OK, right I have just recently finished watching another Doctor Who story, so this post is, yes....(wait for it) another revisitation. However this time the post will again not be labelled as a revisited one since I didn't name it as the story title.
Anyway to cut to the chase, the story in question is City of Death from the Tom Baker era, which has always been seen as one of the best stories from the Graham Williams producer era (who took over from Philip Hinchcliffe as producer and was succeeded by John Nathan-Turner, who was actually the production unit manager on this story!).
So, after 40 years how does this classic fair??? And more to the point is is STILL a classic??? Well, let's take another look and find out...
And yep, the usual warning is coming up....
PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!!
STORY
Right, so the story takes place in Paris 1979, where the Doctor (Baker) and his young Time Lady companion, Romana (Lalla Ward) are on holiday. When they arrive at the Louvre gallery they encounter strange slips in time, and the Doctor grabs onto the arm of a woman, who was wearing a bracelet. The Doctor soon reveals that he had stolen the bracelet as he noticed its was not of Earth technology, and that the woman in question was using it to scan the security systems round the Mona Lisa.
Meanwhile the woman in question is Countess Scarlioni (Catherine Schell) who is the wife of the Count Scarlioni (Julian Glover) as they intend to steal the Mona Lisa from the Louvre. The Doctor and Romana soon also meet a detective, Duggan (Tom Chadbon) who has been following Count Scarlioni's activities, but the three of them are soon captured by the Count's men.
The Doctor, Romana and Duggan are soon taken to Scarlioni, where the Doctor acts the fool to set them off his interest in them, but instead Scarlioni has them locked in his basement. In the basement, the Doctor soon uses his sonic screwdriver to escape and he stumbles upon time experiment equipment, which is operated by Doctor Kerenesky (David Graham), and is behind the time slips that the Doctor and Romana had encountered.
The Doctor also finds behind their room they were locked in, six exact replicas of the Mona Lisa, which turned out all to be genuine as they have Leonardo Da Vinci's signature and pigment on. The Doctor then decides to go back in time himself in the TARDIS to have a chat with Leonardo about his work, but instead he meets Captain Tancredi, who is identical to Count Scarlioni. Tancredi reveals to the Doctor that he is in fact an alien named Scaroth, and he is the last of his race, the Jagaroth. Scaroth millions of years in the past on Earth was in his spaceship and was at the centre of an explosion which threw him into a time field and he ended being splintered into 12 different time periods on Earth's history.
Tancredi reveals that he also has been using his technological advances to push the human race and also using Leonardo to create six extra copies of the Mona Lisa so he can fund Kerensky's experiments with time, in an effort to travel back in time before his ship exploded. The Doctor manages to escape Tancredi's clutches and travels back to 1979 where he goes about to try and stop Scarlioni from carrying out his plan, as the explosion itself brought about the beginning of the human race. But can he do it?????
THOUGHTS
The City of Death is without a doubt one of the most entertaining and purely enjoyable Doctor Who stories of its era. After Philip Hinchcliffe left the series as producer, Graham Williams took over, and while he served the show well enough, there weren't as many classics in his tenure, but this is definitely one of them.
The story itself was written under the psuedonym of David Agnew by Douglas Adams (who was the script editor at that time) and also Graham Williams and it is wonderfully funny with plenty of amusing dialogue and the story itself is quite cleverly thought out. And the story's light comedic tone is just right here, despite some of the overt uses of comedy in some of the other stories of the Williams era.
PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section may contain spoilers!)
Onto the performances, well the cast are on excellent form here in both the regular and supporting varieties.
Tom Baker is wonderful as ever as the Doctor, as he was mostly considered the most popular of all the Doctors in the public eye, he does a great job here again. And Tom as you would expect has his fare share of funny dialogue and good scenes throughout the story.
So, as this is a story that is rich with great scenes and dialogue it will be hard to whittle this down but I will start with Tom's scene where the Doctor and Romana are both followed by Duggan around Paris until they sit down outside a cafe.
So, in the scene Romana says to the Doctor "Doctor, do you realise we're being followed?" and the Doctor without looking up from a cafe menu says "Yes, all the way from the Louvre by that idiot with the gun!". Romana then asks "What do you think he wants?" and the Doctor says "Look in your pocket" and Romana looks in one of her pockets but the Doctor says "Other pocket!". Romana takes a green bracelet and she asks "What this?" and the Doctor tells her "The woman I bumped into was wearing it" and Romana on examining it says "Its a micromeson scanner!". The Doctor tells Romana "That's right. She was using it to get a complete report on all the alarm systems around the Mona Lisa". Romana asks "You mean she's trying to steal it?" and the Doctor says "It is a very pretty painting" and Romana says of the device "Its a very sophisticated device for a level five civilisation" and the Doctor says "That's never the product of Earth's civilisation?" and Romana asks "What? Do you mean an alien is trying to steal the Mona Lisa?" and the Doctor again says "It is a very pretty painting!".
And then after a pause, the Doctor says to Romana "Romana, you know I think something very funny is going on. You remember that man who was folllowing us?" and Romana says "Yes" and the Doctor tells her "Well he's standing behind me, poking a gun into my back!". Then we see, Duggan standing behind the Doctor with his gun pressed against the Doctor's back and Duggan says to them both "All right, you two! Into the cafe!".
