Sorry this has been a bit late, I've got a bit behind schedule and I
couldn't write it on Wednesday because we went to see the Doctor Who
Symphonic Spectacular, which was a lot of fun but took up the whole day.
I liked this episode a lot - the acting was spot on, particularly
Alethea's (as always). We start out with a recap of last week's
cliffhanger, then Vicki and Steven search for a hidden entrance, which
they find quickly. This was good - especially Steven pointing out the
cliche and the accurate lack of knowledge Steven and Vicki have of their
time period. The Monk, on his way to fetch medicine for Eldred, decides
to check the Doctor's cell, only to find it unlocked and empty of
Doctor. Peter Butterworth had excellent expressions here, and indeed
throughout the episode - his look of confusion is priceless.
We return to Steven and Vicki, who are crawling along the passage. The
Doctor arrives at the village and talks to a grim Edith. He learns that
vikings landed, making a verbal blunder which means this time he has to
let on that there is a viking invasion. In another callback to the
original intention of the show, he lets on that Harold defeats Harald
and is then defeated by William the Conqueror. I think that Edith's rape
as handled well, though no help came from the scriptwriter - it's all
in Alethea's acting, the way when talking to the Doctor at this point
she is very sorrowful, bleak and closed - she makes it clear that Edith
was affected by this deeply. Also, later on when the Monk calls, she is
clearly wary when she comes out. The rest of these scenes were also
good, with excellent acting throughout.
Steven and Vicki emerge from the tunnel and find no sign of the Doctor,
Steven finally accepts time travel but the watch and the gramophone are
anomalies - both probably connected to the Monk. They argue over where
to look for the Doctor - the TARDIS or the monastery. In the meantime,
the monk gives Eldred aspirin from his first aid box and tells Wulnoth
to put his sword away, saying a monastery is a place of peace. Wulnoth
does so, and leaves. The Monk asks Eldred when the viking invasion would
arrive - finding he is right on schedule. Wulnoth returns, saying that
Eldred must stay here but he and Edith will help. The Monk starts to
protest, but does not finish because they would be suspicious. These
scenes are good - the acting is done well, the small conflict is nice,
and we get to know a bit more of the monk's plan.
Sven and Ulf are running in the woods, as stealthily as possible. They
stop, and argue over what to do - try and complete their mission by
returning to the ship through dangerous territory, or hide out until
Hardrada arrives and claim they were captured. Eventually, after much
discussion, they decide the latter and head to the monastery, reasoning
that the monks have to give them refuge. This is a nice scene, which I
have said for almost all of the scenes, and we get to see a bit more of
the vikings (they play it a bit over the top, but I don't particularly
mind).
The Monk gets out a scroll and hangs it up, letting us know the content
is a progress chart - including position atomic cannon and light beacon
fires. He ticks off 'Sight Vikings', then rolls it up and gets out a
map. He uses his authentic 11th century compass to presumably measure a
distance, maybe for the aforementioned beacon fires. While he is in the
middle of doing this there is a knocking at the door. He goes to check
it out, but there is no-one there. He goes inside and shuts the door,
but someone knocks again. He quickly goes back and opens the door, this
time walking quite a ways outside to look for the knocker. The Doctor
approaches him from behind with a stick, pokes it in the Monk's back,
and tells the Monk it is a gun. This scene is very good - it
gives a bit of an idea of the Monk's plans and it has Peter
Butterworth's always excellent expressions; humour - the fact that the
Monk had a progress chart amused me; drama - you think that the knocking
door is the Vikings, and it gets a bit tense with the Doctor's hiding
after knocking.
We cut back to Steven and Vicki arriving at the clifftop, and look down
to see that the tide has come in! Vicki laments the fact that of the two
possibilities that she can see, both of them mean they are trapped
there. Steven suggests going to the monastery to either find the Doctor
or see what is going on with the Monk and his modern equipment. Before
he can persuade Vicki to do it however, he spots in the bushes a very
futuristic gun - presumably the atomic cannon - which spurs them into
action. This scene is a good, and we see quite a sad Vicki, which been
quite rare before this story.
The Doctor realises that the Monk had been leading him in circles around
the monastery, but while he is talking the Monk discovers his stick
trick - but this doesn't change much as it is still quite dangerous.
There is a knocking at the door, which the monk explains he has to
answer. The Doctor, still mistrustful, orders him to get him a Monk's
habit. There is a jump to the Doctor, wearing a robe, and the Monk
walking through the entrance hall and tentatively opening the door,
stick still in hand. Unfortunately the Vikings come and capture the
Doctor, and put him in a cell. Sven orders Ulf to find the other monks,
who will hide them or the Doctor dies. There is a jump to Ulf resting
near the Monk's stone cupboard. The Monk then comes out of hiding and
knocks him out. This scene was good, with lots of drama - the drama
we've had before was in short bursts, so it's nice to have a long run.
Steven and Vicki look for the secret passage, but apparently the area
looks very different in daylight. They eventually find it. In the
meantime, Sven decides to check on the Doctor but he is not in his cell!
The secret passage door is wide open, but as he looks down it the
Doctor emerges from behind the door and knocks him out. These scenes are
well done, moving most of the characters to the monastery and showing
more of the Doctors cleverness with this ploy.
While this was happening, the Monk goes down to the village and asks
Wulnoth to get the villagers to prepare beacon fires on the cliffs,
claiming that 'building materials' were coming on a ship so that he
could repair the monastery. After the Monk leaves, Wulnoth asks Edith
what the Doctor said about an invasion. This scene is nice, showing more
of the Monk's plan coming into play, but also the fact that the
villagers are not as gullible as the Monk thinks.
Steven and Vicki emerge the other end of the passage, and are alarmed by
Sven's unconscious body. They don't stop to contemplate it though,
because they don't have the time to. We jump back to the Monk, who
speaks to Ulf, saying he has made beacons for his fellow Vikings. Little
does he know, the Doctor is listening and places a sword at his throat,
ordering him to explain his plan. While this is happening, Steven and
Vicki find a cable which runs into the Monk's stone cupboard, and they
enter it to find that the Monk has a TARDIS. These short scenes were
good, moving the story along well - Vicki and Steven finally get to the
monastery, the Doctor finally has a hold over the Monk that's
substantial, and Steven and Vicki uncover that the Monk has a TARDIS
like the Doctor's...
Next Time:
Guess.
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