Peter Davison: The Beginning, End and In-Between
John Hussey continues his series this time reviewing several stories from the Fifth Doctor era.
‘Castrovalva’
By Christopher H. Bidmead (1982, 4 Episodes)
“That’s the trouble with regeneration. You never quite know what you’re going to get.”
‘Castrovalva’ is probably my favourite introductory story for a new Doctor incarnation. It was a great, perhaps not the most fast paced serial but without a doubt a beautiful piece of story-telling that allowed you to move on from Tom Baker and embrace the fun-loving and youthful Peter Davison.
What makes this serial all the more better was the idea of it continuing straight on from the events of ‘Logopolis’. The Master had been defeated but not stopped, almost making the Fourth Doctor’s sacrifice short-lived and tragic because the evil nemesis was immediately ready to strike again. This time however his focus was entirely on the Doctor himself as he attempted to make traps to snare him within his weakened condition.
I love the Fifth Doctor’s early scenes of confronting his post-regeneration because he not only acted vulnerable, a new trait the Doctor would face, but he also experienced chaotic problems that almost made his transition his demise. It was enjoyable watching Davison’s portrayal of the First and Second Doctor as his mind tried to readjust itself. The fact that the Fifth Doctor was out of commission for nearly half of the serial made the position of the companion all the more stronger as they had to protect him and try to solve problems on their own. This granted Tegan Jovanka and Nyssa some brilliant pieces of development, especially for Tegan who quickly adapted to her new life and grew closer to the Time Lord in the process, a contrast to previous serial.
There was a slight flaw with the narrative due to the Master having multiple traps made for the Fifth Doctor which makes you question why. Why go to all the trouble of creating your own world through Adric’s mathematical skills if you are going to try and destroy your enemy with the Big Bang first? It’s almost as if he expected the Doctor to survive, in which case made the first trap all the more redundant. Certainly though the Master’s new form was expanded greatly and led into the new Doctor/Master dynamic that Davison and Ainley brought about so perfectly.
I found ‘Castrovalva’ to be a nice gentle but engaging story that just brought about the new era nicely into perspective. Each stage of the narrative made way for the new era and although you was sad to see the old one go you never felt cheated because Christopher H. Bidmead wrote ‘Castrovalva’ perfectly to allow you to feel for the Fifth Doctor and the new direction the show was taking. In Part Four we see the full development of the Fifth Doctor and cheer him on as he confronts the Master. In the final scene you are truly ready to climb aboard the TARDIS and join the new Doctor on his new adventures. If anything the incidental music for this serial makes the journey all the more beautiful.
‘Earthshock’
By Eric Saward (1982, 4 Episodes)
“Destroy him. Destroy him at once!”
‘Earthshock’ is perhaps the best Cyberman story in the entire history of Doctor Who. It has such an engaging and thrilling narrative that keeps you on the edge of your seats in suspension.
The element I love about the serial so much is the fantastic writing Eric Saward put towards the Cybermen’s characteristics, granting us the Cyber-Leader played superbly by David Banks. The idea that the Cybermen aren’t just robotic and can speak intelligently, understanding human traits and using them to their own advantage was fantastic to see. The scene depicting the Cyber-Leader using emotion against the Fifth Doctor by threatening Tegan’s life was just mind-blowing and still stands today. The Fifth Doctor was helpless from this point on and the outcome of the narrative stands stronger because of this.
What was also great about this serial was the conclusion of companion Adric. Some might not like him while others like myself felt he got mistreated for being the poor sap to be written out instead of Tegan or Nyssa. Whatever your feelings it can’t be denied that he got one of the best companion send-offs. You felt his character went on a journey, from an outsider on Alzarius, to a curious young boy flying off with a wise-old alien, to a heroic man who just wanted to help out his friends. It was unfortunate he began being mistreated, despite him being the oldest companion out of the trio at the time, but in this final hour he got given every bit of attention and led the plot alongside his Time Lord friend.
I believe ‘Earthshock’ gained such a brilliant outcome through John Nathan-Turner allowing the audience to be surprised by two major outcomes. First the revealing of the Cybermen’s return and secondly that this time round not everyone within the TARDIS crew were making it out alive. This brings me back to the Fifth Doctor’s helplessness which made the final act all the more emotional because for a rare occasion the Time Lord was powerless to prevent catastrophe, made worse because it was personal. He lost his young friend and could do nothing but watch. It was both sad but rewarding because Adric died to save the Earth and that is how a hero’s death should be.
This serial stands strong even today because of its raw power, emotion and suspense filled with unique moments that shock us as fans. The Cybermen were ruthless and seemingly unstoppable and the resolution was filled with consequence.
‘Mawdryn Undead’
By Peter Grimwade (1983, 4 Episodes)
“Perpetual regeneration. […] Life without end or form. Changing. Changing.”
‘Mawdryn Undead’ is a highlight for the Fifth Doctor’s era in demonstrating how great the writer’s storytelling was and this was certainly one of the higher points. It had a lot riding on it due to the introduction of plot threads, i.e. bringing about the Black Guardian’s return and story arc, the introduction of new companion Turlough whilst also bringing back veteran character the Brigadier.
Continuing from ‘Snakedance’ Tegan is shaken up due to her possession by the Mara and wishes to return to Earth in order to be around familiar things. Before the Fifth Doctor can do anything they are brought into contact with a spaceship with unique qualities. This inventively links into Turlough’s story, a young man attending a boarding school for boys and craves to escape. What makes Turlough’s beginning one of my favourite companion introductions is down to his manipulation at the hands of the Black Guardian who offers the desperate boy a means of freedom if he kills the Doctor. Turlough has no intention at first to board the TARDIS as a friend but rather the enemy as he continuously causes sabotage behind the Time Lord’s back, which continues into the next serial.