Then there is the scene where the Doctor, Romana and Duggan are captured by Scarlioni's men and taken to his chateau. And in the scene Scarlioni's henchman pushes the Doctor into the Count's drawing room where the Countess waits for them. So, the Doctor falls onto the floor and quickly get's up, grinning ear to ear he says "I say, what a wonderful butler, he's so violent!". The Doctor then on his knees introduces himself to the Countess "Hello, I'm called the Doctor. That's Romana, that's Duggan. You must be the Countess Scarlioni and this is clearly a delightful Louis Quinze chair!" and the Doctor goes to sit in one of the chairs "May I sit in it? I say, haven't they worn well? Thank you, Hermann, that'll be all!".
And after the Count instructs his henchman, Herrman, to take the Doctor, Romana and Duggan down to the cellar to lock them up, Duggan suddenly grabs a chair and is about to hit Herrman with it and the Doctor shouts out "Duggan! What on Earth are you doing, for heaven's sake?! That's a Louise Quinze!". And as Duggan is about to protest, the Doctor shouts "Just tried to behave like a civilised guest!" and he says to Herrman "Now, Herrman if you could show us to our cellar that would be terribly helpful!".
Another good scene comes when the Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver to escape the Count's prison cell in the basement, so he can have a look around at the Count's scientific equipment. And the Doctor says to Duggan "In the last few hours I've been thumped, threatened, abducted and imprisoned! I've found a piece of equipment which is not of Earth technology and I've been through two time slips! I think this lab might have something to do with it!".
So, as the Doctor and Duggan stand around and argue, Romana is busy moving equipment back into the prison cell as she is testing something out. Duggan however insists he's had enough and is about to go when suddenly they hear a sound and hide as the Count's scientist, Kerenski comes down the stairs back to his work. So, as Kerenski places a chicken egg on time-slip appartus and activates, we see the chicken emerge from its egg and grow. The Doctor then springs up on him and says "Which came first? The chicken or the egg?!" and Kerenski asks the Doctor "Who are you?" and the Doctor answers "Me? I'm the Doctor! What you are doing is terribly interesting, but you've got it wrong!".
Another good scene is when after the Doctor and Kerenski discuss the flaws in the time-slip apparatus, the Doctor suddenly sees an image of Scaroth in his true form appear from the apparatus, which distracts both of them long enough as Duggan sneaks up and knocks out Kerenski. The Doctor then annoyed after discovering Duggan has knocked Kerenski out, says to him "That's your philosophy isn't it?! If it moves hit it!" and then "If you do that one more time, Duggan. I'm going to take very, very severe measures!". Duggan however becomes threatening and angrily asks "Yeah?! Like what?!" and the Doctor takes a moment and quietly says "I'm going to ask you not to".
Then there is the scene where the Doctor takes the TARDIS back to 1474 to meet with Leonardo Da Vinci after he has discovered six identical paintings of the Mona Lisa bricked up in the Count's basement.
So, after the TARDIS materialises in Leonardo's home, the Doctor looks around for him but he is nowhere to be seen. So, the Doctor calls out "Mona Lisa? That dreadful woman with no eyebrows who wouldn't sit still, eh?!" and he laughs and looking around, he spots Leonardo's designs for a helicopter "Your idea for the helicopter took a bit longer to catch on, but as I say, these things take time".
Then all of a sudden the Doctor is then met by the blade of a sword as a soldier has entered the room and asks the Doctor "Who are you?!" and the Doctor says "Ah, well. I just dropped by to see Leonardo". Soldier then tells the Doctor "Nobody's allowed to see Leonardo. He's engaged in some important work for Captain Tancredi" and the Doctor reacts with shock at the mention of the name and the soldier asks "Do you know him?" and the Doctor flatly says "No". The soldier then says to the Doctor "He'll want to question you" and the Doctor says "Well, I'll want to question him, so we can both have a little chat, can't we?!". And then we see a shadowed figure stand by the door and the Doctor looks on in surprise and asks "You! What are you doing here?!" and the figure moves out of the shadows and it is a man who looks identical to the Count, who is Captain Tancredi. So,Tancredi says to the Doctor "I think that is exactly the question I ought to be asking you...Doctor!".
Another good scene from Tom is when the Doctor heads back to the chateau to try and rescue Romana and Duggan and confront the Count over his attempt to travel back in time to save his people. So, the Doctor first of all meets with the Countess and he asks her if she knows any Shakespeare and she replies "A little" and she goes over takes a book and presents it to the Doctor and says "Hamlet, first draft".
The Doctor looks at the book in amazement and says "Its been missing for centuries!" and the Countess says "Oh, its quite genuine. I assure you" and the Doctor says "I know. I recognise the handwriting". And the Countess says "Shakespeare's" and the Doctor corrects her "No, mine. He sprained his wrist writing sonnets!". So, the Doctor then reads a little and he scoffs as he reads back a line "Take sea in the arms of troubles, I told him that was a mixed metaphor and he would insist!". The Countess then laughs and says "Oh, Doctor. I'm quite convinced that you're perfectly mad!" and the Doctor laughs and says "Oh well, nobody's perfect!" but he then turns serious and asks her "If you think I'm mad because I say I met Shakespeare, where do you think your precious Count got that?!". The Countess tells the Doctor "He's a collector. He has money and he has contacts" but the Doctor annoyed asks her "Contacts?! Human contacts?! How much do you really know about him, eh?! I think rather less than you imagine!".
