We continue the Doctor regeneration stories in the lead up to the 13th Doctor’s regeneration with the 4th Doctor’s final serial in “Logopolis.” This is a story that suffers from a bit of a cluttered cast and a bit too much tell over show but is still an enjoyable sendup to Tom Baker’s 4th Doctor. This one is worth checking out, especially once the story takes off.
The serial was directed by Peter Grimwade and written by Christoper H. Bidmead.
The Doctor and Master must form a temporary truce when the Master’s plot on Logopolis leads to the universe unraveling and must be stopped.
SPOILERS ahead
The Pros:
Saving the Universe – When we finally get to the Master’s plot and him showing up the story takes off as we have the Doctor, Master and Tegan as one team and Nyssa and Adric on the other team as they must work to save the universe’s destruction. It keeps the tension going and gives actions for all the characters.
The Master – Anthony Ainley does a great job as the Master as he seeks to save the universe after he nearly caused the end of the universe but also seeks to blackmail the universe and control it. He never stops being a villain so it creates another problem the Doctor must face through the serial.
The Doctor – Tom Baker’s 4th Doctor is one of my favorite Doctors and in this we see him seeking to protect his companions and save the universe while still keeping distance between his companions as he knows his death and regeneration is coming. Tom Baker gives such amazing pathos and his remembering all his companions before regenerating is a powerful scene as his last act saves the universe and stops the Master’s takeover plot.
The Doctor’s Good-bye – Adric, Nyssa and Tegan all call out the Doctor’s name as he recalls Romana, Sarah Jane Smith, K-9 and all past companions over his run. There is sadness in it but it is touching soon as he remembers those closest to him before he regenerates into the 5th Doctor.
Okay:
Logopolis – You have a civilization of white haired humanoids who compute through language and keep the universe going. They don’t get much depth than this though and mostly exist as an interesting idea. With more development the planet and people could have been a pro.
The Companions – Nyssa’s father was killed and body possessed by the Master and the Master killed Tegan’s Aunt. We get moments of sadness but not time to mourn as like Adric they are largely plot devices driving the plot. This is the problem with 3 companions as no one gets development. Still all the performances are good they just deserved time to be better explored as characters, especially Tegan as this was her introduction story.
The Cons:
The Setup and Pacing – The first 2 of 4 episodes lack focus and because of it have really slow pacing. All of it is meant to be setup of the Master causing the accidental unraveling of the universe but not enough is done to focus on that coming up or to explore Tegan and Adric as characters.
Tell Over Show – We are told what Logopolis. We are told Tegan is an airline stewardess and that is it. So much of the first 2 episodes are tell over show and it keeps the story from ever reaching the levels of good.
This was an enjoyable serial that with a bit more development could have been good or great. With less companions the story could have been more focused and with it Logopolis as a planet and people could have been better explored too. Still this was an enjoyable regeneration episode that I do recommend.
Final Score: 7.5 / 10 Boosted by the Doctor’s good-bye and seeing his past companions before regenerating.
We continue exploring the Doctor and his facing of the Cybermen with the 5th Doctor in “Earthshock.” I had already reviewed “Revenge of the Cybermen” when the 4th Doctor faced the Cybermen and the only time the 3rd Doctor faced the Cybermen was in “The Five Doctors.” I’ll post both of those reviews at the end of this one. “Earthshock” is a story that had so much potential but ended up cluttering it up. It is already bad that the Doctor has more than 2 companions as that almost always means one will be underwritten and this 4 part story introduces a ton of side characters some of whom are great but others who are just as underwritten. This is an important story in the lore though and I’ll explore more of that in the review. For my non-spoiler thoughts I enjoyed this story though it could have been more. It is still worth checking out for any fan of the Classic Doctor Who and the Cybermen.
The story was directed by Peter Grimwade and written by Eric Saward.
The story involves uncovering a Cybermen plots to stop the militaries uniting on Earth against the Cyber Fleet.
SPOILERS ahead
The Pros:
The Scope – One thing this story does well is scope. It takes in a cave with missing scientists, outside the cave and on freighter. All of this gives us an idea of just how big the threat and event is. The Cybermen do not appear until the end of Part 1 but the military conference hints at why there is such a large military force investigating missing scientists in the cave. We also hear bout the Earth being on lockdown after the Cybermen attempt to set off a destructive bomb on Earth is stopped by the Doctor. This scale lends so much to the stakes and tension of the story.
Lieutenant Scott – Lt. Scott is a fun character. He starts out with extreme distrust of the Doctor, believing he was the one to kill his men but quickly comes to his aid when he learns he is a friend. He also is the one factor the Cyber-Leader is unable to predict as he and his men are a constant thorn in the Cybermen plots from stopping the Cybermen’s Androids and stopping the invasion force on the ship by buying time. I was glad he survived. He reminded me a bit of Brigadier. James Warwick was great in the role.
