The action shifts in these two episodes from Atrios to Zeos, as we see what the other side has been getting up to. Well, I say "the other side", but it seems there's a third party involved, a tall, dark, emaciated figure called the Shadow who wants the Doctor to hand over the first five segments of the Key to Time. But he seems to believe the Doctor will make a mistake and so leaves him be to explore Zeos.
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K-9, the Doctor, and Romana in Mentalis's computer room. (The
Armageddon Factor Part Three) ©BBC |
There's a lot of corridor wandering in these two episodes, but in part three, at least, I find I don't mind too much, as there's enough to sustain interest. The stuff with K-9 and Mentalis, the Zeon computer, is a lot of fun -- particularly K-9's pleasure at encountering another computer and his slight exasperation with all the organics he has to deal with; K-9 often comes across as a mobile plot-solver-cum-weapons-platform, so it's nice to see him get some characterization. And while Davyd Harries is starting to get a little looser with his portrayal of Shapp, I still don't really mind it. He's leagues ahead of the characterization of Merak, who seems so focused on Princess Astra to the exclusion of everything else that he comes across as unbelievably wet and annoying. Mind, even the Doctor (or is it Tom Baker?) seems irritated with him, as he snaps at him near the end of part three. The cliffhanger to part three, by the way, gives us our best ever look at
Doctor Who's standard monster actor Pat Gorman, who here is the Marshal's copilot.
It does start to sag a bit in part four, though. The best part involves the Doctor constructing a temporary sixth segment to hold the Universe in check long enough for the Doctor and Romana to stop the impending Armageddon from both the Marshal (who's preparing to blast Zeos out of the sky) and Mentalis (which is prepared to destroy both planets if an attack gets through). The idea of the time loop affecting the Marshal's ship and the Zeon computer room, and how the time loop is slowly stretching as the makeshift sixth segment burns out, is clever (even if it isn't incredibly original). The stuff with Princess Astra and Merak, on the other hand, is rather dreary -- Astra may be possessed, but this seems to be an excuse for some rather theatrical acting. And at this point in the story it's hard to care about the Shadow, as all he's doing is lurking sinisterly -- he's not really putting many plans into motion. Still, it's one of the better cliffhangers, as it's rather unsettling to hear K-9 refer to the Shadow as "Master" -- and the Shadow is more than happy to laugh maniacally as the credits roll...