Another good scene is when the Doctor, Romana and Duggan pursue Scaroth back in time 400,000,000 years ago to when he originally tried to take off in his spaceship, which caused the explosion. So, the Doctor looks around the bleak wasteland and says to Duggan "This will be the middle of Atlantic ocean". The Doctor then looks around and he picks up some black sludge and he says "The amniotic fluid from which all life on Earth will spring, where the amino acids fuse to form minute cells. Cells which eventually evolve into vegetable and animal life" and he puts some of it into Duggan's palm" and he says "You, Duggan!". Duggan looks in disbelief at it and asks "I come from that, that soup?!" and the Doctor says "Yes. Well, not that soup exactly. It's inert. There's no life in it yet. It's waiting on a massive dose of radiation. The explosion that caused Scarlioni to splinter in time also caused the birth of the human race, and that's what's about to happen. The birth of life itself".
So, as Scaroth suddenly appears and shouts at the Doctor to get out his way as he must stop himself from pressing the button to launch his ship, the Doctor confronts him and says "No, Scaroth, no. You've pressed it once! You've thrown the dice once! You don't get a second throw!". Scaroth then angrily says "Then I will splinter in time again and all my people will be killed!" but the Doctor shouts back "No! The explosion that you in there are about to trigger off will give birth to the human race! The moment your race kills itself, another is born. That has happened! It WILL happen!!". Scaroth however remains defiant and shouts "What do I care of the human race?! Scum! The tools of my salvation!". The Doctor however shouts back "No! The product of your destruction! History cannot be changed! I cannot!" bu the Scaroth grows furious and raises his arms and shouts "I WILL CHANGE IT!!!" and suddenly Duggan knocks him out. The Doctor delightedly at Duggan's violent actions for once, grins and says to Duggan "Duggan! I think that was possibly the most important punch in history!".
Lalla Ward, who was at that time Tom Baker's wife is also really good as the Doctor's companion and fellow Time Lord, Romana and the two of them together share a nice chemistry, which obviously they shared off screen.
And for the sake of time (and space!) I will only mention a few of Lalla's scenes such as the one where the Doctor and Romana arrive outside the Louvre and the Doctor proudly tells her "There we are. The Louvre! One of the greatest art galleries in the whole galaxy!". Romana however scoffs and says "Nonsense! What about the Academia Stellaris on Sirius Five?!" and the Doctor says "No, no!". Romana then asks "Or the Solariun Pinaquotheque at Strikian?!" and the Doctor scoffs back and says "Oh, no, no!" and Romana suggests "Or the Braxiatel Collection?!" and the Doctor laughs and says "No, no, no! This is the gallery. The only gallery in the known picture like..." and we cut inside the Louvre and we see the Mona Lisa painting and the Doctor says "...the Mona Lisa!".
On inspection, Romana however seems less impressed and merely says its "Quite good" and the Doctor, taken aback asks "Quite good?! That's one of the great treasures of the universe and you say "quite good??!". Romana suddenly feels self conscious of the Doctor's voice carrying and she says "The world, Doctor, not the universe in public!". Romana then asks "Why hasn't she got any eyebrows?" and the Doctor says "Is that all you can say? Why hasn't she got any eyebrows?!" and he looks closer and he realises Romana is right.
Another good scene is when Romana and Duggan arrive at the Louvre just after the robbery of the Mona Lisa has been performed by the Count's men. So, they both find an unconscious guard and Duggan says "There's another alarm been immobilised!" and Romana, irritably says to him "You've got a pretty cynical attitude to life, haven't you, Duggan?!". Duggan then says "Yeah well, when you've been around as long as I have. How old are you anyway?" and the Romana tells him "125" and the Duggan looks on in disbelief and asks "What?!".
Then there is the scene where Romana and Duggan meet back at the cafe and he smashes the window of the front door in and opens it. Duggan then says to Romana "I thought these places were meant to be open all night!" and Romana wearily tells Duggan "You should go into partnership with a glazier. You'd have a truly symbiotic working relationship!". Duggan asks "What?" and Romana says "I'm just pointing out that you break alot of glass!" and Duggan says "You can't make an omlette without breaking eggs!" and he smashes open the neck of a bottle of red wine. Romana then annoyed says to him "If you wanted an omelette, I'd expect to find a pile of broken crockery, a cooker in flames and an unconscious chef!". And as they sit down, Duggan asks "You know what I don't understand?" and Romana says "I expect so!" and Duggan says "There are potentially seven buyers and seven Mona Lisa's. How did the Count know they were there?! How did he know where to get them?!" and Romana says "Taxes the mind, doesn't it?".
And lastly there is the scene where the following morning at the cafe, Romana and Duggan discuss how the Count could possibly have gotten the other six Mona Lisa's and Romana suggests that the Count somehow managed to travel back in time.