The Freighter Captain Briggs – Captain Briggs is played by Beryl Reid and though we first meet someone who seems more concerned with getting her paycheck rather than taking the Cybermen threat seriously, that changes. She like Scott does all she can to work with the Doctor and Adric when she learns she was played by her crewman Ringway and her stubbornness and quick action leads to them neutralizing Ringway when he turns against them. She was such a fun character, also glad she survived.
Tegan – Tegan is the only captain besides Adric who is active in the story. Janet Fielding is good at playing her as the reluctant hero, though it is good she takes action as she is one of the main people fighting against the Cybermen versus those who stay on the TARDIS. She is just as good at fighting them as the Lt. Scott and she is the one to first use the Cybermen’s weapons against them. She also helps the Doctor and Adric sort out their differences in the first part of the story.
The Cyber-Leader and the Cybermen – David Banks has a great voice and presence as the Cyber-Leader. It reminds me of Christopher Lee and I would see why they would have him voice other Cyber-Leaders in “The Five Doctors,” “Attack of the Cybermen,” and “Silver Nemesis” which are the later appearances of the Cybermen in the classic series. In this the Cybermen are all about plans and blowing up the Earth to stop the military alliance against them from being formed and to conquer the Earth in turn. It isn’t a bad plan they just underestimated the Doctor on more than one occasion. I attribute a lot of this to the ego of the Cyber-Leader as whenever he had the chance he would tell the Doctor to watch the plan unfold. I’m not a fan of this bulky design of the Cybermen but I appreciate that in this story they never stop feeling like a threat and they take a lot to defeat.
The Doctor – This is a good performance by Peter Davison! He and Colin Baker are my least favorite Doctors but in this story I see a lot of the inspiration that Tennat pulled for the 10th Doctor. At one point he speaks of the joy of smelling the flowers to the Cyber-Leader and how important it is to feel and care. We also see how much this Doctor holds in and how he goes quiet and alone when angry or annoyed but also his courage too as when his companions at times just want to leave he is the only one wanting to fight on and stop the Cybermen. There are hints at the beginning he might have known Adric’s death was coming too, which adds another element of sorrow to it all.
Okay:
Nyssa – Nyssa is the smart companion like Adric and though she gets to problem solve once ends up spending the majority of the time on the TARDIS. I liked her interactions with others. She was really underwritten though and it is largely Sarah Sutton’s performance that keeps her interesting and not a con in the story.
Adric – This is the story where Adric dies…and it was entirely preventable. The only reason he dies is because he gets obsessed with solving a logic puzzle but then a Cybermen destroys the way to defuse the bomb leading to Adric’s death. Adric is one of my least favorite companions as he is a lot like early seasons of Wesley Crusher on “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” where he is an arrogant know-it-all with plot armor. This story at least gave him a bit of development though as he wanted to return to his own universe for a good portion of the story and him being torn between his desire for home and for adventure made the story tragic. In the end he died because he couldn’t stop his desire to solve a final puzzle.
The Cons:
Professor Kyle – Professor Kyle is the professor whose party originally died in the mind from the Cybermen’s androids. She is eventually killed herself by the Cybermen and her being a Professor is never a useful point in the story in the fight against them. In the end she comes with the Doctor to the Briggs’ Freighter where the Cybermen are waking up and stays on the TARDIS until she is killed. This character is a waste and could have been anyone.
Cluttered Cast – Lt. Scott has a ton of soldiers and there are a lot of people on the freighter crew. A few named characters die but we spend so little time with them that the story is unable to give it the weight it deserves. In the end the scenes like the Doctor and his 3 companions is cluttered and crowded and in that character development of people is left behind.
Ringway – Ringway is the villain and we never really understand why he is serving the Cybermen. I get he is unhappy in his job but did he really think an alien force intent on wiping out humanity would help him or intend to keep him alive? In the end his motivations are never explored and he is killed by the Cybermen. Another wasted character in this story.
This was an enjoyable yet flawed story. Having more than 2 companions really hurts character development of the core cast as a whole and having huge casts like this may help with giving scale to a threat but ends up cheapening character in the process. Given Adric dies, a lot more focus should have been on exploring what being a companion of the Doctor meant to him and we didn’t get that. Still, this does a good job with the Cybermen as a futuristic threat and Peter Davison does give one of his best performances as the Doctor in this story.
Final Score: 7.2 / 10
Here is my “The Five Doctors” review. Which is the only time the 3rd Doctor faced the Cybermen in the show.:
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