The Masque of Mandragora
The TARDIS is sucked through the Mandragora Helix, a region of space the Doctor belives to be almost alive, with an intelligence at the centre of it. The ship makes a quick escape and arrives in Renaissance Italy, but some of the Mandragora energy has hitched a ride and finds able minions in the local cult of Demnos. Local Duke, Guliano, has other troubles besides the cultists; his ambitious uncle is in cahoots with court astrologer Hieronymous and together they have already killed Guliano's father and have their sights set on the young Duke himself next. Heironymous, however, is really the head of the cult of Demnos, and once in collusion with that energy he becomes more powerful than the Doctor would like, threatening to flood Earth with Mandragora's influence and doom mankind to eternal servitude.
This is a fantastic period piece, perfect for opening the new season. The Doctor and Sarah are in fine form as always, with Sarah being captured by the cult and first being offered as a sacrfice, and then being hypnotized into attempting to kill the Doctor. Again, those eyes! And her hair. I said as much to Jay once, that I believe Sarah Jane Smith is the only female companion to not actually get a hair cut during her entire run on the show; it starts off short and modern in The Time Warrior and now here it's well past her shoulders. Amazing the things one notices.
A real treat or the eyes is the opening moments of episode 1 where the Doctor and Sarah are wandering through the corridors of the TARDIS, even if the floor is blue and you can see over the walls at one point. They discover a secondary console room which looks a lot like something from a Jules Verne novel, with dark wood walls, lots of brass rails, and even a short stairway leading to the exit, and this will be the console room for the rest of the season. It's a little less high tech than the white one we're all used to, but it does have certain echoes of the darker more gothic theme the series has started to delve into in the last few adventures.
And what can be said of the location filming other than it's magnificent. A casual viewer might think the BBC went abroad to shoot this but the reality is it's all done in some rich madman's backyard. Why anyone would want their backyard to look like Renaissance Italy is beyond me but hey it looks good and is very effective as a location. Cheaper than the real thing, too. The interiors that were built for the palace are incredible as well, with a lot of space and a lot of atmosphere to them. In part 4 a dance is held in Guliano's honour at a masque, and the attention to period details is just amazing, with the performance choreographed and even Elisabeth Sladen joining in.
Amazing. Incredible. There's even a new police box exterior now since the previous one fell to bits on location the season before. Oh yeah and there's even a subtle gay subplot, the unspoken romance between Guliano and Marco. Oh yeah I can hear you all now accusing me of reading into it but come on, they're both good looking young men hanging about in tights. Neither of them shows a flicker of interest in Sarah and they're very loyal to each other. And it was the Renaissance. All sorts went on back then.
Fine. Be that way. But I know Jay would agree.
NEXT EPISODE : THE HAND OF FEAR
This is a fantastic period piece, perfect for opening the new season. The Doctor and Sarah are in fine form as always, with Sarah being captured by the cult and first being offered as a sacrfice, and then being hypnotized into attempting to kill the Doctor. Again, those eyes! And her hair. I said as much to Jay once, that I believe Sarah Jane Smith is the only female companion to not actually get a hair cut during her entire run on the show; it starts off short and modern in The Time Warrior and now here it's well past her shoulders. Amazing the things one notices.
A real treat or the eyes is the opening moments of episode 1 where the Doctor and Sarah are wandering through the corridors of the TARDIS, even if the floor is blue and you can see over the walls at one point. They discover a secondary console room which looks a lot like something from a Jules Verne novel, with dark wood walls, lots of brass rails, and even a short stairway leading to the exit, and this will be the console room for the rest of the season. It's a little less high tech than the white one we're all used to, but it does have certain echoes of the darker more gothic theme the series has started to delve into in the last few adventures.
And what can be said of the location filming other than it's magnificent. A casual viewer might think the BBC went abroad to shoot this but the reality is it's all done in some rich madman's backyard. Why anyone would want their backyard to look like Renaissance Italy is beyond me but hey it looks good and is very effective as a location. Cheaper than the real thing, too. The interiors that were built for the palace are incredible as well, with a lot of space and a lot of atmosphere to them. In part 4 a dance is held in Guliano's honour at a masque, and the attention to period details is just amazing, with the performance choreographed and even Elisabeth Sladen joining in.
Amazing. Incredible. There's even a new police box exterior now since the previous one fell to bits on location the season before. Oh yeah and there's even a subtle gay subplot, the unspoken romance between Guliano and Marco. Oh yeah I can hear you all now accusing me of reading into it but come on, they're both good looking young men hanging about in tights. Neither of them shows a flicker of interest in Sarah and they're very loyal to each other. And it was the Renaissance. All sorts went on back then.
Fine. Be that way. But I know Jay would agree.
NEXT EPISODE : THE HAND OF FEAR
Labels: Sarah Jane Smith, The 4th Doctor
posted by Sean Hoover @ 3:02 PM
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