So, Romana tells Duggan "Perhaps Scarlioni has discovered a way to travel in time. Yes, perhaps he went back in time, had a chat to Leonardo, got him to rustle up another six, came forward in time, stole the one in the Louvre, and now sells all seven at enormous profit. Sound reasonable?!". Duggan however, looks completely baffled and says "I used to do divorce investigations. It was never anything like this!". Romana continuing her theory says "There's only one flaw in that line of reasoning as far as I can see" and Duggan blankly asks "There is?" and Romana tells him "That equipment of Kerensky's wouldn't work as efficiently as a time machine" Duggan again blankly says "You couldn't?". And Romana continues "You can have two different time continuums running at different rates" and Duggan puzzled asks "You can?" and Romana says "But without a field interface stabilister, you can't cross from one to another" and Duggan completely pretends to play along and asks "You can't?". Romana however says "Well, I'm just guessing. Come on, let's get back to the chateau where at least you can thump somebody!".
As for the guest supporting cast, Julian Glover is terrific here in his trio role as Count Scarlioni/Scaroth/Captain Tancredi and he plays his part with great charm, charisma and also menace.
Glover naturally has his share of great scenes that include the one where the Count asks his henchman, Herrman to sell off another valuable collector's item. So, the Count says to Hermann confidentially "That Gainsborough didn't fetch enough. I think we need to sell one of the bibles" and Herrman asks "Sir?" and the Count says "Yes, the Gutenberg". Hermann then warns the Count "I suggest we tread more carefully, sir? It would not be in our best interest to draw too much attention to ourselves. Another rash of priceless treasures on the market could..." and the Count interrupts and says "Yes, I know, Hermann, I know. Just do it discreetly". Hermann looks at the Count in disbelief and asks "Discreetly, sir??? Sell a Gutenberg bible discreetly?!" and the Count now irritated says "Well, as discreetly as possible, just do it will you?".
Another good scene is when the Count talks with his scientist, Kerenski and Kerenski is worn out with all the pressure that the Count is putting him under to produce results. So, Kerenski tells the Count "You are pushing me to the limit, Count!" and the Count says "Only thus is true progress ever made. You, as a scientist, should be the first to appreciate that!". Kerenski says "Oh, I do, Count, I do. I appreciate many things. I appreciate walks in the country, I appreciate sleep, regular meals!". The Count turns to Hermann and then says "Would you please prepare for the Professor half a dozen escargot au beurre followed by an entrecote bordelaise with haricots vert and pommes sautees served directly here to the laboratory". The Count then says to Hermann "Oh, and a bottle of Chambertin. My own. Better make that half a bottle. We don't want to interfere with the work do we, Professor?!". Kerenski however wearily says "Count. I would really like to get some sleep!" and the Count goes off after Hermann and calls after him "Hermann, cancel the wine! Bring the vitamin pil!".
Then there is the great moment where, back in Florence in the 16th century, Captain Tancredi reveals himself to the Doctor as he looks identical to the Count. So, the Doctor looks at him in surprise and asks "You! What are you doing here??" and Tancredi steps out of the shadows and says to the Doctor "I think that is exactly the question I ought to be asking you...Doctor!".
Then we have the scene where Tancredi questions the Doctor, who is very evasive in his answers and the Doctor spots what appears to be the original Mona Lisa and the Doctor reveals that he knows the Count and Tancredi's scheme. So, Tancredi smiles and says "I can see that you are a dangerously clever man, Doctor. I think it's time we conducted this conversation somewhat more formally". And Tancredi makes to leave and he says to the soldier "Hold him here while I collect the instruments of torture. If he wags his tongue, confiscate it!". The Doctor then asks "How can I talk if you confiscate..." and Tancredi interrupts and says "You can write, can't you?!".
Another good scene from Glover is when the Count having re-captured Romana and Duggan, tries to coerce Romana into helping him with his plan. So, as Romana asks the Count if she refuses to help him what will he do and the Count says "Oh, must we go into vulgar threats? Let us just say that I shall destroy Paris, if that'll help you make up your minds!". Romana then asks "How am I supposed to believe you can do that?" and the Count says "Well, you won't know until you've seen the equipment, will you?".
So they go downstairs and Romana confirms that the Count can indeed destroy Paris with his equipment, which prompts Kerenski to ask "Why all this talk about destruction? What are you doing my with work?!". So, the Count replies "Professor, I shall show you. Would you care to examine the field generator?" and Kerenski shrugs and walks right into the middle of the generator. So, the Count then says to Romana "You will now see, my dear, how I deal with fools!" and he presses a button that activates the equipment, which ages to Kerenski to death as he turns into a skeleton.
Then there is the scene later on where the Doctor confronts the Count over going back in time to stop his ship from blowing up. So, as the Doctor says he is going to stop him, the Count says "Oh no, on the contrary, Doctor, you're going to help me" and the Doctor asks "I am?" and the Count smiles and says "You are indeed. And if you do not, it'll be so much the worse for you, for this young lady, and for thousands of other people I could mention if I happened to have the Paris telephone directory on my person!". The Doctor then tries to reason with the Count and he asks him "Count, do you realise what will happen if you go back to the time before history began?" and the Count coldly says "Yes. Yes, I do. And I don't care one jot!".
