Doctor Who (TV Series) Full Circle: Part One (1980) User Reviews

It's Adric.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 23 February 2020]

The Doctor plans to take Romana back to Gallifrey, but The TARDIS experiences a strange interference, landing on a planet that definitely isn't Gallifrey.

I love this first part, it boasts tremendous atmosphere, it has intrigue, suspense, and a definite sense of unease running throughout it. What fate await these poor people, what is Mistfall, and what exactly are the insects. There's also a mystery surrounding what's happened to the TARDIS.

Notable for being the first appearance of Adric, love him or hate him.

I like the music, love the production values, the webs and bubbling water look great. The ending still looks terrific, those beings rising up out of the water.

It's an excellent start. 8/10

Traditional Imagery Meets Cerebral Science Fiction

[Theo Robertson · 7/10 · 21 January 2014]

Refers to all four episodes . Suggestive spoilers

Falling in to E-Space the Tardis crew find they may not be able to escape . Their problems are compounded when they land on the Planet Alzaruis and come across a crashed space liner . The humans aboard the liner say they're descended from the original survivors on board and during a period called Mistfall the inhabitants of the planet dubbed Marsh men emerge from the swamps to stalk the humans . As it turns out Mistfall is not only due but now taking place

This was written by a 19 year old fan from Edinburgh but as you may expect it doesn't contain any type of fan continuity and works because it doesn't contain any anally retentive fan continuity . Instead Andrew Smith has written a very intelligent and tightly scripted tale that remains in the camp of hard SF ideas , especially ones involving biology and evolution . That said it does owe something to the Gothic era of DOCTOR WHO and the episode one cliffhanger is amongst the very best the show has given us and I do remember watching this in 1980 thinking the show was getting back at what the show did best - sending children to hide behind the sofa

All the cliffhangers are very well developed and much of the credit should go to director Peter Grimwade for bringing a moody atmospheric story to screen and shows the audience how simple it is to bring an alien planet to life by borrowing a BBC smoke machine from the TOP OF THE POPS studio and shooting a scene beside a large pond . Did someone mention that every planet from the show is filmed in a quarry in Surrey ? Watch this story and it'll hopefully change your mind . Where the director falls down slightly is in the Marsh Spiders which look like exactly what they are - robotic model work though to be fair big hairy tarantulas weren't allowed to be produced since that'd be too scary for a family friendly show . Dare I say for some of us being absolutely terrified is the reason we watch the show ? That said it's flippant to complain about a lack of horror when we have a cerebral story that is replete with atmosphere especially compared to the preceeding years under Graham Williams . Perhaps the fact it is so intelligent damages the story somewhat and instead of low brow thrills we get a massive plot twist which while admirable does leave one thinking the narrative might have done with a few more thrills

The cast are slightly uneven . Once again we see a big name appearing in the show in the shape of George Baker amongst actors who are just starting out in the trade . This was another production quirk of JNT and was rather hit and miss . One of the problems of this is having a band of outsiders composed of juvenile delinquents who are very much these RADA trained juvenile delinquents who never come across as being anything other than young middle class thespians . I'm guessing Ray Winstone and Phil Daniels weren't available ? Somewhat typically the worst actor in the production just happens to be the character joining the TARDIS crew on a permanent basis

In summary Full Circle is a good story that mixes old fashioned traditional chills with very intelligent plotting and makes for a very enjoyable story that would have appealed to casual viewers . The only problem was that when it was broadcast all the casual viewers were watching Buck Rogers on ITV

Adric the Irritating...

[Xstal · 6/10 · 18 July 2022]

Negative coordinates suggest a problem that is serious, as the Tardis makes a landing on a planet called Alzarius, where some gatherers have been recalled to avoid something precarious, and from a lake that steams and bubbles, exits something quite mysterious.

Fully enjoyable

[A_Kind_Of_CineMagic · 9/10 · 10 April 2020]

Review of all 4 parts:

While this may not reach top level classic status this story is a really enjoyable slice of Doctor Who.

The story is a full on science fiction idea which is really interesting. It involves a spaceship that crashed generations ago with a society living aboard it that lives in fear of creatures called Marshmen that rise from the water in at a time known as Mistfall as well as fearing trying to pilot the ship away from the planet. The true background of the society is not what they think and it is a fascinating concept.

New companion Adric is introduced as the maths genius little brother of the young leader of a gang of rebels. Adric, his brother and some of the other Alzarians are pretty well presented characters and the Marshmen are cool monsters with a bit of depth to their backstory as well as menacing scenes as they emerge from the depths through the mist.

Tom Baker is great as always and Lalla Ward is solid backup as Romana.

Overall a very good, enjoyable story.

My ratings: Part 1 - 8.5/10, Parts 2 & 3 - 9/10, Part 4 - 8/10. Overall - 8.63/10.

The

pretty good

[ianweech · 8/10 · 24 March 2020]

I've been making my way through all of the old doctor who episodes. and i have mixed feelings about most of them. Normally they start well, then they sort of fizzle out near the end (ex: The dalek invasion of earth or Underworld) Let's hope this one stays strong till the end.