They sure did like those invasion story lines, eh? A few worked quite well. The challenge is that the Dalek and Cybermen versions early on were quite effective. Writers seemed aware of this and tried to spice things up a bit. This time, they shifted things to Gallifrey, added a false enemy, and gave us a look inside the TARDIS. Part of me wishes they'd opted out of the last part of the plan. Budgets led to their using the same hallways of the same hospital over and over and over and over. In my head, the old girl had so much more variety. Nice to see Leela leave. Hopefully, that'll put a stop to the open contempt/nastiness of Tom Baker for awhile. Got to love how he says goodbye off camera so she can't respond to being called a savage one last time.
Story 098 The Ribos Operation
This one made me wish I watched the show during its original airing. For whatever reason, the White Guardian reminded me of the machine leader from Matrix: Revolutions. Memories of that turkey made me want the Doctor to defy him and skip the whole Key to Time business. Then in came Romana with her annoying psycho-analysis of everything. Shit. What a horrible start. At least Graff Vynda-K thinks this is Shakespeare and can't shut off his high drama voice. Quite like Garron. Also feels quite theatrical. Good presence. Not the worst thing ever, quite enjoyable really.
Story 099 The Pirate Planet
I liked the Captain. Dude bellowed daftly like some sort of cybernetic Vogon guard. Oh wait. Douglas Adams wrote this. That explains it. Terrifying, disturbing, concept at the core but offset by humor well enough that people may have missed that bit. Nice to see Baker having some legitimate fun for a change. That guy put so much of himself into the role that if he was having a bad day it showed. As did his contempt for Leela. Part of the reason I prefer Pertwee, honestly. Nice writing, good to see it not killed by Baker knowing better or being a gargantuan douche.
Story 100 The Stones of Blood
Interesting concept. An alien war criminal set up a stone circle as a teleportation point and means of hiding some living rocks. Love the archaeologist, Professor Rumford. You can't count on The Doctor because he's a MAN. Vivian can't be an ancient evil in disguise seemingly because she was delightful to live with. Not sure if she's a woman or a lesbian. Either way, lots of fun to watch. Also nice to see an enemy K-9 can't simply turn around and zap. Feels like some writers just started throwing every bad thing at the Doctor, getting him trapped in a corner, then having the tin dog blast evil away.
Story 101 The Androids of Tara
Tom Baker as Errol Flynn with electric swords? This sort of thing is why I take pains to not do research ahead of watching the episode. It sounds like a fairly bad idea on paper. Yet, it's fun if you just shut off the "but but but...."s in the ole noggin. I'd freaking love this is I was a wee bairn upon the first viewing.
Story 102 The Power of Kroll
Half-assed. The Swampies dance of worship was an un-choreographed shuffle. Their drums were blatant stock loops. Performances... ugh. It felt as though someone got something kind of decent, hacked it to pieces, then decided to rely on the awe inspiring sight of Kroll for all tension. Mind you, he looks even worse than the fake Kroll the swampies sacrifice to in his stead. Then there's the ending. K-9 couldn't roll through a swamp so rather than have him mysteriously increase power for gargantuan squid zapping, they just make the leap to having Kroll be part of the Key of Time. So he gets tapped, turns into part of a cube, and everything is fine. I'd normally call it a tension killer but there really wasn't any due to failure to engage the viewer on a level beyond "I care about the Doctor because of previous adventures."
Story 103 The Armageddon Factor
So here comes the end of the Key to Time saga. And it's... about two episodes too long, honestly. The Shadow should've been played by Brian Blessed. At least his cliched lines could've been delivered with some gusto then. Dude just came across as a week and wheezy little tool. Should've known it would all prove anti-climactic when the Black and White Guardian reminded me of Matrix Revolutions so severely. Also really hope episode 104 is in the next batch from the library so I can watch them try to explain how Romana regenerates into Princess Astra from this episode. At least the arc is over. Some sort of episode-linking quest sounds like a great idea on paper but the way they seemed to just cram the idea into unrelated scripts hurt.
Story 104 Destiny of the Daleks
I got my wish! The explanation is... she though Astra was pretty and can choose what form she regenerates into. Okay. Baker could only choose between costumes during his. Time ladies get to pick their own bodies? I don't know. Let's just turn on our kid powers and focus on the action.! OOOH DALEKS! WTF Davros lived? Great. Didn't he serve his storyline purpose? Oh wait they want to teach us a lesson about how machines can never win due to a lack of imagination. I like coloring books! CRAYONS RULE! GIRLS ARE GROSS! YAY IMAGINATION! Sorry. Hard to shut that off. Guess the episode was okay. Really hope they don't go too far down Davros road. His makes the Dalek's seem insincere about their xenophobia. and overarching mission statement.
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