And this is followed by the scene where the Count goes off to say his farewell to the Countess, who by this time has sussed out the Count isn't what he appears to be, so she aims a gun at him as he comes in. So, the Countess in shock asks "What are you?!" and the Count asks "I beg your pardon?" and the Countess asks "What have I been living with all these years?! Where are you from and what do you want?". The Count tries to bluff her and says "If I may answer those questions in reverse order, what I want is a drink. Will you have one?" and as the Count picks up a decanter, the Countess shouts at him pointing her gun at him "Stay away! PUT IT DOWN!".
So, after a pause, the Count does so and the Countess asks "Now, WHO are you?!" and the Count tells her the truth "I am Scaroth. Last of the Jagaroth. It has not been difficult keeping secrets from you, my dear. A few fur coats, a few trinkets, a little nefarious excitement". The Countess asks "What are the Jagaroth?" and the Count looks up to the ceiling and says "The Jagaroth. An infinitely old race and an infinitely superior one. I shall show you what you want to know, my dear". Scaroth then tears off his latex mask, revealing his true form of the one eye green scaly skinned Jagaroth and the Countess drops her gun in horror. Scaroth in his true alien voice then shouts at her "I am Scaroth! Through me my people shall live again!".
Scaroth then says to the Countess "I'd glad to see you are still wearing the bracelet I designed for you, my dear. It is, as I said, a useful device!" and he touches his signet ring, which activates the bracelete on the Countess's wrist, which emits a loud noise that kills her and she falls to the floor, dead. Scaroth then looks down at her and says "Goodbye, my dear. I'm sorry you had to die. But then, in a short while you will have ceased ever to have existed!".
Tom Chadbon next up is great as Duggan, the dim-witted English private detective, who is investigating the strange goings on in the Parisian artworld and he ends up helping the Doctor and Romana against the Count but at the same time is all too keen to use his fists at any given opportunity!
And Tom has his own share of good scenes that include the one where Duggan leads the Doctor and Romana into a cafe where they are soon met by two of the Count's thugs, who take the bracelet from him. So, after they leave, Duggan angrily says to the Doctor "All right, that's enough. Very cleverly staged, but you don't fool me!" and the Doctor looks puzzled and asks "What are you talking about?" and Duggan says "Your men who were just in here!". The Doctor looks on in surprise and says "My men? Those thugs?!" and Duggan says "YOU'RE thugs!" and the Doctor asks "Are you suggesting those men are in my employee?" and Duggan says "Yes". The Doctor then tells Duggan if they were in his employee he would have sacked them on the spot but Duggan says "Except that I know you arranged for them to hold you up as a bluff! You're trying to put me on a false scent!".
And in the next scene, Duggan talks about the mysterious goings on in the art world that he is investigating with all the strange rare artefacts suddenly coming available. So, Duggan says "So, you can imagine the furore!" and Romana, who hasn't heard of the word before asks "The what?" and Duggan tells her "The furore! The whole art world in an uproar!". Duggan then goes on and says "Masterpieces that have apparently been missing over the centuries are just turning up all over the place!". The Doctor says "All fakes of course" and Duggan says "They've gotta be, haven't they?" but Romana asks "Are they?" and Duggan says "They're very, very good ones. They stand up to every scientific test!". The Doctor then asks is the Count the only connection in all this and Duggan says "Nothing dirty can be proved, though. He's clean. Absolutely clean. So clean he stinks!".
Then we have the scene where the Doctor, Romana and Duggan are locked into the Count's cellar and Duggan complains about they could have escaped ages ago. So, after Hermann locks them in, Duggan angrily asks the Doctor "What do you think you're playing at?!" and the Doctor shushes him and says "Light the lamp" and Duggan takes the only match they have "There's only one match" and the Doctor says seriously "Then get it right". Duggan then protests and says "You tell ME to get it right?! We could have escaped at least twice if you hadn't...!" and the Doctor interrupts and says "Exactly! What's the point of coming all the way here just to escape immediately? What we do is, we stay here" and Duggan asks "Yes?" and the Doctor says "Make them think they've got us safe" and Duggan asks "Yes?" and the Doctor produces his sonic screwdriver and with a grin says "THEN we escape!".
This is followed by the moment where Romana has discovered there is a secret room behind the cellar, which the Doctor starts to break down the old mortar using a hammer and chisel, however it is taking too long. So, the Doctor says "I think I'm going to need some machinery" and Duggan tells him "I've got all the machinery I need! Stand back" and Duggan charges at the wall and bashes it in allowing them to get into the secret room.
The Doctor then checks behind a series of wooden doors of which all contain a painting of the Mona Lisa, all identical and all apparently genuine. So, the Doctor confused asks "Every one. What I don't understand is why a man who's got six Mona Lisas wants to go to all the trouble of stealing a seventh?. And Duggan, who mentioned earlier that he had buyers in his diary who would all pay big money for the Mona Lisa, tells the Doctor "Come on, Doctor, I've just told you. There are seven people who would buy the Mona Lisa in secret, but nobody's going to buy the Mona Lisa when it's hanging in the Louvre!". The Doctor then realises what Duggan means and he puts his hand on Duggan's arm and smiles saying "I wouldn't make a very good criminal, would I?!" and then we hear the Count say "No, good criminals don't get caught!". The Count then questions the Doctor as to what happened to Kerenski "Can you shed any light on that?" and Duggan says "I can!" and he throws his lamp at the Count and knocks him unconscious.
