October 30: Enlightenment Parts Three & Four

The first two episodes of Enlightenment were set primarily on Striker's ship (the Shadow, according to the name on the lifebuoys), while the latter two split their time evenly between the Shadow and the Buccaneer, a 17th-century Spanish galleon.  Wrack, the captain of the Buccaneer, seems far more lively than any of the other Eternals we've seen -- but maybe that's because she's doing her best to emulate a pirate captain, as opposed to, say, Striker's English "stiff upper lip" approach.

However, the standout performance here has to be from Mark Strickson.  Turlough spends the entirety of these two episodes aboard Wrack's ship (well, once the Buccaneer scoops him up from his jump overboard), and he spends all that time being devious and conniving.  "Your mind is divided, confused, hard to read sometimes," Wrack tells Turlough, "but one thing is clear in it always.  Greed."  But Mark Strickson (who hasn't exactly started this story as the most subtle actor) turns it up in an extremely entertaining performance.  "I heard the power that speaks to you!  I heard it, and I know the voice," Turlough wheedles to Wrack, in an effort to save his neck.  "He speaks to me as well.  I serve him, as I wish to serve you."  It's tremendous fun, and it's a tribute to Strickson's abilities that, until the final moments of part four, you're never quite sure which side he's on.  Is he, for instance, actually betraying the Doctor in part four by claiming the Doctor's a spy?  Even though Turlough and the Doctor had a conversation about staying aboard the Buccaneer, and the fact that the Doctor seems sufficiently convinced by his intentions ("I think he wants to prove himself.  At least, I hope so," the Doctor tells Tegan), you're still not certain if he's going to side with the Doctor or the Black Guardian.

The Black Guardian and the White Guardian, ready to present
Enlightenment. (Enlightenment Part Four) ©BBC

But then these two episodes, at their heart, really are about Turlough, and while there are other incidents along the way (Tegan being frozen in time so that Wrack can plant a deadly jewel on her, the destruction of another vessel due to Wrack, Marriner's desire to be with Tegan -- "You are life itself," he tells Tegan.  "Without you I am nothing.  Don't you understand? ... I am empty.  You give me being.  I look into your mind and see life, energy, excitement.  I want them.  I want you.  Your thoughts should be my thoughts.  Your feelings, my feelings."  "Wait a minute," Tegan says.  "Are you trying to tell me you're in love?"  "Love?" responds Marriner, confused.  "What is love?¹²⁵  I want existence"), none of them are the focus of the story the way Turlough is.  And so the resolution ultimately comes down to him: as he helped sail the winning ship to the prize of Enlightenment, and as the Doctor isn't ready for Enlightenment, he's entitled to a piece of Enlightenment.  And thus Turlough is presented with a choice: does he take the diamond, as well as power and all the other things he would get from the Black Guardian, or does he spare the Doctor's life?  In the end he makes the right decision, giving the diamond to the Black Guardian, who disappears in flames:

WHITE GUARDIAN: Light destroys the dark.  I think you will find your contract terminated.
TURLOUGH: (discarding the now-blackened communication crystal into the fire) I never wanted the agreement in the first place.
DOCTOR: I believe you.
TEGAN: You're mad.
TURLOUGH: What I've said is true.
TEGAN: You believe him because he gave up Enlightenment for your sake.
DOCTOR: You're missing the point.  Enlightenment was not the diamond.  Enlightenment was the choice.

(from The Doctor Who Transcripts - Enlightenment)

Enlightenment brings an end to the Black Guardian trilogy, and while the White Guardian warns of a third encounter, to date this hasn't happened yet (unless Missy in series 8 is actually the Black Guardian...).  It's a satisfying conclusion, one that sparkles with energy and charm.  There's hardly a word or design choice out of place (well, except for the giant flashing VACUUM SHIELD OFF sign in Wrack's ion chamber, but I guess you can't have everything).  Imaginative and clever, Enlightenment is one of the best stories of the Davison era.







¹²⁵ Baby don't hurt me
Don't hurt me
No more