Doctor Who (TV Series) The Ribos Operation: Part Four (1978) User Reviews

A slightly flat, padded finale.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 6/10 · 16 August 2015]

Unlike the intros on the previous parts, this one is very short, The Doctor uses his high frequency whistle, which brings out a shrivenzale. The Graff coerces the Seeker to accompany him and his guards in the catacombs to seek out Unstoffe, Garron finds him first after pinching the detector from Romana. The seeker heeds a warning that only one of the Graff's group will survive, but agrees to help and discovers Unstoffe. A bloodbath ensues and they all die, Sholakh, the Seeker and The Doctor tricks the Graff into blowing himself up. Unstoffe and Garron escape, as the Doctor and Romana have claimed the first segment.

The shrivenzale doesn't look too good when it's well lit, it looks exactly what it is sadly a chap in a rubber suit.

There is a little bit of padding in the final part. The Seeker is once again shockingly bad, and clearly hit the sherry too soon.

The Doctor does a kind of non Doctor thing by blowing up the Graff, it doesn't really fit in with Tom's Doctor.

Unstoffe and Garron were a great double act, I would imagine had they been used in Nu Who they would have recurred.

A slightly disappointing final episode, which feels very padded until the last 5 minutes or so, as Tom says '1 down, only 5 more to go.' This episode gets a sluggish 6, whilst overall I'd give The Ribos Operation an 8.

You Can Bet Your Scringe-Stone on This Story

[darryl-tahirali · 7/10 · 16 March 2022]

As Unstoffe (Nigel Plaskitt) and Binro (Timothy Bateson) flee into the Catacombs, the labyrinth of crypts and caves that run beneath Ribos's main city of Shur, in Part Three of "The Ribos Operation" with the Graff Vynda-K's (Paul Seed) gold and the jethrik Unstoffe and Garron (Iain Cuthbertson) used to lure the Graff, it presages the schematic for Part Four, which is a tunnel chase that is not only the default "Doctor Who" fallback to stretch a narrative, it also indicates that Robert Holmes's splendid scripting through the first three parts has run out of gas.

Yes, Bateson, so moving in Part Three, gets a curtain call to reinforce Binro's pathos, and Seed, his Graff becoming progressively unhinged, shows both his casual cruelty and his wild-eyed fanaticism, particularly in his final scene with its non-diagetic sound effects suggesting the deterioration of his mental state. But this conclusion to the four-part story is a desultory wrapping-up of loose ends with no figurative bang to it even if there is an actual one.

Still, it is hardly a disaster, just a keen disappointment given the first three parts of Holmes's wry, winking, witty saga that launches the season 16 story arc "The Key to Time," which sends the Time Lord the Doctor and his fellow Time Lord and companion Romana to scour the universe for the six segments to the Key to Time, all disguised, before evil forces can do the same. It should be no surprise what the first segment, located on Ribos, had been disguised as; that was never meant to be a brain-teaser, only an amusing diversion.

With no location shooting, "The Ribos Operation" lived or died on the sound stage. Ken Ledsham's intricate production design creates a believable medieval urban setting based on Russian motifs, which are echoed in June Hudson's equally meticulous costuming, particularly the headgear. The shrivenzale is underwhelming as a monster, a typical "Doctor Who" bugbear, but there have been worse--and there are worse to come. (Hello, Erato and the Myrka.) Series mainstay Dudley Simpson supplies atmospheric incidental music that also suggests the Russian motif. Finally, director George Spenton-Foster keeps the pace going, providing momentum even during the tunnel chasing that bogs down Part Four.

The original "Doctor Who" incarnation was always a spit-and-baling wire proposition as the production team scrambled to provide content to fill about six months of every year. Perennially strapped for cash and time, they tried to develop strong stories with capable actors to deliver them. At the center of that were the writers who supplied the inspiration for others to flesh out.

Robert Holmes was one of the best at doing that, combining his love of language with his abiding theme of clashing civilizations and his droll humor highlighting the follies, foibles, and failings of human beings (even those playing aliens). "The Ribos Operation" stands as one of Holmes's best tales. You can bet your scringe-stone on that.

Overall rating for "The Ribos Operation," all four parts: 8/10.

The Ribos Operation: Messy plot but with some interesting elements

[bob the moo · 29 December 2016]

Free of companions aside form loyal robotic K9, the Doctor sets off free to go where he wants, but finds himself drawn to a strange place where he meets a man in an Emmanuel wicker chair sipping on a green cocktail. With none of this giving him pause, the Doctor accepts a task from this so-called 'White Guardian', to recover six hidden parts of the powerful Key to Time. To aide him with this he is connected with Time Lord Romanadvoratrelundar, whether he wants her as a companion or not. The two head off to the planet Ribos where they realize that the most likely piece of the Key to Time is actually being used in an elaborate con targeting exiled tyrant Graff Vynda-K.

The start to this season is quite interesting as I think it is the first to lay out the potential for a season-long narrative which holds all the individual series together, although one could argue that similar threads were loosely used in the UNIT era. That said, it is not the best setup as it is all just dropped in out of nowhere, looks cheap as a set, and has the constant distraction of why the Doctor has an odd mark on his lip (turns out Baker had been bitten by a dog). Likewise the new assistant is just dropped on him and there is a bit of a feeling of it all being rushed. Perhaps it comes with the territory, since the show is keen to get into the serials, and so it does with the Ribos Operation.

This plot is reasonably simple on the face of it, but the simple con is not particularly sharply delivered and feels messy and a little drawn out. Once I got into it, it felt a bit clearer and more enjoyable, but it remained a bit messy and not as smart as it could have been. There is a decent mix of humor and action in there, but all in all it wasn't particularly captivating in the broad sweep. The characters are mostly enjoyable; Baker is on decent form, but doesn't really make a connection with Tamm. She appears to have understood that the character is the equal of the Doctor in terms of species, but yet is not given material to show this – so she ends up being very much like other companions but her performance is quite snobby. Cuthberston, Plaskitt, and Seed, are enjoyable throughout, although the best character is Bateson's Binro, who is very well written and performed.

The sets and costumes are good, with only the brief views of the shrivenzale being a bit comical. Mostly it plays out as a decent episode with some good ideas and enjoyable elements, even if it doesn't flow or stick in the mind as well as it really ought to have.

Operation Slight of Hand...

[Xstal · 7/10 · 7 July 2022]

The Graff Vynda-K is an absolute nutter, only nonsense exhales from his mouth when he utters, but he's not going far, and he wins no cigar, though he does get the chance for a bit of a flutter.

One down, five to go, the pieces of puzzle have started to show.

Definitely not for me

[dalekprimelol · 4/10 · 10 June 2022]

I really get bored of this story after part two. It starts off good with the white guardian and the introduction of romana but once you get past that and the introduction of the setting there's really not much going on.