Another good scene is when Duggan and Romana arrive too late at the Lovure to find the Mona Lisa has been stolen. So, Romana in the scene says to Duggan "I though the Louvre was supposed to be well guarded" and Duggan tells her "It is. It just looks as though every alarm in the place has been immobilised. A fantastic feat!". Then they find an unconscious guard nearby and Duggan cynically says "There'a another alarm been immobilised!" and Romana, annoyed says "You've got a pretty cynical attitude to life, haven't you, Duggan?!". Duggan says "Well, when you've been around as long as I have...how old are you anyway?" and Romana says "125" and Duggan, shocked asks "What?!".
And they soon see the Mona Lisa is gone and Duggan says how the laser beams that protect it should be impregnable but as he puts his hand by them, he sets off the alarm. Duggan shouts "Hells bells!" and Romana says "That's what it sounds like! Let's go!" and Duggan says "Split up! We'll meet back at the cafe?!" and Romana asks "But how do you suggest we get out?!" and Duggan indicate "See that window?!" and he runs toward it and we hear a smashing noise as he jumps through it.
Then there is the scene where Romana and Duggan meet back at the cafe and he breaks into it and he says to Romana "I thought these places were meant to be open all night!" and Romana wearily tells Duggan "You should go into partnership with a glazier. You'd have a truly symbiotic working relationship!". Duggan asks "What?" and Romana says "I'm just pointing out that you break alot of glass!" and Duggan says "You can't make an omlette without breaking eggs!" and he smashes open the neck of a bottle of red wine to pour some.
Then we get to the scene where the Doctor, Romana and Duggan follow Scaroth in the TARDIS back to prehistoric times where Scaroth intends to stop himself from taking off in the Jagaroth spaceship and Duggan in mild surprise points out Scaroth's ship and says "That's a spaceship!". So, in the scene the Doctor shows Duggan some black sludge, which would eventually form the cells that would generate human life. So, the Doctor says to Duggan of the sludge "You, Duggan" and Duggan, incredulously says "I come from that, that soup?!".
And last of all if the final scene of the story where the Doctor tells Duggan about how the Count's mansion was destroyed in a fire, which in reality happened when Scaroth was returned to the chateau via his lab appartus but a startled Hermann threw something at him, which shorted out the machine and caused a big fire.
So, Duggan asks "The one nearest the wall?!" and the Doctor tells Duggan "It was the only one that wasn't damaged in the fire" and Duggan annoyed says "But its a fake! You can't hang a fake Mona Lisa in the Louvre!". Romana however asks Duggan "How can it be a fake if Leonardo painted it?" and Duggan says "With the words "This is a fake" written under the paintwork in felt tip?!" and Romana says "It doesn't affect what it looks like" and Duggan says "It doesn't matter what it looks like!". The Doctor however says "Well, some people would say that's the whole point of painting" but Duggan annoyed, says "But they'll find out! They'll X-Ray it!" and the Doctor says if they have to, to find out if its good, they might aswell have painting by computer. So, Duggan asks the Doctor "Yes, where do you two come from?" and the Doctor answers the question in an awkward fashion and says the best way is to work out where you're going and work backwards and Duggan, puzzled asks "Where are you going?" and the Doctor says "I don't know" and Romana says "Nor do I!".
Catherine Schell is also excellent in her role as the Countess and she plays part very well, as a wealthy woman who is blinded by the fact she is married to an alien.
And for the sake of time, I will mention only three of her scenes (this review is long enough!!) starting with the one where the Count and Countess have successfully stolen the Mona Lisa and the Countess expresses her delight. So, the Countess says to the Count "Why do you still worry, my dear? We've done it! We have the Mona Lisa. Think of the wealth that will be ours!" and the Count, who is staring upward in a daze says "The wealth is not everything". The Countess then says "Of course. The achievement. Yes, the achievement!" and the Count laughs and says "Achievement?!" and he scornfully asks her how it would feel to have built the pyramids, invent the first wheel and show the true use of fire. The Countess, puzzled asks "What are you talking about?! No one can achieve everything?!".
Then there is the scene where the Doctor confronts the Countess over her relationship with the Count and how she is blind to who he really is. So, the Doctor asks her "How long have you been married to the Count?" and the Countess replies "Long enough" and the Doctor says "Long enough. I like that. Discretion and charm. So civilised. So terribly unhelpful!". The Countess smiles and says "Discretion and charm. I couldn't live without it, especially in matters concerning the Count" and the Doctor tells her "There is such a thing as discretion. There's also such a thing as wilful blindness".
The Countess however is taken aback by this and says "Blind?! I help him to steal the Mona Lisa, the greatest crime in the century, and you call me blind?!". The Doctor shouts back "YES! You see the Count as a master criminal, an art dealer, an insanely wealthy man, and you'd like to see yourself as his consort. But what's he doing in the cellar?!". The Countess replies "Tinkering. Every man has his hobby" and the Doctor asks her seriously "Man?! Are you sure of that?! A man with one eye and green skin, eh?! Ransacking the art treasures of history to help him make a machine to reunite him with his people, the Jagaroth, and you didn't notice anything? How discreet, how charming!" but the Countess just laughs at this. Hermann however interrupts them and tells the Doctor he is to go down to the cellar but before he goes, the Doctor says to the Countess "Think about it, Countess. Think about it!".
