OK, so for this next post I figured I would take a look at something new for a change (well sort of!) as I will be reviewing another Doctor Who story but this time I have gone for one from the Colin Baker era of the show, which I have neglected up until now. So, this post and the next ones should hopefully put that to rights.
So, for this post I will be looking at the first part of four serials from the era of the Sixth Doctor (i.e. Colin Baker) which is part of the Trial of a Time Lord series and the first part is the story, The Mysterious Planet.
So, let's take a look at the story and see how it fairs 32 years onward...
And yep the usual warning is coming up....
PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!!!
STORY
So, the story begins with the Doctor's TARDIS being taken out of time and transported to a large space station where he is brought into a courtroom, which is chaired by the Inquisitor (Lynda Bellingham) who tells the Doctor that he is on trial for conduct unbecoming a Time Lord. The Doctor is then faced by a court prosecutor, the Valeyard (Michael Jayston) who presents the evidence that shows the Doctor transgressed the first law of time where he shouldn't interfere in the affairs of other planets. The Valeyard then shows his evidence via video screen, which is projected straight from the Gallifreyan neural network called the Matrix.
The evidence shows the Doctor and Peri (Nicola Bryant) arrive on the planet Ravalox, which shows strong similarities to Earth. And its not long before the Doctor and Peri themselves in big trouble as they get caught up between a power struggle involving a primitive tribe lead by Queen Katryca (Joan Sims) and a robot called Drathro (Roger Brierley) who is known by the tribe as the "Immortal". And not only that they are also forced to be allied with two mercaneries, Sabalom Glitz (Tony Selby) and Dibber, who are on the planet for reasons of their own....
THOUGHTS
Well, after overlooking the Colin Baker era for so long, looking at the Trial of a Time Lord remains a pleasant surprise, as it is a very enjoyable story and a good solid opener to the series. The story also nicely makes good use of the dynamic of the Doctor's courtroom scenes where he vehemently protests to the Valeyard (and also keeps mocking his name with different variations such as "knackers yard!") and the flashbacks of the story on Ravalox.
PERFORMANCES (Notable scenes this time will be kept to a minimum!)
As for the performances, Colin Baker puts in a very good performance as the Sixth Doctor and its fair to say that he is one of the most underrated versions of the Doctor.
And while you could argue that Baker's portrayal of the Doctor is somewhat arrogant and snooty at times, he still manages to capture the Doc's decent qualities and is still a good guy at heart. Baker also provides a very amusing performance aswell and his courtroom scenes as the Doctor with the Valeyard, whom he continually mocks, are some of the highlights of the serial.
And there is one such scene where the Doctor says to the Valeyard " I always thought Valeyard meant learned court prosecutor" and the Valeyard says "And so it does". But the Doctor refutes the claim and mocks the Valeyard and says to him "Not in your case, sir. Your points of law are spurious, your evidence weak, verging on the irrelevant, and your reasoning quite unsound. In fact, your point of view belongs in quite another place. Perhaps the mantle of Valeyard was a mistake! I would therefore suggest that you change it for the garment of quite another sort of yard! That of the knackers' yard!! For your argument is as tired and warn out as the poor, unfortunate creatures that end up there!!" and he points to the video screen where the evidence against him is shown.
Nicola Bryant also does well in her role as the Doctor's companion, Peri (and she's pretty nice too!) and the two of them enjoy a nice rapport with one another throughout.
And I will mention one of Nicola's scene near the start of the story where the Doctor and Peri arrive on the planet Ravalox but they start to doubt it is that planet when they come across an old sign for the London underground. So, the Doctor suggests that maybe the Earth shifted its position in space but London as Peri knows has been wiped out, which upsets her.
So, Peri emotionally says to the Doctor "So what happened to London, Doctor?" and the Doctor says "Wiped out, if this was London" and Peri concerned says "I know it is. I can feel it". The Doctor then says to Peri "Now, don't get emotional" and Peri upset says "Don't get emotional. This cinder we're standing on is all that's left of my world. Everything I knew!".
The Doctor then tries to reassure Peri "You've been travelling with me long enough to know that none of this really matters. Not to you. Your world is safe". Peri however it still upset "This is still my world, whatever the period, and I care about it. And all you do is talk about it as though we're in a planetarium!". The Doctor tries to rationalise with Peri "I'm sorry. But look at it this way. Planets come and go, stars perish. Matter disperses, coalesces, reforms into other patterns, other worlds. Nothing can be eternal". Peri realises the Doctor is right but is still uneasy "I know what you mean, and I still want to get away from here".
Michael Jayston is excellent as the Valeyard, the Gallifreyan prosecutor, who puts the Doctor on trial for his life and presents evidence against him.
I will mention one of Jayston's scenes where the Valeyard shows video of the Doctor about to be stoned by the natives on Ravalox and he puts him umbrella to shield himself from the rocks but one catchs him on the cheek. And at this point the Valeyard stops the video and the Doctor protests "I was rather enjoying that!" and the Valeyard says "I'm sure you were" and the Doctor, smugly says "Clever. That trick with the umbrella" and the Valeyard briefly humours him "Most ingenious, Doctor" and the Doctor smiles and says "Oh, I always like to do the unexpected. Takes people by surprise".
The Valeyard however then accuses the Doctor again and says angrily "Hear how the Doctor takes pride in his interference! Hear how he boasts! This is not the reaction of a responsible Time Lord!". The Inquisitor interrupts and says "We are all aware of that, Valeyard. What is the point you are trying to make?". So, the Valeyard with menace says "These proceedings started as a mere enquiry into the Doctor's activities. I'm suggesting now that it becomes a trial. And if he is found guilty, I strongly suggest the termination of his life!".
