As far as
series 22 stories go, this one is pretty good.
It introduces a neat new villain, has a little fun with history, and
displays some nice creativity. No, it
doesn’t equal the other Doctors’ best stuff, but for a Six story, I’ll take it.
The Sixth
Doctor and Peri arrive in an 18th-century English village in the
midst of the Luddite rebellion. Here,
though, the locals’ fervor exceeds that of the usual Luddites – any type of
machinery whips them into a frenzy, and they tear it apart with their
hands. The root of the problem becomes clearer
when the Doctor discovers the presence of the Rani, a brilliant Time Lady whose
unethical scientific experiments got her banished from Gallifrey. It’s up to the Doctor and Peri to figure out
what the Rani has done and reverse it before the villagers rip the town to
shreds.
The big
draw here is the Rani, who’s a fun new baddie.
I like that she’s more amoral than immoral. Rather than having an explicitly evil plan,
she’s someone who’s all about
scientific pursuits and sees everyone around her as potential subjects – this
means she doesn’t shy away from brutal methods and she’s unbothered by any
collateral damage she creates. Still
obviously a huge problem, since the by-product of her experiment is wreaking
major havoc and she doesn’t care in the slightest, but different from the usual
power-hungriness/greed/hatred/active desire to destroy. Also, she makes landmines that, when
deployed, turn people into trees, and
she totally decorates her TARDIS with baby dinosaurs suspendedly-animated in
jars. (In comparison, the Master, who’s
also in this serial, comes across as a lot less interesting.)
I’m
always a sucker for stories set in the past that give alien explanations for
historical occurrences. While the Rani’s
shenanigans don’t cause the Luddite
rebellion, since it’s still going on elsewhere in the country, she definitely
exacerbates the situation. I also like
the use of inventor/engineer George Stephenson, who created an early steam
locomotive. Between Stephenson (who uses
invention for the benefit of others,) the Rani (who uses science for her own
purposes,) and the Luddites (who see technology as a threat to their way of life,)
the story offers some interesting contrasts on the subject of intellectual
pursits. No surprise, by the way, who
the Doctor sides with on that front.
Speaking
of which, the Doctor is all right here, although he plays the “dump on Peri”
card a bit too often for my liking. That
said, I enjoy his scenes with Stephenson, he has great interactions with the
Rani, and he gets himself into a few absolutely ridiculous conundrums that make
me laugh. Peri is decently good. She’s still not the most useful companion
around, but she doesn’t mess around when it comes to the combined threat of the
Rani and the Master, and her botany knowhow comes in handy – there’s just
something I love about any scene where Peri’s interest in plants factors into
the plot, both because it’s not the most common interest around and because
it’s nice to get a reminder that the show is capable of seeing her as more than
a means of getting her boobs from Point A to Point B.
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