The Countess laughs it off for a moment however she then remembers seeing a book in her library containing a parchment, which she unfold one that has a picture of an Egyptian wall painting featuring various Gods, a Pharaoh and the figure of a being with a green head and one eye, leaving Countess looking shocked.
David Graham next up is also very good as Kerenski, the Count's hapless scientist, who works with him on the machine, which the Count keeps his true intentions of its use from Kerenski.
And I will mention two of Graham's scenes, firstly the one where the Doctor having escaped from the cellar looks at the Count's lab equipment but he is interrupted by Kerenski coming down the stairs. So the Doctor waits long enough for Kerenski to start his chicken egg experiement with the machine and then he says to Kerenski "Which came first? The chicken or the egg?" and Kerenski, startled asks "Who are you? What are you doing here?!" and the Doctor tells him "Me? I'm the Doctor. What you're doing is terribly interesting! But you've got it wrong!".
So, the Doctor starts to discuss the flaws of the machine with Kerensky "Well, you're tinkering with time. That's always a bad idea unless you know what you're doing". Kerenski however insists "I know what I'm doing. I am the foremost authority on temporal theory in the whole world!" and the Doctor asks him "The whole world?" and Kerenski says "Yes!" and the Doctor muses "Well, that's a very small place when you consider the size of the universe!". Kerensky however insists " But you saw it work. The greatest achievement of the human race. A cellular accelerator. You saw it! An egg developed into a chicken in thirty seconds. With a large one, I can turn a calf into a cow in even less time. It will be the end of famine in the world!".
The Doctor then explains there are still problems with the machine and he suggests something else as he reverses a control on the wall, causing the chicken skeleton to reverse back through its life cycle to being an egg again, leaving Kerensky astonished. The Doctor then says "There you are. Did you realise it could do that?" and Kerensky, astounded says "No! What did you?!" and the Doctor "I just reversed the polarity. This is very expensive equipment". And Kerenski says "Oh, very expensive. The Count is very generous. A true philanthropist. I do not ask too many questions!" and the Doctor taken aback says "Well you...what's your name?!" and Kerensky says "Theodore Nikolai Kerensky...." and the Doctor tells him "Theodore Nikolai Kerensky...a scientist's job IS to ask questions!".
And lastly there is the scene where the Count shows some papers on a workbench for Kerensky to look at and he says to him "You will now see the true end product of your labours. This is what you will now produce for me. Look at it!". Kerensky then takes a look at the papers but reacts in horror and says "But Count, this machine is precisely the reverse of what we, of what I have been working on!". Kerensky then says to Count "But the scale of this is fantastic. Count, what you are trying to do, this is monstrous beyond imagining!" and the Count asks him "But you will do it?" and Keresnky refuses "No! A thousands times no!". The Count then asks "Oh, why not?" and Kerensky urgently says "Equipment on this scale, power on this scale, it would cost millions and millions. Even you, Count, could not afford such things!".
However they are then interrupted by a delighted Hermann, who reveals they have managed to steal the Mona Lisa from the Louvre and Hermann reveals triumphantly that they stand to make $100,000,000 from all seven sales of the Mona Lisa paintings. So, the Count laughs triumphantly and he turns to Kerensky and says to him menacingly "Continue with your work, Professor. Enjoy it, or you will die!" leaving Kerensky, just a little terrified.
Kevin Flood is pretty good in his role as the Count's ruthless henchman, Hermann, who takes pleasure in his job of being...well a henchman!
So, I will only mention one of Flood's scenes and its the one where Hermann leads the Doctor, Romana and Duggan down into the cellar. So, the Doctor asks Hermann "How long has the chateau been here, Hermann?" and Hermann, impatiently replies "Long enough!" and the Doctor says "Really that long! Restored maybe four or five hundred years ago?" and Hermann offers "May have been". And the Doctor then asks "Very stimulating, very stimulating. And this would be the cellar, would it?" and Hermann finally says "Doctor, you're boring conversation does not interest me!".
Hermann then leads them into the cellar and he throws a box of matches to the Doctor and says "You may light it if you wish". Romana asks of the lamp that lies in the cellar "How long's that thing going to last us?" and Hermann says "Two hours, maybe three" and the Doctor then gravely asks "What happens after that?" and Hermann threateningly says "After that, you won't NEED any light!" and he shuts and locks the cellar door.
Peter Halliday is also pretty good in his small role as the soldier that holds the Doctor captive back in Florence when the Doctor visits Leonard Da Vinci but is met by a sword instead held by the soldier.