Tony Selby also provides a good performance as the charismatic mercenary, Sabbalon Glitz, who motives of his own to be on the planet Ravalox along side his sidekick and fellow mercenary, Dibber.
And Selby has his own share of good scenes and I will mention just a couple, such as the one where Glitz attracts the attention of the primitive tribe that live on Ravalox. And in the scene, Glitz sees the tribes people from a distance and says to Dibber "Look at them, primitive screebs!" and Dibber asks "Are they from the village?" and Glitz says "Must be" and Dibber says "Well then, let's make it a few less we have to deal with". Glitz however says "No. All we need is a gesture of strength. Show them they haven't got a chance" and he throws a flash bang at the tribes people and walks over to them and says "Come here, you ignorant, maggot ridden peasant! Somehow I always feel foolish saying this. Take me to your leader!".
Another good scene from Selby is when just after Glitz and Dibber are captured by the tribe and placed in a hut, Peri is captured not long after and pushed in with them. So, Glitz grins as he sees Peri and says "Ah, it seems we have a pretty visitor. I'm beginning to feel better already. Sabalom Glitz, my dear, and this youth with the vacuous expression and single track mind is Dibber". So, Peri explains she is here with the Doctor and that he is a Time Lord and he disappeared down into the subterranean level of the planet. Glitz then says "The Doctor is a Time Lord. So, that's how he knew where to go". Dibber then asks "Sent them did they?" and Peri asks "Who?" and Glitz says "The Time Lords, my dear. As my friend here says, he must be acting on their behalf". Peri says "I don't think the Doctor's acting on anyone's behalf" and Glitz smiles and says "So, he's a freelance like myself. Possibly we can reach an accommodation here, my boy. Two rogues with but a single thought".
As for the other cast members, which I won't quite dialogue for to save time, Lynda Bellingham is also good in her role as the Inquisitor, who oversees the Doctor's trial and at times has to act as a referee of sorts to stop the Doctor and the Valeyard's bickering against each other. Tom Chadbon, does not too badly here in his role as Merdeen, a security agent, who later helps the Doctor but I can't help but feel that Tom was given a rather one-dimensional character here in comparison to his much better role as Duggan in City of Death during the Tom Baker era. Joan Sims however is one of the weaker cast members as the tribe leader, Queen Katryca as her performance is pretty hammy. Glen Murphy on the other hand fares better as Glitz's sidekick, Dibber, a mercenary as the two of them have their own agenda on Ravalox. And last of all is Roger Brierley as Drathro, the robot, who rules on the planet and is known to the tribes people as "the Immortal".
DIRECTOR AND MUSIC
As for the director, Nicholas Mallett does a fairly good job here with the story as it is well paced and moves at a decent rate and he also does a decent job at balancing the courtroom scenes and the video footage of the Doctor's adventure on Ravalox. Mallett later directed a couple of serials from the Sylvester McCoy era, Paradise Towers and later The Curse of Fenric but sadly, Mallett himself, died in January 1997.
Music wise, the score is by Dominic Glynn and its a pretty good one overall, which is all synthesized and his intro theme for when the Doctor's TARDIS is pulled into the space station where his trial will be held, is excellent. Glynn also provided a new variation of the Doctor Who title theme for this season but it was never again used afterward and its actually not too bad but it does remain one of the weaker ones.
FLAWS (Warning: this section contains spoilers!)
As for flaws....yes The Mysterious Planet isn't perfect.
To start off, I think there is just a bit too much bickering from the Doctor and the Valeyard throughout the story and while some of it is entertaining, the Inquisitor repeatedly has to intervene, which becomes quickly repetitive. So, i.e. its a case of the Doctor says "I object! You're evidence is pathetic, Valeyard!" and the Inquisitor says "All this is pointless! Shall we carry on?!" and we get this over and over.
Another issue I had was to do with the robot, Drathro, who is a pretty weak villain and the robot outfit is a bit cheesy looking as Drathro has a head that shaped like the carving off a giant tooth! Roger Brierley's vocal performance as Drathro is however pretty decent but it has to be said that the character is definitely a poor villain.
Then there is the whole clash between the tribes people and the modern sophisticated people, who live underground, which is a bit of a dull subplot in itself and its nothing new to have two warring factions against each other with both being fed lies about the other. And the more sophisticated characters are underwritten, particularly Merdeen (played by Tom Chadbon) and they are very one dimensional although the character Balazar (Adam Blackwood) does provide a bit of humour in this regard.
And lastly there is the scene where the Doctor asks Glitz what planet they are on and Glitz tells him that they are on Earth, which Peri had suspected and the Doctor was not convinced of fully. Now, I'm surprised in a way that the Doctor didn't ask anyone about this earlier as he doesn't find out until part three of the story! So, its a bit of a long time not to reveal it but I guess they wanted to build up the surprise, only for not to be much of a surprise in the end.
SUM UP
So, to sum up, The Mysterious Planet is something of a pleasant surprise and an enjoyable, which for the most part is well written (the script was by Robert Holmes, one of the best writers from the original series) and has some good performances from the cast, particularly Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant, Tony Selby and Michael Jayston. It isn't perfect of course and has some issues but despite them its a story that is still worth a look and builds some intrigue for the rest of the Trial of a Time Lord season.
OK, so that's it for now and apologies for the lack of posts this month, so I will try and get out a few more for July.
So, until then, its bye for now!
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