’t
get over how much I love the idea of seafaring ships adapted to sail in
space. Although the visuals are
obviously less-impressive, it reminds me of Treasure
Planet, a movie I liked a lot, and it’s so fun to see the Eternals
essentially cosplaying human history.
The Eternals themselves are interesting characters. I like that, as a whole, they’re not
inherently good or evil, and we get a range of moral stances from the assorted
Eternals we meet. However, one of their
biggest traits is the fact that they’re simply too vast and long-lived to have
any understanding of human life, and that means that, without intentional
malice, they have virtually no empathy for the “ephemerals” they’ve taken to
crew their ships. Marriner, the first
mate of the Edwardian ship, is especially interesting, as we see how he craves
reading Tegan’s thoughts because the pitches of emotion that come with being
mortal are so vital to cutting through the tedium of his everlasting life. Even though Tegan has the completely-logical
reaction of being creeped out by his obsessive interest, I like that, to some
extent, she gets that it’s because of his immortality and his inability to
comprehend an ephemeral like her. It
makes their interactions more complex.
It’s
also cool to see the Doctor not the
oldest person in the room, for once. The
Eternals aren’t even like other Time Lords.
On Gallifrey, the Doctor is among his contemporaries, but while these
guys realize he’s different than the humans, they in no way equate him with
themselves. It’s the big leagues,
immortality-wise, and the Doctor has to pull out all the stops if he wants to
out-think them.
Given
that this is part of the Black Guardian trilogy, that means Turlough is still
on the TARDIS under false pretenses, having cut a deal with the
ridiculous-bird-hat-wearing force of evil himself in exchange for killing the
Doctor (seriously, what’s with the ridiculous bird hat? It’s so
insane!) By this point, though, he’s
started to doubt that mission big-time, and so it’s an important serial for
Turlough. He wrestles with his decision,
trying to think of more than just his opportunism while at the same time
fearing what the Black Guardian will do to Turlough if he disobeys.
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