Then we have the timey-wimey narrative concerning the Brigadier who appears at two different time periods within his own life, all concerning the same adventure. The TARDIS flies off course and lands in the past where a younger Brigadier tries to help Tegan and Nyssa. Meanwhile in the present we have another Brigadier who has no recollection of the Doctor. The Fifth Doctor manages to trigger back his memories and the rest of the plot revolves around his mysterious trauma which caused his absence of memory in the first place.
The Brigadier was once more on fine form. In fact this was his best script in a long time and actually allowed him to think for himself and stand on his own, unlike a lot of his later serials before his departure in ‘Terror of the Zygons’. My only grudge would be his appearance seemed odd due to him now being a teacher during his retirement from UNIT (don’t get me started on the off-handed dialogue concerning Sergeant Benton’s departure which totally disrespected his character). You could clearly tell the Brigadier was a late idea to replace the original planned return of Ian Chesterton, meaning some of the Brigadier’s advancement as a character does seem off and unconvincing given his background. I find ‘The Five Doctors’ and ‘Battlefield’ handled bringing him back with a more honest portrayal. At the very least his relationship with the Doctor was once more on equal terms.
On top of this we have the intriguing plot about Mawdryn, a foolish man who attempted to become a Time Lord but him and his followers ultimately made themselves immortal, trapped suffering a perpetual illness. This in turn placed the Fifth Doctor with the greatest dilemma of all: will he give up being a Time Lord at the cost of saving lives? Of course the Fifth Doctor is reluctant to save Mawdryn, forcing him to continue his eternity of agony. But then naturally the Time Lord must return to Mawdryn after his companions are plagued with the illness, forcing the Fifth Doctor to give up his regenerations to save them. I won’t spoil how he gets out of this, but without a doubt this was one of his darkest hours and we the audience were left stunned as to how he would escape this fate.
‘Mawdryn Undead’ impressively deals with the concept of desperation, pushing Mawdryn to his dark fate, Turlough foolishly signing a contract that resulted in murder to better his own means and the Black Guardian using blackmail to gain his revenge. It has a lot of mystery shrouding the narrative, especially concerning the two different Brigadier’s crossing their own timelines, all linking into these different plot-points to create a satisfying adventure.
‘The Caves of Androzani’
By Robert Holmes (1984, 4 Episodes)
“Not a very persuasive argument actually, Stotz, because I’m going to die soon anyway. Unless, of course… Unless, of course, I can find the antidote. I owe it to my friend to try because I got her into this. So you see, I’m not going to let you stop me now!”
This serial is a classic. It’s a roller-coaster ride that never gets boring and never ceases to amaze upon every re-watch. I think it’s one of the best examples of television, one of the, if not the best episode of Doctor Who and the greatest regeneration episode!
‘The Cave of Androzani’ was dark, dark to the point that it really stood out from the rest of the Fifth Doctor’s serials and created a destructive final journey for him to face. It was made worse by the fact that he was dead from Part One. This made his final hour all the more agonising as he suffered throughout, battling against different elements in order to survive and get Peri Brown to safety. It was inventive of Robert Holmes to have a virus kill the Fifth Doctor, something that is deadly in its own right and something that can’t be faced head on like a villain of flesh and blood. The virus was killing him from within and the enemies of the narrative simply added to the Fifth Doctor’s threats.
The narrative itself, as said above, was very dark. What helped with this tone was that everything within the production came together and worked. The casting, the directing by Mr. Graeme Harper, that eerie incidental music by Roger Limb along with the extraordinary performance of all the cast. It was a perfect gem. All of the characters had a story to tell, all led in their own direction of gaining a personal goal which all linked back into a terrible drugs war caused by a psychotic man called Morgus.
The character of Sharaz Jek was incredible and Christopher Gable played the role with such a frightening tone that you can’t help but feel scared for Peri. His obsession with her makes you tremble. The scenes in which depict him snapping in front of Peri are simply chilling and Nicola Bryant really showcases a sense of fear. As well as that her character was brave throughout, confronted with multiple threats, the continuous affects of her illness along with death facing her on every corner.
Morgus served as a despicable villain. All he cared about was his own personal profit and didn’t care how he got it. He never showed any emotion and this is what made him such a great villain. The extreme steps he took to achieve his goals were grotesque, such as him engineering the entire drugs war and causing Jek to fall victim to his tormented life. His resolution was made all the more sweeter because you knew he got what he deserved. Also Stotz’s character, a gun-runner under Morgus’s command, had many great scenes because he too showed power through cruel means. Two scenes in particular were when he threatened one of his men with a poisoned capsule and later shot his men dead out of sheer cold-blooded pleasure.
The serial didn’t feel safe due to the entire narrative being bleak and the resolution being without a happy ending. Everyone died. The Fifth Doctor was devoid of control with the drugs war and all the different conflicts converging to created a bloodbath. The only form of victory was the Fifth Doctor saving Peri but even then the Fifth Doctor was crippled by the affects of the virus and ultimately defeated. Despite this it was satisfying and really granted the Fifth Doctor a heroic end.
Without a doubt Peter Davison gave the performance of his life and his Doctor went through hell and back to win his final victory. His charming and innocent incarnation faced the worst of the worst in ‘The Caves of Androzani’ but always remained on top of his game despite being extremely vulnerable. Battling against insane men and a deadly virus the Fifth Doctor stopped at nothing to save his friend, demonstrated perfectly with the quote above.
‘The Caves of Androzani’ is the harshest episode of the show and really pushed the Doctor to the brink and that is why I love it so much. You watched him go on a horrific journey and despite all the terrible odds the Fifth Doctor still won and that’s why his reward of saving Peri and sacrificing himself to the virus is the most poetic ending to any incarnation.
