Five’s first story, but one of my
favorites of his. Lots of drama and
mystery to deal with amid a pretty severe regeneration crisis, it’s a good
introduction to Five but really serves all the characters well. Plus, it’s just a neat concept to boot.
Adric, Nyssa, and Tegan are all at a
bit of a loss when the Fourth Doctor regenerates into a new man, taking on his
fifth incarnation. As the new Doctor
struggles to cope with a difficult regeneration, it’s up the companions to
figure out how to help him. The best
place for him to rest and recover seems to be Castrovalva, but once they
arrive, it quickly becomes clear that everything on the peaceful planet is not
as it seems.
The serial makes for a great “trial
by fire” for this particular TARDIS crew.
They’re a pretty big group, none of whom know each other before meeting
the Doctor, and they still don’t know each other very well yet – in fact, Tegan
only came onto the scene one serial before and still thinks she’s just passing
through. To take this very tenuous trio,
all from different planets and backgrounds, and then have the one man who
connects them (the Doctor) suddenly change into a new person, one under immense
physical and mental distress who needs their help to survive the regeneration
process? It’s a dramatic way to bond
them very quickly. With their “expert”
out of commission, they have to work together to help the Doctor, along with
themselves. They all start the story as
four people, but they finish it as the makings of a little TARDIS family.
It’s a particularly good story for
Tegan and Nyssa, who demonstrate great teamwork in a high-pressure
situation. A lot is asked of them, and
they’re kind of left in the lurch, but they both step up to the plate, relying
on each other’s respective knowledge and insights to find solutions
together. What’s more, they really
support each other, each in turn talking the other down as they get overwhelmed
by their circumstances and start to lose confidence. Adric doesn’t have as much to do, but he’s
dealing with some heavy challenges of his own and fights hard to overcome
them. (And I still love the way he
distracts the Pharos Institute folks by cheerfully introducing himself as an
alien who got all the messages they’d been beaming into space and thought he’d
pop down and say hello.)
Regeneration crisis stories can be
tough, because you need to introduce the new Doctor effectively while they’re
physically incapacitated and/or struggling to even remember who they used to
be, let alone know who they are now, for much of the story. And Five has kind of a doozy of a
regeneration crisis. At one point, he
even has to put himself in a psychically-induced coma while his companions cart
him around in a big white box, and once he’s back on his feet, his head is
still pretty scrambled. Despite that,
the story does offer a good
introduction to Five. I always enjoy
seeing newly-regenerated Doctors continue to fight the good fight even when
they’re currently not sure who they are, and Five brings that in spades here. He’s weakened and confused, and he knows
there’s something important he’s forgotten, but he’s still investigating and
puzzling out the perplexing nature of Castrovalva.
Speaking of which, we get a really
fun, inventive mystery in Castrovalva.
It has some neat twists and wild ideas, and it draws on cool Who mythos from the previous
season. I just love the idea of the M.C.
Escher-style city that you can’t escape because every route paradoxically takes
you back to the same place!
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