This is
one of the “nostalgia” stories of the later classic Who era, serials peppered with references to episodes gone by. I’m not sure of the precise motivation for
these cropping up toward the end of the original series’ run – if it was a
natural result of people who grew up as fans in the early seasons becoming writers
on the show, or if it was an attempt to combat flagging ratings and “recapture
the glory years” – but whatever the reason, it usually works on me. And for my money, this one holds up pretty
well (a few spoilers.)
The
Seventh Doctor and Ace arrive in 1963 London (near a certain junkyard,) where
Ace’s boom box and ever-present leather jacket show she’s not really down with
the concept of “blending in.” Soon,
however, they’re far too busy to worry about that, as it turns that there’s
something of a minor Dalek civil war breaking out right there in the city. Team TARDIS liaises with the soldiers and
scientists brought in to deal with the otherworldly conflict causing havoc in
their backyard, and the Doctor reveals that more is at stake than anyone realizes.
Like I
said, a lot of classic references here.
There’s the meta joke of zooming in on a TV screen just as a BBC
announcer mentions that new little science fiction program hitting the
airwaves. That one’s iffy for me – even
though Doctor Who is wild and crazy
things happen, breaking the fourth wall that much doesn’t feel quite
right. The Daleks in and of themselves
transcend nostalgia, but Davros is a bit of a throwback. The references to Omega definitely hearken
back to “The Three Doctors,” and then, most of all is the presence of the
junkyard and Coal Hill School. Making
the school such a focal point is kind of neutral for me, but I love seeing the junkyard. “I.M. Foreman,” gets me every time.
But
hey, there’s a story, too, right? You
get to the point where any Dalek story is basically a Dalek story, but this one
has some nice elements to it. I like the
different factions of Daleks fighting each other over genetic purity – “they
hate each other’s chromosomes” is a great line from Ace – and the story has
some good side characters working alongside our heroes. I especially like Rachel and Allison, the two
scientists.
It’s a
solid “enigmatic Seven pulling secret strings” serial, one in which the Doctor
is mysterious and has his fingers in unexpected pies but isn’t too seriously
manipulative. This is actually Seven’s
first big foray as the man behind the curtain, the start of his
somewhat-rebooted personality after series 24.
When he isn’t busy behind the scenes, he gets up to some fine business,
taking on Daleks with Ace’s Nitro 9 and having his famous “unlimited rice
pudding” talk with Davros.
It’s a
good story for Ace, too. This is the
serial in which she clobbers a Dalek with a baseball bat (that’s been suped up
by alien doodads, allowing this iconic image to bear out logically,) and she
uses her noggin to figure out a few important things. And even though I winked above at her
anachronistic entrance, I do like to see her navigating 1963. The scene of her trying to understand
pennies, shillings, and pounds (“…So what’s half a crown?”) is a lot of fun,
and I really appreciate her noticing the “No Coloureds” sign in the window of
the boarding house; an insightful moment.
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