Refers Too All Four Episodes . Spoilers
The Tardis lands on the jungle Planet of Deva Loka . The group split up and Tegan quickly becomes possessed by the mythical demon The Mara . Meanwhile the Doctor finds an Earth survey team and becomes hostage to military man Hindle who is showing signs of psychosis
This won the wooden spoon in the Doctor Who Monthly's season survey of 1982 . I also remember not being too taken by it on its initial broadcast being rather slow and talkative . However after seeing it again a few times since then I have no hesitation in awarding it ten out of ten and is one of the very best stories the show has given to television . JNT said " The memory cheats " and it can cheat in a good way
Let's get the bad points out of the way . It's obviously filmed in a television studio and the military wear pith helmets just in case anyone may miss the subtext that imperialism is a bad thing . On top of that the climax of the story suffers when the Mara is revealed to be something resembling a giant draught excluder but apart from these small hiccups we have a masterpiece rarely seen in the show
What makes Kinda so wonderful is the superb acting on show . Richard Todd is possibly the biggest name actor to have appeared in the classic series after appearing in so many popular films in the 50s and 60s and he doesn't disappoint though to be honest the role of Sanders could easily have been given by any elderly actor . Nerys Hughes is cast against type in a serious role and one wonders why DOCTOR WHO production teams didn't try out a mature , intelligent surrogate companion more often . . Best performance goes to Simon Rouse as Hindle and it's sad that when acting awards were given out by the likes of the BAFTA's and the like the guest cast of DOCTOR WHO were always overlooked . Rouse could have played Hindle as a generic looney with a gun and treated the show as children's television but his performance is perhaps alongside Michael Wisher in Genesis Of The Daleks the only time an actor on the show deserved a BAFTA nod . Rouse is spellbinding in his role and the fact he would later become a household face in THE BILL doesn't detract . We also get appearances from the actress best known as Lou Beale in EASTENDERS and another THE BILL regular Reg Hollis which again doesn't detract . If you think you've seen Adrian Mills before that's because he was one of the panellists on THAT'S LIFE . He doesn't distract and the only distracting performance is by ... Mathew Waterhouse
Of course the cast are helped by a combination of scripting by Christopher Bailey and direction by Peter Grimwade . There was a fan myth that Christopher Bailey was a pen name for Kate Bush which was half believed and it's easy to see why with a story having a meta-physical new age Bhuddist/Hindu subtext . I personally thought it might have been written by Dennis Potter due to the characters reverting to childhood as in Blue Remembered Hills . This was merely misguided speculation on my part but when you've DOCTOR WHO come up with such an unusual type of tale you're willing to believe anything . One interesting aspect producer JNT told Grimwade to tone down from the script was the sexuality of the possessed Tegan which was much more overt than appeared on screen and is something of a pity when you've got a story like this pushing boundaries . As it stands Grimwade has nothing to be ashamed of and many scenes such as Hindle doing " a jack in the box " might have appeared silly but are both dramatic and chilling alongside the more understated and haunting aspects such as Sanders and Hindle discussing their planned suicide by blowing up the survey base . Even the overlooked aspect of incidental music becomes something special here and Kinda is very special indeed
Let me just repeat that this was considered the weakest story in season 19 by the readers of Doctor Who Monthly which sometimes indicates if you don't vote then you get all you deserve . Thankfully Kind has been rehabilitated by fandom and is one of the finest productions of British television . It also hits back at the great myth that DOCTOR WHO is nothing more than a badly acted silly show for children and Kinda is one of the greatest defences against that myth
The Tardis lands on the jungle Planet of Deva Loka . The group split up and Tegan quickly becomes possessed by the mythical demon The Mara . Meanwhile the Doctor finds an Earth survey team and becomes hostage to military man Hindle who is showing signs of psychosis
This won the wooden spoon in the Doctor Who Monthly's season survey of 1982 . I also remember not being too taken by it on its initial broadcast being rather slow and talkative . However after seeing it again a few times since then I have no hesitation in awarding it ten out of ten and is one of the very best stories the show has given to television . JNT said " The memory cheats " and it can cheat in a good way
Let's get the bad points out of the way . It's obviously filmed in a television studio and the military wear pith helmets just in case anyone may miss the subtext that imperialism is a bad thing . On top of that the climax of the story suffers when the Mara is revealed to be something resembling a giant draught excluder but apart from these small hiccups we have a masterpiece rarely seen in the show
What makes Kinda so wonderful is the superb acting on show . Richard Todd is possibly the biggest name actor to have appeared in the classic series after appearing in so many popular films in the 50s and 60s and he doesn't disappoint though to be honest the role of Sanders could easily have been given by any elderly actor . Nerys Hughes is cast against type in a serious role and one wonders why DOCTOR WHO production teams didn't try out a mature , intelligent surrogate companion more often . . Best performance goes to Simon Rouse as Hindle and it's sad that when acting awards were given out by the likes of the BAFTA's and the like the guest cast of DOCTOR WHO were always overlooked . Rouse could have played Hindle as a generic looney with a gun and treated the show as children's television but his performance is perhaps alongside Michael Wisher in Genesis Of The Daleks the only time an actor on the show deserved a BAFTA nod . Rouse is spellbinding in his role and the fact he would later become a household face in THE BILL doesn't detract . We also get appearances from the actress best known as Lou Beale in EASTENDERS and another THE BILL regular Reg Hollis which again doesn't detract . If you think you've seen Adrian Mills before that's because he was one of the panellists on THAT'S LIFE . He doesn't distract and the only distracting performance is by ... Mathew Waterhouse
Of course the cast are helped by a combination of scripting by Christopher Bailey and direction by Peter Grimwade . There was a fan myth that Christopher Bailey was a pen name for Kate Bush which was half believed and it's easy to see why with a story having a meta-physical new age Bhuddist/Hindu subtext . I personally thought it might have been written by Dennis Potter due to the characters reverting to childhood as in Blue Remembered Hills . This was merely misguided speculation on my part but when you've DOCTOR WHO come up with such an unusual type of tale you're willing to believe anything . One interesting aspect producer JNT told Grimwade to tone down from the script was the sexuality of the possessed Tegan which was much more overt than appeared on screen and is something of a pity when you've got a story like this pushing boundaries . As it stands Grimwade has nothing to be ashamed of and many scenes such as Hindle doing " a jack in the box " might have appeared silly but are both dramatic and chilling alongside the more understated and haunting aspects such as Sanders and Hindle discussing their planned suicide by blowing up the survey base . Even the overlooked aspect of incidental music becomes something special here and Kinda is very special indeed
Let me just repeat that this was considered the weakest story in season 19 by the readers of Doctor Who Monthly which sometimes indicates if you don't vote then you get all you deserve . Thankfully Kind has been rehabilitated by fandom and is one of the finest productions of British television . It also hits back at the great myth that DOCTOR WHO is nothing more than a badly acted silly show for children and Kinda is one of the greatest defences against that myth