Doctor Who (TV Series) Arc of Infinity: Part One (1983) User Reviews

It starts off well enough

[Sleepin_Dragon · 7/10 · 19 August 2015]

The follow on story from the much maligned Time Flight, now i'm one of the minority that has a soft spot for it, but i know it's universally disliked, could Arc of Infinity offer a greater appeal?

It kicks off on Gallifrey, a rogue Timelord speaks to a seemingly extra terrestrial being, and soon states the Doctor must be used in their plan. The Doctor, travelling with just Nyssa (deep joy) is hijacked in space by the being, and the scene is set in Amsterdam, where we meet our two travellers Colin and Robin. The rogue Timelord is covering his tracks with murder on Gallifrey and has transmitted the Doctor's Bio data extract. The creature has attempted but failed to bond with the Doctor. The TARDIS is recalled to Gallifrey by order of the high council. The Doctor doesn't get the welcome he hoped for as he's detained by chief guard Commander Maxel.

I love the fact it's just the Doctor and Nyssa, definitely his best companion, she could have been even better if she'd had more solo time.

The costumes are so much fun, I like the assembled high council, there are some noted thespians on display, Elspet Gray, Leonard Sachs and Michael Gough, bliss!!

The Ergon is the all time daftest who monster, it's like a GM Emu, it is remarkably bad.

It's great that we're on Gallifrey, nu Who has definitely been robbed of a few Gallifrey stories.

The story and script are actually really clever, it is delivered slickly, it feels intelligent without being over complex.

I loved Colin Baker's Maxel too, a return would have been fun at some point.

The Amsterdam setting is great, it makes a nice change, it has a continental feel. Good old JNT.

Overall, flawed I know, but the first part of Arc of Infinity is not half bad it's set the scene well, and had lots happening

7/10

Decent season opener.

[tonygarraway2009 · 8/10 · 1 January 2018]

As a Doctor Who story I would consider Arc of Infinity to be neither a classic nor one of the lesser adventures. On all counts I would consider it to be a reasonably well executed story with plenty of elements to keep most Doctor Who fans entertained.

The location sequences in Amsterdam work well within the frame of the story. It's a refreshing change that the Doctor's adventures are taking place somewhere other than in England or the home counties.

Roger Limb provides the incidental music. I must admit I rather like Limb's music in this story. It works well at creating a sense of mystery and suspense throughout the four episodes.

This is one of the better stories for the character of Nyssa as played by Sarah Sutton. Due to the absence of Tegan for much of the story, Nyssa has a lot of interaction with the Doctor. I feel that the character of Nyssa worked very well with the Fifth Doctor.

On the guest cast front, there are some heavyweights with Leonard Sachs and Michael Gough. Both play the roles of Borusa and Hedin well, even if they don't have a great deal to do. Ian Collier is also good as Omega. He makes the character appear all powerful yet rather sad at the same time. Paul Jericho is entertaining as the Castellan and future Doctor Colin Baker clearly relishes the role of Maxil.

Overall I would give this story 8/10.

To infinity and beyond.

[A_Kind_Of_CineMagic · 8/10 · 4 October 2019]

Review of all 4 parts:

This story at the start of the 20th anniversary year of the show refers back to the 10th anniversary story The Three Doctors which featured Timelord hero Omega having gone mad after being trapped in a world of antimatter for many hundreds of years. Just like that story we have Omega trying to return from the world of antimatter and using The Doctor to help him.

I would say in this adventure Omega's plot makes less sense and the logic of various things is unclear. The coincidence of Tegan's involvement is too much of a contrivance, the location of Amsterdam seems to have no reason, the way Omega goes about his plan and how others respond seems odd at times and the Ergon creature is unsatisfactory in concept and appearance. However, there is also a lot to enjoy in this serial.

There is plenty of drama and entertainment. The locations are nice. Peter Davison as The Doctor is on great form. Nyssa has some very good moments and is generally strong support. Tegan and the backpackers are OK. The guest cast of Timelords is great with Michael Gough as classy as always, Leonard Sachs and Elspet Gray effective in their roles and Colin Baker, before being cast as the 6th Doctor is excellent as Maxil. He has the same supercilious demeanour that he portrayed in his first season as The Doctor but while I did not enjoy that for The Doctor it is good for this role and he acts perfectly adding quality to every scene.

The use of Gallifrey in a story in the 20th anniversary season is appropriate and there are some nice touches to the political shenanigans. Omega himself is pretty bonkers and looks rather strange but there are some exciting moments and menace created by threats which work well.

