The Doctor kicks the Master's remote control out of his hand, and before the Master can reclaim it they're both captured by the Primitives -- and thus Jo Grant's life is saved. And now the Master is inside the Primitive city, which means he can finally gain access to the Doomsday Weapon we were told about at the very beginning of this story.
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The Master illustrates the uses for the Doomsday Weapon.
(Colony in Space Episode Six) ©BBC |
Actually, this episode is probably the best of the six, because it moves at a decent clip on account of having to wrap up two separate storylines (the colonist/mining one and the Primitive city one) in the span of 25 minutes. Some of this is a bit perfunctory, such as the scenes with sending all the colonists packing, but even with this we get some nice moments, such as Captain Dent surveying the empty dome after the colonists have left and tearing down their crops chart in a fit of pique, or Winton and an IMC guard having a knock-down-drag-out in a wet clay pit, resulting in one of
Doctor Who's more realistic-looking fights. And given how this storyline has been proceeding, having the colonists' spaceship actually taking off and exploding in the air is a surprising moment, and all the more welcome for it (in terms of plotting at least -- not (necessarily) in terms of wanting all the colonists dead). With the colonist storyline wrapped up, the Primitive city stuff is finally fully explained by the Master, who's looking to use their ultimate weapon for himself. Interestingly, he offers the Doctor a share in the power -- illustrating the respect he clearly has for the Doctor, even when he's been trying to kill him off earlier. It's only when the Guardian intervenes, telling the Doctor to set the self-destruct mechanism, that the Master's plan is foiled. Then when they emerge from the dying city (along with Jo and Caldwell, who went in after them), they're surrounded by IMC troops who are then themselves surrounded by the colonists, who snuck off the spaceship when IMC wasn't looking. The Master escapes in the confusion, and soon the colonists win and everything ends happily...unless you're a Primitive.
The main problem with
Colony in Space is that it's simply too long. If they'd made this a four-parter and introduced the Master at the end of episode two this might have been all right. But instead they've given Malcolm Hulke six episodes and he turns in a story in which the colonists and IMC trade the upper hand every episode (odd, this; usually Hulke is a lot better at filling his stories out). With a colony totally devoid of interest and an IMC crew that's been neutered against the director's wishes (Morgan was originally going to be played by actress Susan Jameson until BBC Head of Drama Serials Ronnie Marsh overruled Michael Briant's decision), there's far too much time wasted with dull power struggles and not enough on the far more interesting Primitive city. The point of the colonist story (corporations are evil and ruthless -- admittedly a more radical idea in 1971 than now) is made early in episode two and then reiterated ad nauseam, and the Primitive city is only given prominence in episodes four and six. The result is a rather tedious runaround, and the first real clunker of Jon Pertwee's run.
But now it's time to turn our attention to the last story of season 8:
The Dæmons62. This first episode is a bit of an odd one: it starts with the Doctor dismissing Jo Grant's belief in anything magical or occult ("You know, really, Jo, I'm obviously wasting my time trying to turn you into a scientist") and then spends the rest of the time with the Doctor trying to stop an archaeological dig because a number of occult signs are lining up ("Aquarius? The Devil's Hump? Beltane?" the Doctor mutters to himself), with no scientific explanation (or even technobabble) given. It's just off to Devil's End to stop Professor Horner because a white witch named Miss Hawthorne said so. Well, all right, it's not quite that simplistic, but it sometimes feels like it.
And then there are strange goings-on in the village of Devil's End (the first "outsiders aren't welcome" village of the 70s, and only the second ever after
The Smugglers -- and note Bert the Landlord's reaction to the Doctor if you need proof), with strong winds, unexplained deaths, and police constables temporarily turning homicidal. It would also seem the vicar has disappeared -- but this one can be explained, as we see that his replacement, Mr. Magister, is in fact the Master. Clearly evil things are afoot, and the ceremony the Master is carrying out is clearly designed for mischief, ending as it does with a gargoyle's head moving and the Master crying out "Azal! Azal!" Although, entertainingly, during this ceremony the Master throws up the horns during his invocation. All right, clearly he's meant to be summoning the devil or some such and thus is using the sign correctly, but it's still fun to see.
So the Doctor tries to get to the dig to stop Horner from breaking into the Devil's Hump, but he's juuuust too late, and Horner and the Doctor are blasted by what appears to be snow as the ground begins shaking violently. This could be an issue... but we'll have to wait until next time to learn more.
62 You can blame director Christopher Barry for the inclusion of the ash (that's the name for the symbol æ) in the title -- apparently he thought it gave the story extra atmosphere.