Dragonfire

The Doctor and Mel arrive at the space colony of Iceworld, on the planet Svartos, where they encounter Sabalom Glitz in a bit of a cash crunch. Having sold his crew off and in debt for a delivery of rotten fruit, he is contemplating searching for the fabled Dragon's Treasure as a means to regain his fortunes. Glitz is unaware that he is being played by Kane, a notoroius criminal who can only survive in extreme cold temperatures. Mel befreinds a waitress named Ace and together they join the Doctor and Glitz in the ice catacombs beneath Iceworld, dodging Kane's deep-frozen mercenaries, and the Dragon itself as it protects its treasure...

Dragonfire is by far the best story of the 24th season. The mood is set right away from the opening moments of episode one when Kane's newest recruits are brought in to be frozen in the gloomy control centre. Again, as with Time and the Rani and Paradise Towers the sets are built on a large scale and there is a lot of overhead work done, with action happening on more than one level at a time. The ice catacombs, though, aren't really that well realized; anyone looking close enough will see that it's not even solid stuff, it's guaze or taffeta or something stretched out ceiling to floor. The colony feels like a proper spaceport comeplete with aliens of all shapes and sizes hanging out at the milkshake bar (shades of the Mos Eisly cantina from Star Wars) including a long Argolin last sen in The Leisure Hive.

When Jay and I watched this he had forgotten that Glitz was back, and often pondered aloud why they had brought him back. True, he could have been anyone but when you're dealing with a 3 episode story it cuts down on a lot of trust-gaining if you go off looking for treasure with someone you already know. Also, the story is rich in new characters already: Kane and his fixation on revenge all brought on by his broken heart - oh and he can kill people with the touch of his freezing cold hand; Belascz disillusioned at how Kane's previous affection for her has faded; and Ace, the plucky streetwise waitress from Earth who arrived on Iceworld as a result of a freak time storm. Glitz gets some better treatment this time around, although he does still speak in mad fluting ways.. and his musical cues from The Mysterious Planet are used again for his scenes.

The real triumph of this episode though is the Doctor. Sometimes the clown, still the mysterious friend, he has finally come into his character this time, with good chemistry between himself and all the other characters.

Oh there's a dragon. Sort of. It's a biomechanoid. Looks like the BBC's attempt at Alien just more rubbery. Initially it's a monster to be feared, but the truth of its existence reveals it to be not as hostile as originally believed. In the end, it too becomes a sympathetic character to be mourned when it meets its end, right along with Kane who would rather die than face eternity alone.

Mel. The screaming. THE SCREAMING. You can see at the climax of episode one when she and Ace come face to face with the dragon how pained Sophie Aldred (Ace) looks at having this shrilling right in her ear. The other climax to episode one, with the Doctor stupidly allowing himself to dangle over a sheer drop by the end of his umbrella, is just stupid. And how the hell did he and Glitz get down without getting killed?

Where was I going here... oh right. Mel. Out of nowhere, she decides to leave. A sudden impulse takes her and she decides to leave the Doctor and run off adventuring with Glitz. The Doctor is hurt and sulks initially but then wishes her well. After all if Glitz sold his crew off just for doing their job she'd be up on the block pretty quick after one scream. But the companion transition happens right away; at Mel's suggestion the Doctor offers Ace a place on board the TARDIS rather than take her back to her boring life on Earth. And Ace literally jumps at it, forming what will be remembered as one of the most dynamic Doctor-companion teams in the history of the show right along with the fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith, the second Doctor and Jamie, and these days the tenth Doctor and Rose.

So after starting on a pretty lame note the series regains some of its footing and the fan base would start to rebuild. The production team would start doing new things with the Doctor and Ace for the 25th anniversary season, starting with pitting the new duo against classic enemies...

NEXT EPISODE : REMEMBRANCE OF THE DALEKS