This adventure is a sign of the times in that after a great start it gets spoiled by problems that had crept into the show since Graham Williams and Anthony Read had taken over as producer and script editor. Some silliness and lack of quality in production values detract from what could have been a great, dark story. I really believe that with Hinchcliffe and Holmes in charge, as they had been in Seasons 12 to 14, this could have been a classic. As it is, it is still decent overall thanks to the first half but the second half is a disappointment.
The first 2 parts of this 6 parter are such interesting, dark and intriguing episodes that I rate them 10/10. The Doctor, Leela and K-9 arrive on Gallifrey after a the Doctor had a meeting with some aliens and seemed to make a deal with them. The Doctor is acting very strangely and mysteriously as well as seeming very harsh towards Leela. It gradually appears that he has made a bargain with evil invaders to take over Gallifrey and that he has perhaps turned evil himself! These 2 episodes are gripping and fascinating as well as scarily dark as we wonder what has happened to our hero's usual decency. The arrival of the Vardans at the end of part 2 is fantastically dramatic and impactful as viewers are horrified by the Doctor's apparent betrayal of his people and friends. Even though the edge is taken off by the rubbish on screen realisation of the Vardan's this could be fully resolved by an effects makeover and I do not judge that scene by shortcomings of that one moment of poor effects.
I would love a new CGI improved version of this whole story, it would help by making the Vardans look good and other visual improvements. However, in Parts 3 to 5 the Vardans are shown to have bigger problems that cannot be resolved just with effects. The voice performances are as rubbish as their appearance and when we see them in their humanoid form we see the terrible actors fully and it would require a complete replacement of these characters with CGI and new actors somehow to improve it. Therefore, whilst I do not judge too heavily for poor effects the issues of the acting start to drag down quality in a way I cannot ignore.
Part 3 is still great in terms of story with plenty of darkness, intrigue and interest. The main cast are very strong with The Doctor, Barusa, Castellan and Leela performing their roles to excellent effect. K-9 is good too. The costumes and tribal weaponry of the outer Gallifreyans is a slight weakness though and the Vardans are just awful. They alone take Part 3 down a bit but luckily they are not in it too much at this stage. As they become more central and appear more on screen in Parts 4 and 5 it detracts from what was potentially a great story and we get the arrival of the Sontarans who turn out to be as badly acted as the Vardans! It rather spoils it. The story itself for the first 4 or 5 parts remains pretty solid and the main cast remains great but the acting of the villains is the major negative which drops the episodes from their potential.
Finally we reach Part 6 and at this point the Vardans are thankfully eliminated from the adventure but we still have the rubbish Sontarans and a poor attempt to show different parts of the TARDIS interior. I would love a CGI overhaul of this as seeing the TARDIS room and corridors looking like old factory interiors or school corridors is unimpressive. The real issue is that this is all done for a needless, muddled 'chase' around with the story just fizzling out with a weak conclusion. There are still strengths as Tom Baker, Louise Jameson, John Leeson, John Arnatt, Milton Johns and Christopher Tranchell perform well throughout all 6 parts and until the finale the story is dark, dramatic and fascinating. The conclusion is a bit of a mess though and sadly Leela leaves at the end of this story in a way which is too out of the blue and unsatisfying. Louise Jameson was terrific throughout her time and Leela was a great companion. Her exit is not what she deserved.
The major issue is the Vardans and Sontarans who are very bad and that sabotages what could have been a great serial. Thanks to the opening two parts, the strengths of the main cast and continuing strong story elements the adventure still gets a good overall rating from me. The weak elements are not really the major aspects of the adventure but I dream of seeing a version where the TARDIS interior has a CGI enhancement and the Vardans and Sontarans whole performances are removed and replaced somehow. It would be so much better without their inadequate acting and visual realisation.
My ratings: Parts 1 & 2 - 10/10, Part 3 - 8.5/10, Parts 4 & 5 - 7/10, Part 6 - 5.5/10. Overall - 8/10.
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