As we work I way to the 13th Doctor’s upcoming regeneration story next we have the 5th Doctor’s regeneration story in “The Caves of Androzani.” This is a serial that succeeds in the dark tone and action but fails in giving compelling characters who are any deeper than what they appear to be. Peter Davison carries this serial and makes it okay but I failed to enjoy it. The characters needed nuance for this story to fully work and there wasn’t any nuance or character depth present.
The serial was directed by Graeme Harper and written by Robert Holmes.
The Doctor and Peri find themselves trapped in the middle of a war for the life-prolonging substance of “spectrox” on the planet Androzani Minor.
SPOILERS ahead
The Pros:
The Tone – The dark tone works well in this serial. The war is established early and we see how ruthless the Adrozani Major leaders are in Morgus and his general Chellak are as well as Sharaz Jek and his androids are as well as a group of mercenaries are who are being used by Morgus are too. The dark and bleak tone of this story works for the story being told.
The Action – The action is good in this and never lags. We have the mercenaries fighting the Adrozani Major military and same goes with the mercs. This is an action heavy serial given the war story and it is one of the strongest elements.
The Doctor – The Doctor and Peri begin dying pretty early on and the Doctor’s motives are to save and cure Peri through the serial. He is the only good person in this entire story and it really demonstrates why he is a hero. It is a shame the 6th Doctor introduction has this new regeneration as terrible. Still Peter Davison is giving his all and gives us an amazing performance in his last serial.
The Themes of Revenge and Betrayal – Morgus betrayed Sharaz Jek leading to him being scarred by the mud, leading to Morgus getting killed by him. Morgus’s secretary also takes over after Morgus had killed the President and went to get the “spectrox.” Revenge and betrayal is a constant theme and the secretary is one of the few characters to survive. Everyone on Androzani Minor dies with the Doctor and Peri just escaping.
Okay:
Peri – Peri’s action isn’t consistent and she is captured most of the time. I didn’t think she was entirely a con and was okay as she at least wasn’t just a passive person following the Doctor. I got their friendship in this.
The Cons:
The Factions and Leaders – All the leaders are awful cruel. Morgus is paranoid, Sharaz Jek is a creep and Chellak and the Merc leader are just cruel and blindly following orders. There is no depth and beyond base character motivations and it keeps the story from being enjoyable.
The Regeneration and 6th Doctor Introduction – We get the 5th Doctor’s companions telling him to live and the Master telling him to die. It is a mess of a presentation and the 6th Doctor appears and insults Peri showing he’s cruel like everyone in this story. The 5th Doctor’s empathy is gone now and with us is just another cruel character. Why should we care about this new Doctor?
This story is okay but needed more nuance and depth to be enjoyable or good. The fact the regeneration is bad doesn’t help. Still as a darker Doctor serial this story is worth checking out as Davison is giving his all and does a great job. It is a shame he wasn’t given a better final serial, though this isn’t the worst of the “Doctor Who” regeneration stories.
Final Score: 6.4 / 10
cameronmoviesandtv 
[…] The 5th Doctor – Season 21, Serial 6 – “The Caves of Androzani” – The … […]