And Halliday has two moments I will quickly mention, such as the one where having met Captain Tancredi, who leaves to get instruments to torture the Doctor with, the Doctor says to the solider of Tancredi "He's mad, isn't he? It must be a tough job humouring him!" but the soldier says nothing. The Doctor then asks the solider "You don't believe all that, do you?" and the soldier asks "What?" and the Doctor says "Well, Jagaroth spaceships! Isn't it. Isn't it?" and the soldier, not really interested says "I'm paid simply to fight". The Doctor then says "Yes, well, I mean, quite honestly, when you think about all that Jagaroth spaceship!" and he scoffs but the soldier tells him "When you work for the Borgias, you believe anything" and the Doctor looks on fearfully and says "The borgias?! Yes, yes. I see your point". And the soldier says "As I said, I'm paid to fight" and the Doctor looking down the sharp end of the soldier's sword says "Yes, and as I said, I can see your point!".
And last of all is the moment where the Count is troubled by a psychic call from his other selves and this distracts the Count enough for the Doctor to ask "Are you alright?" and the Count in a daze, says "Continue. The interface of the time continuums is unstable!". So, the Doctor asks the soldier "Is he often like this?" and the soldier says to the Doctor "I'm not paid to notice!".
And last of all there are two very notable cameo performances from John Cleese and Eleanor Bron who are very funny as two art lovers that stand and critique as well as appreciate the TARDIS, which is parked inside another gallery.
And as the two of them stand at the TARDIS, the man says "To me, one of the most curious things about this piece is its wonderful afunctionalism!" and the woman says "Yes, I see what you mean. Divorced from its function and seen purely as a piece of art, its structure of line and colour is curiously counterpointed by the redundant vestiges of its function". So, the man then says "And since it has no call to be here, the art lies in the fact that it IS here!" and suddenly the Doctor, Romana and Duggan enter the gallery and board the TARDIS and it dematerialises, leaving both the man and woman astounded and the woman says "Exquisite! Absolutely exquisite!".
DIRECTOR AND MUSIC
Finally moving onto the director and music paragraphs, starting with the director, Michael Hayes, does a very fine job here with the story and he keeps the pace of the story moving along very nicely and at four episodes, it never lags and is just the right length. Hayes himself directed two other serials during the Tom Baker era, which I believe would have been during the Graham Williams producer era, so this is certainly the strongest of the three no doubt.
As for the music, well...its good old Dudley Simpson once again and he produces another charming score here, which is perfectly well suited to the tone of the story itself as it features some playful moments as well as sinister and dramatic ones. Basically, Dudley was the show's best composer overall as he churned out so many good scores for the show over the years and this is certainly another one.
FLAWS (Warning: this section may contain spoilers!)
As for flaws....yep as good as City of Death is, it still does have some worth mentioning.
For starters, I think that while the Count and Captain Tancredi both make for effective villains, it has to be said that Scaroth's mask, is pretty silly looking with its green spaghetti head and one eye, even though Glover plays a very entertaining and memorable villain, that mask is still the only weakness behind it all. Its also especially notable in its naffness when we see the Count tear off the mask at the end of the first episode and you can actually see the actor's real face peep through underneath!
There are also one or two plot points that don't quite make sense, for starters, Duggan in the scene where he breaks into the cafe durng the night with Romana, takes a bottle of wine and breaks off the neck of it to pour wine for himself and Romana (or at least that's the way it appears!). However he didn't even have to do that, as there was already just a cork stuck in the bottle and he could have easily taken it out rather than smash the bottle open! Also, what if Duggan was planning to drink straight from the bottle?! If he had, after smashing it, he would bound to have cut his mouth up to hell! But that's me just supposing here of course.
And then there is what I see as the biggest flaw in the story, which is when the Doctor, Romana and Duggan follow Scaroth back in time via the TARDIS to pre-historic Earth where the Scaroth intends to stop himself from taking off in his spaceship. Now, in the story, Romana reveals that the device she built that will allow Scaroth to travel back in time to his ship will only last for two minutes, which the Doctor said would still be sufficient time to make the change. OK. However...in the time it took for Scaroth to activate the machine and transfer back in time to pre-historic Earth, he would got to his ship alot sooner than the Doctor ever could have got back to the TARDIS! This is clearly the case, as the Doctor, Romana and Duggan are seen running frantically around the streets during Paris traffic, which would have taken them easily MORE than two minutes to get back to the TARDIS in time!
So, basically there would have been no way in hell that the Doctor and his companions could have realistically made it back to the TARDIS in time before Scaroth was able to reach his spaceship and press the button. And if that being said, you'd actually think the way it would go is that the world would have been wiped out while the Doctor, Romana and Duggan were in their mad dash to get back to the TARDIS! So, for me this remains the story's biggest drawback.
Anyway that's it for the flaws.
SUM UP
So, to sum up, City of Death remains one of the highlights of Tom Baker's era as the 4th Doctor, as it is a highly entertaining story, which is wonderfully written (by Douglas Adams and Graham Williams) and nicely directed by Michael Hayes and features another pleasant score by Dudley Simpsons. The story also features wonderful performances from its cast and Julian Glover as Count Scarliano/Captain Tancredi/Scaroth, steals the show here for the most part as his performance is terrific and he makes for one of the show's most memorable villains.
And if you are a fan (or even a casual fan) of the show and haven't seen this story yet, then you should definitely check it out as it is easily one of the most enjoyable Doctor Who stories from any era.
Right, so that's it for this post and I will be back sometime soon with yet another before the end of the month.
So, till the next un, its bye fer now!
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