Kinda

Nyssa is exhausted. The breakneck pace of life with the Doctor has worn her out, starting with the mental anguish of her father's murder, then the destruction of her entire world, she has collapsed. The Doctor puts the TARDIS down on the jungle planet Deva Loka where Nyssa can get some rest and the rest of the crew can explore. The Doctor and Adric encounter a group of human scientists scouting the planet for possible colonization, despite the presence of the native life, the Kinda, and are soon at the mercy of one of the expedition members' parinoia and lunacy. Tegan, however, succumbs to the Kinda dream chimes and allows a dark presence known as the Mara to escape its prison in a shadow dimension though her dream and slip into the minds of the Kinda.

There's nothing like a good old tale of a serpent lurking in paradise, which is exactly what this is. Deva Loka does not know violence or greed, and the arrival of human colonists upsets the balance of life to such an extent that the Kinda prophecy of a male who can speak (Kinda males do not have that capability but they are all telepaths) and lead the Kinda into battle comes true. After tormenting Tegan in her dream state, the Mara turns its attention to the outside world, motivating the Kinda to attempt to destroy the humans in their dome. Officer Hindle, however, is so parinoid about exactly that eventuality that he has wired the whole place for destruction if he sees even the slightest movement towards him. And when the Mara reveals itself in episode four, it is exactly that; a massive serpent ... a bit wobbly on the effects side of things but a snake nonetheless.

Jay and I watched this one together, enjoying the plastic wind chimes, making fun of Adric, wanting snake tattoos on our forearms just like the characters posessed by the Mara, glad that Nyssa was out of the picture for the whole show. Like I said previously, there are too many people on the regular cast and the absence of one for an entire episode makes it better for the others to get some dialgue. It's just like back when Jamie joined the crew in 1967, not enough to go around. And that old woman, Panna.... she's scarier than the Mara.

So. Mara repelled. Nyssa well rested. Adric embarassed. Typical day in the TARDIS.

NEXT EPISODE : THE VISITATION