Refers To All Four Episodes . Major Spoilers
In Amsterdam two young backpackers grab a night's sleep in a derelict mansion only to be attacked by a strange bird like creature . Meanwhile on the Time Lord Planet of Gallifrey someone is trying to steal the biological code of The Doctor
In 1983 DOCTOR WHO was approaching its 20th Anniversary ( Terrifying to think how long ago that was ) and in order to celebrate this milestone of television , producer John Nathan Turner pulled out all the stops to make this a season to remember . Actually he didn't and season 20 was a something of a limp affair especially compared with the radical and dramatic previous season which didn't concern itself too much with nostalgia . This probably explains why season 19 was the best series produced under JNT simply because it tried to appeal to a mainstream casual audience and at this fairly early stage the writing on the wall that would eventually signal the end of the show was now coming in to view
Like the previous story Timeflight we do have another publicity coup by having location filming in Amsterdam but like Timeflight this seems to be done merely as a publicity coup and to give the cast and production team a short working holiday in Holland . Unlike the previous time when the show relocated to a foreign place - The City Of Death in 1979 - there's no reason for it to be set in a specific location and the story could have taken place anywhere The story itself is no great shakes being a premise where someone from an anti-matter universe is trying to embody their self in our universe . At least the script does foreshadow who the villain is going to be and did cause a stir with fandom when the villain is revealed at the cliffhanger in episode three but this type of nostalgia does tend to alienate a casual audience . After the shock reappearance of Omega it also leads to fandom howling that " His costume was much better in The Three Doctors " . As for foreshadowing as soon as someone mentions someones Australian relative we know Tegan will be making a contrived return to the show . And talking of Robin and Colin well done to the actors for managing to do complete their scenes with the Ergon without bursting in to hysterical laughter
As for the rest of the cast I'm constantly surprised as to how impressive Peter Davison is as The Doctor . My under estimation of him is almost certainly down to him following four legends in the title role . We also get a glimpse of future Doctor Colin Baker playing a heavy and in another example of foreshadowing he gets to shoot The Doctor ! We also get another obsession of JNT in casting relatively well known faces in the shape of Michael Gough and Leonard Sachs who don't seem to be able to do much with their vapidly written characters . In fact the whole production has a rather limp and drab feel that's missing a spark somewhere
In Amsterdam two young backpackers grab a night's sleep in a derelict mansion only to be attacked by a strange bird like creature . Meanwhile on the Time Lord Planet of Gallifrey someone is trying to steal the biological code of The Doctor
In 1983 DOCTOR WHO was approaching its 20th Anniversary ( Terrifying to think how long ago that was ) and in order to celebrate this milestone of television , producer John Nathan Turner pulled out all the stops to make this a season to remember . Actually he didn't and season 20 was a something of a limp affair especially compared with the radical and dramatic previous season which didn't concern itself too much with nostalgia . This probably explains why season 19 was the best series produced under JNT simply because it tried to appeal to a mainstream casual audience and at this fairly early stage the writing on the wall that would eventually signal the end of the show was now coming in to view
Like the previous story Timeflight we do have another publicity coup by having location filming in Amsterdam but like Timeflight this seems to be done merely as a publicity coup and to give the cast and production team a short working holiday in Holland . Unlike the previous time when the show relocated to a foreign place - The City Of Death in 1979 - there's no reason for it to be set in a specific location and the story could have taken place anywhere The story itself is no great shakes being a premise where someone from an anti-matter universe is trying to embody their self in our universe . At least the script does foreshadow who the villain is going to be and did cause a stir with fandom when the villain is revealed at the cliffhanger in episode three but this type of nostalgia does tend to alienate a casual audience . After the shock reappearance of Omega it also leads to fandom howling that " His costume was much better in The Three Doctors " . As for foreshadowing as soon as someone mentions someones Australian relative we know Tegan will be making a contrived return to the show . And talking of Robin and Colin well done to the actors for managing to do complete their scenes with the Ergon without bursting in to hysterical laughter
As for the rest of the cast I'm constantly surprised as to how impressive Peter Davison is as The Doctor . My under estimation of him is almost certainly down to him following four legends in the title role . We also get a glimpse of future Doctor Colin Baker playing a heavy and in another example of foreshadowing he gets to shoot The Doctor ! We also get another obsession of JNT in casting relatively well known faces in the shape of Michael Gough and Leonard Sachs who don't seem to be able to do much with their vapidly written characters . In fact the whole production has a rather limp and drab feel that's missing a spark somewhere