A post-regeneration story is always important, our first look at a new Doctor, but a Doctor’s second story is always important too. In the case of Doctors like Five, a severe regeneration crisis can hamper the initial impression they make as they spend much of their first story under duress, unconscious, etc. We still get an idea of them, but it’s as they’re playing catch-up and trying to understand for themselves who they are. A Doctor’s second story, then, usually finds them a bit more settled, and we have a chance to see who they are now that the dust has cleared.
The Fifth Doctor’s first (of many) attempt(s) to get Tegan back to Heathrow Airport fails, and the TARDIS instead lands him, Tegan, Adric, and Nyssa on a spaceship. It’s owned by the highly-intellectual Urbankans, who’ve made multiple trips to Earth over the millennia and, as they explain, taken back living human trophies. There’s more to the situation on the spaceship than meets the eye, and while Adric is enthralled by the Urbankan Monarch, the Doctor isn’t so convinced.
I love it when classic Who’s ingenuity lifts it beyond limits in its budget, and this story is a good example of that – while the new series has of course made incredible leaps and bounds in its effects and how it’s able to realize the worlds and species it creates, so many classic Who stories have creativity in spades, and that inventiveness carries it through. I like the notion of the Urbankans, these erudite, cultured aliens who are seductive at first but still just that little bit off-putting. Each of our heroes reacts to them a little differently – Adric is of course drawn to Monarch’s flattery and power, the Doctor obviously can’t resist sticking his nose in, and Tegan and Nyssa both fall somewhere between. I’m reminded a little of stories like “The Savages,” where there are critical layers to be peeled back before team TARDIS can fully grasp the society in which they find themselves.
I also really like the idea of the ancient humans the Urbankans have “collected” on previously trips, from civilizations like China and Greece. This is a neat aspect of the plot, and the story takes it to some unexpected places. (Side note: while this story – thankfully – features no brownface, unlike certain serials I could name, it does fall into the lazy trap of “any brown person will do.” The story features an indigenous Australian man and a Mayan woman, neither of which appear to be played by indigenous actors. Again, better than some classic Who casting fails, but still unfortunate.)
As
I said, this is a more thorough look at Five than we get in “Castrovalva,” and
he’s a lot of fun. Beneath his pleasant, ingratiating demeanor, he’s a little
crafty – Monarch, who’s used to getting precisely his way, is in for a real fly
in his ointment when the Doctor shows up! Nyssa’s scientific knowhow comes in
handy more once, and Tegan puts her spidey sense to good use in terms of
recognizing when things aren’t on the up and up. Adric is a little weasel, as he’s
wont to be, but he does use that quality to the group’s advantage at a critical
moment, so there’s hope for him yet.
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