The Invasion of Time
The Doctor has come home to Gallifrey, and he's pissed. After a meeting with strange alien beings who guarantee him complete power over the Time Lords, the Doctor goes home to claim his right as president of the High Council of Time Lords. Leela does not know why the Doctor has changed so dramatically, shouting and bullying his fellow Time Lords. K9 is in on it but he's not saying. After the Doctor becomes President he then turns on his own people, selling them out to the warlike Vardans in their quest for power and dominion over all space and now time itself. But the Vardans are just a foil, and lurking in the background are the nefarious Sontarans.
More Time Lord continuity in this one, with the Doctor reopening a technical loophole he used to escape immediate execution back during The Deadly Assassin. Borusa has undergone a regeneration it seems, and the Capitol of Gallifrey has seen some slight redecorating, making for some very tight corridors. The guards' uniforms have been preserved, as have the high-collared robes of office for the rest of the Time Lords. And there's a Time Lady in this one, the only one seen so far in the entire series. Gallifrey's outer wilderness is also explored when Leela is banished from the citadel and makes contact with the outcast Time Lords who have chosen to live off the land as opposed to carrying on in the safety of their contained world; people after the Doctor's own hearts.
The story itself is a good one, with the Doctor acting out a massive subterfuge in order to gain the confidence of the Vardans and then move against them. But like so many other six part stories, the final two episodes are almost a new story in themselves with the Sontarans arriving to take advantage of the situation on Gallifrey. A chase through the TARDIS ensues with the slimy Time Lord Castellan Kelner helping the Sontarans. Unlike previous trips through the inside of the ship, the TARDIS interior this time is made up of a lot of Victorian brickwork with the roundelled walls ending at the console room. The console room itself feels smaller, the lighting coming from the side now instead of from above; not sure if this was intentional or not, but the long shadows on the console room walls make for an interesting effect. The different lighting also makes K9's casing look more metallic than before.
This is also the last adventure for Leela and this model of K9. Leela takes her thing for passive-agressive men even farther and takes Time Lord guard captain Andred as her husband (and I get this feeling he was not consulted), and K9 chooses to stay with her to look after her (like she needs it). The Doctor looks a bit put out by this despite his initial reservations about her as a companion, but all is not lost; he has another model he has secretly constructed in a box just waiting to be used. The season ends with the Doctor grinning into the camera, heading off into the unknown. Is he going to be lonely? The gap between the seasons leaves a lot of room for authors to play with the Doctor and K9 on their own before returning them to the TV series continuity. So far no-one has done this, but anything is possible.
NEXT EPISODE : THE RIBOS OPERATION
More Time Lord continuity in this one, with the Doctor reopening a technical loophole he used to escape immediate execution back during The Deadly Assassin. Borusa has undergone a regeneration it seems, and the Capitol of Gallifrey has seen some slight redecorating, making for some very tight corridors. The guards' uniforms have been preserved, as have the high-collared robes of office for the rest of the Time Lords. And there's a Time Lady in this one, the only one seen so far in the entire series. Gallifrey's outer wilderness is also explored when Leela is banished from the citadel and makes contact with the outcast Time Lords who have chosen to live off the land as opposed to carrying on in the safety of their contained world; people after the Doctor's own hearts.
The story itself is a good one, with the Doctor acting out a massive subterfuge in order to gain the confidence of the Vardans and then move against them. But like so many other six part stories, the final two episodes are almost a new story in themselves with the Sontarans arriving to take advantage of the situation on Gallifrey. A chase through the TARDIS ensues with the slimy Time Lord Castellan Kelner helping the Sontarans. Unlike previous trips through the inside of the ship, the TARDIS interior this time is made up of a lot of Victorian brickwork with the roundelled walls ending at the console room. The console room itself feels smaller, the lighting coming from the side now instead of from above; not sure if this was intentional or not, but the long shadows on the console room walls make for an interesting effect. The different lighting also makes K9's casing look more metallic than before.
This is also the last adventure for Leela and this model of K9. Leela takes her thing for passive-agressive men even farther and takes Time Lord guard captain Andred as her husband (and I get this feeling he was not consulted), and K9 chooses to stay with her to look after her (like she needs it). The Doctor looks a bit put out by this despite his initial reservations about her as a companion, but all is not lost; he has another model he has secretly constructed in a box just waiting to be used. The season ends with the Doctor grinning into the camera, heading off into the unknown. Is he going to be lonely? The gap between the seasons leaves a lot of room for authors to play with the Doctor and K9 on their own before returning them to the TV series continuity. So far no-one has done this, but anything is possible.
NEXT EPISODE : THE RIBOS OPERATION
Labels: Gallifrey, K9, Leela, Sontarans, The 4th Doctor
posted by Sean Hoover @ 4:55 AM
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