(Isaac got quite enthusiastic reviewing this story, and ended up
covering each episode separately. Since this happened after I'd already
posted a couple, I decided to save them all for the end and do a quick
run through, in order to keep the momentum up. Over to him!)
A very good episode, with wonderful acting - the only character where in
my opinion the acting wasn't great was the Saxon hunter in the woods.
The Doctor's moment of sadness at the start was very convincing. The
humour in the episode was done well - I especially like the Doctor's
funny moments with Steven (I've often quoted his 'space helmet for a
cow' bit these last few days). Maureen O'Brien did a good job of the sad
aspect at the start, and did well at portraying Vicki's realisation
when she is explaining to Steven about the TARDIS that she is the new
most senior TARDIS crew member (excluding the Doctor, of course). Steven
is very forward (well, you would be after being kept prisoner by the
Mechanoids for a while) and his disbelief is portrayed by Peter Purves
very well.
The aura of mystery around the Meddling Monk is done well, with the
viewer just seeing his body language and facial expressions (well done
Peter Butterworth! He got a lot of information in those!). The Doctor's
little walk takes us to meet Edith, a nice character who seems quite
real. She gives the doctor something to drink, and he verbally blunders
around until he finds the date and informs the viewer on a bit of
history (a nod to the shows original intention). This scene was quite
nice, with good acting on both William and Alethea's part, which would
not worked well in another era of the show but fits nicely in this
serial.
Jumping back to Vicki and Steven we come across an exhausted Vicki -
it's quite nice because it shows the fact that younger people aren't
just downsized adults (something which happens quite a bit in fiction).
Then the Saxon hunter came along, and as a result we have a badly done
fight scene - where all they seem to be doing is rolling around with
their hands locked together. That bit is my least favourite part of the
episode, but we did have a nice bit of more Steven stuff, which is
needed a little since this is his first story as a companion.
Finally we have a smug Doctor being trapped, which adds a bit more drama
in the episode, which is nice at the end of an episode mostly composed
of humour and scene setting.
Next Time:
May's review of The Watcher!
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