The Ribos Operation is the first part of the Key to Time series. The first time that an entire series would have a theme. This series was Graham Williams’ second series as producer and Anthony Read’s first full series as Script Editor. The story is written by Robert Holmes who is one of the best writers that Doctor Who ever had. This story is only one of two stories that is entirely studio based. It starts off with a set up for the entire series. The TARDIS loses power and the Doctor joins the White Guardian who looks like he’s living in a wine vineyard in France. Then there is a nice little scene which introduces Romana. The search for the first segment sees the Doctor and Romana arrive on Ribos just as a con-artist called Garron is trying to sell a medieval planet to the Graff Vynda-K. Ribos is a horrible planet which is snow ridden. The inhabitants of the planet are quite primitive with seekers and people living in the concourse.
The Romana character is very snobbish which isn’t anything like a character that Doctor Who has ever had. The snobbishness does get toned down in future stories but in this one it basically Romana pretending that she is better and clever than the Doctor. Mary Tamm is very good as the first incarnation of Romana. She looks like she’s in the wrong show. It looks like she should be appearing in a glamorous ITV drama not a BBC Sci-Fi show. The character does seem a bit two dimensional in the early stages of the story but she does develop by the end. It’s nice to see the Doctor not getting on with his companion. I don’t know whether there was a tension between the two actors but it does give this first story the impression that they are not friends but two people set on a mission that have to put up with each other.
There’s a solid group of actors in this (aside from Baker and Tamm). Iain Cuthbertson and Nigel Plaskitt are a great double act (a Robert Holmes trick) and their early scenes are very comedic. Paul Seed plays the Graff Vynda-K like a spoilt brat who has been deprived of something he feels should be his and throws a wobbler. Robert Keegan is actually quite believable as a deputy in the form of Sholakh. He seems more like a military man than the Graff Vynda-K does. There’s a nice return appearance from Prentis Hancock. Previously seen in Planet of the Daleks. I always find his performances to be highly enjoyable.
The problem that there is with this story is that it does feel all over the place. First there is the story of the Doctor and Romana looking for the first segment of the Key. Then there is Garron and Unstoffe trying to con the Graff Vynda-K and then there is the story of the Graff who has been deposed on his own planet and is seeking revenge. Then there was the cliffhanger to Episode two, firstly Paul Seed (Vynda-K) looks directly at the screen with no real authority. Then it’s another four or five seconds before there’s a close-up of Tom Baker’s face.
The Ribos Operation is a reasonable opener. It suffers from being studio bound as there isn’t the impression of scale that perhaps it should have had. Robert Holmes has done a good job with the script and George Spenton-Foster does a reasonable job in keeping the majority of the action going.
The Romana character is very snobbish which isn’t anything like a character that Doctor Who has ever had. The snobbishness does get toned down in future stories but in this one it basically Romana pretending that she is better and clever than the Doctor. Mary Tamm is very good as the first incarnation of Romana. She looks like she’s in the wrong show. It looks like she should be appearing in a glamorous ITV drama not a BBC Sci-Fi show. The character does seem a bit two dimensional in the early stages of the story but she does develop by the end. It’s nice to see the Doctor not getting on with his companion. I don’t know whether there was a tension between the two actors but it does give this first story the impression that they are not friends but two people set on a mission that have to put up with each other.
There’s a solid group of actors in this (aside from Baker and Tamm). Iain Cuthbertson and Nigel Plaskitt are a great double act (a Robert Holmes trick) and their early scenes are very comedic. Paul Seed plays the Graff Vynda-K like a spoilt brat who has been deprived of something he feels should be his and throws a wobbler. Robert Keegan is actually quite believable as a deputy in the form of Sholakh. He seems more like a military man than the Graff Vynda-K does. There’s a nice return appearance from Prentis Hancock. Previously seen in Planet of the Daleks. I always find his performances to be highly enjoyable.
The problem that there is with this story is that it does feel all over the place. First there is the story of the Doctor and Romana looking for the first segment of the Key. Then there is Garron and Unstoffe trying to con the Graff Vynda-K and then there is the story of the Graff who has been deposed on his own planet and is seeking revenge. Then there was the cliffhanger to Episode two, firstly Paul Seed (Vynda-K) looks directly at the screen with no real authority. Then it’s another four or five seconds before there’s a close-up of Tom Baker’s face.
The Ribos Operation is a reasonable opener. It suffers from being studio bound as there isn’t the impression of scale that perhaps it should have had. Robert Holmes has done a good job with the script and George Spenton-Foster does a reasonable job in keeping the majority of the action going.
No comments:
Post a Comment