The special edition version has some lovely effects. A makeover is needed for the Ergon and a few other moments but overall this is fun and nice to look at.

Therefore, despite the shortcomings of the plot I rate this as a pretty solid if unexceptional story overall.

My ratings: Part 1 - 7.5/10, Part 2 - 7/10, Part 3 - 8/10, Part 4 - 7/10. Overall - 7.38/10.

The Return of Omega!

[wetmars · 8/10 · 6 March 2020]

Dang, this episode was so much better than the Time-flight serial, super entertaining and fun fact!

Did you know that one of the locations used for shooting in Amsterdam was Prinsengracht, the street that housed the attic Anne Frank and her family hid from the Nazis in.

It's kinda funny to see Colin Baker in this serial because well, he's the sixth doctor! The most underrated doctor of the classic series.

Anyways, good solid season opener. Can't wait to see what's next!

Doctor Who is an adventure, drama, and family, longest-running sci-fi show since 1963.

Passable first episode.

[poolandrews · 5/10 · 21 March 2008]

Doctor Who: Arc of Infinity: Part One starts as a shadowy unseen treacherous Timelord informs his sinister master that because of time, present location & personality the Doctor (Peter Davison) has been chosen... A renegade Timelord (Ian Collier) leaves the anti-matter Uinverse known as Rondel, a collapsed Q-Star which shield's anti-matter & is a gateway between the anti-matter & matter dimensions that has becomes known as the Arc of Infinity. The renegade tries to bond with the Doctor in order to reverse his polarity & remain in our Universe but fails. On Gallifrey the Timelords become aware of what is happening & activate the recall circuit inside the TARDIS to land it in the security area on Gallifrey...

Episode 1 from season 20 this Doctor Who adventure originally aired here in the UK during January 1983 & was the first story from Peter Davison's second season as the Doctor. After the absolute disaster that was Time-Flight (1982) that ended season nineteen I was hoping for a return to form although by the time Arc of Infinity was made the divine right to expect it had long gone, sure during the 60's & 70's there were some poor Doctor Who stories but there were almost always a couple of gems in a season but unfortunately during the 80's this was not always the case & genuine true classics became rather thin on the ground. Arc of Infinity kicked off the twentieth anniversary season of Doctor Who & it does so with a whimper rather than a bang, in a strange case of coincidence (yeah, right) the villain from the opening tenth anniversary season story The Three Doctors (1973) makes a reappearance as does the Doctors home planet Gallifrey & his people the Timelords. Originally scripted under the titles of The Time of Neman & then The Time of Omega before being retitled Arc of Infinity by Johnny Byrne this story suffers from the same basic problem as Time-Flight in that the plot is too confusing with far too much pointless pseudo-science which makes no sense. There are just so many instances of unfathomable exposition which will mean nothing to the average person, it will just leave them scratching their heads as one baffling explanation for an event is given after the other & even seasoned Doctor Who fans will some of it less than easy to follow. The cliffhanger ending to this episode is also really weak & you don't need to watch Part Two to work out how it's going to be resolved. On the plus side with no Tegan as a companion it's just Nyssa & the Doctor which I must say I thought they worked really well against each other & I would have liked an entire story with just Nyssa & the Doctor.

For some pointless reason producer John Nathan-Turner insisted Arc of Infinity shoot on location in Amsterdam (in these scenes you can see the public standing there looking straight into the camera), only the second time at that point that an episode of Doctor Who had been filmed outside the UK after City of Death (1979) from season seventeen was partially shot in Paris. Since we last saw Gallifrey in The Invasion of Time (1978) during season fifteen they have had the interior decorators in & the results look a bit cheap with beige sofa's & horrible multi coloured plastic deco. The Timelord costumes still look good though. This episode is also notable because Colin Baker has a large role as Commander Maxil who of course would go on to play the sixth Doctor over two seasons after Peter Davison left the role. A special mention goes to Ergon, a silly monster that looks like a giant bony plucked chicken.

Arc of Infinity: Part One is an OK episode thanks to no Tegan & the fact it gives Nyssa a chance to shine, unfortunately that situation would soon change...

Well, it's starting off ok...

[ianweech · 8/10 · 24 January 2021]

It's good enough. I don't know what to think right now. My brains are still fried from the finale of season 19.

When Rubber Chickens Attack

[Theo Robertson · 5/10 · 31 January 2014]

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