The Horns of Nimon is clearly one of the weakest stories and it doesn’t start off very well at all. The model spaceship is poor and a primary schooler could have done a better job, at least they would have added some colour to it. Written by former script editor Anthony Read, the story has a lot of mythological stuff about it which is probably why it formed part of the Myths and Legends boxset. It’s the final story of season seventeen though Shada was suppose to take that honour and its shame because this story isnt the best way to sign off the season. The story starts off on the rubbish spaceship and we meet the Co-pilot who’s performance is more suited to the pantomime and it’s difficult to see how anyone could take him seriously or be scared of him. The story works along the lines that the Nimon is sacrificing young children in the belief (by presumably their parents) that they will be restore their empire to its former glory.
The story doesn’t start well and stays at that level for all four episodes. We get the rubbish joke just before the first cliffhanger which is “The Nimon waits for no-man”. Do you see what they did there? Very clever, actually not really and this sort of joke sums up what’s wrong with this time in Tom Baker’s era. Then there is the moment in episode two where the Doctor tries something in the TARDIS, it blows up and there are a series of comical noises. This is just an awful thing to stick in the show. I’d find it funny if I wasn’t so annoyed. It’s hard to believe it’s the same show and Doctor from what we saw in stories like The Deadly Assassin and Horror of Fang Rock.
The Nimon is another thing that doesn’t work in this story. It doesn’t help that it does look like a bloke with a massive mask with horns on it. Also the sound effects that are added to the voice is not particularly good and lacks anything creepy or scary about it. It’s hard to believe that anyone would find this scary.
Graham Crowden (Soldeed) was apparently tipped to play the Doctor so this is a classic case of ‘What if?’ but I think he probably wouldn’t have made as good a Doctor as people think. He does do the job of someone scared of their master pretty well but apart from that it’s an average role. The most famous of the children was Janet Ellis as Teka. Ellis would go on to star in the show ‘Blue Peter’ but in this story she’s actually better than the more senior members of the cast.
Tom Baker’s performance was far more comical than it should have been and it was the fault of Graham Williams and Douglas Adams for not reigning it in and getting a more toned down performance. I really cant stand David Brierley as K9. As much as I dislike the character, at least when John Leeson was doing the voice it was more suited to the character and it sounded more computer like that the theatrical tone that Brierley gave it. Lalla Ward is again the best of the main cast, she is the one given all the serious stuff to do and actually holds the story together. It’s so often the case during her time on the show that she is the one who has to lead the story and it’s a shame she didn’t stay in the story longer than she did.
The cliffhanger for episode one is terrible. Tom Baker just hams it up and there is no sense of drama or tension. If I had been watching this on December 22nd 1979, I would have been trying to think of a reason to come back next week. Though to be fair to Baker, the build up in terms of direction and music left a lot to be desired. It’s shocking that the show gained nearly three million viewers for episode two (must have been another strike by ITV) .The other cliffhangers were also a little lacking in drama.
I’m really struggling to find anything positive to say about this story which is unusual for because there is normally something that redeems it slightly. Even Underworld has a plus point which is Episode One. In The Horns of Nimon, I can’t think of a single good thing. Maybe someone else can show me why I’m wrong. The Horns of Nimon is a story that suffers from a lacklustre script and very poor production values. The models look decidedly ropey and there is a moment where the model looks like a bunch of egg cartons painted grey. I know Doctor Who was on a pretty small budget but it could have done better than this. Doctor Who often gets a bad rap saying it looked cheap and a bit rubbish but in this rare case, that argument is valid and the story continues to inconsistent quality of stories from the latter half of the Tom Baker era. This is a story that drags and by the half way mark I have all but given up and just waiting for the final credits of Part Four to come around. Very bad.
The story doesn’t start well and stays at that level for all four episodes. We get the rubbish joke just before the first cliffhanger which is “The Nimon waits for no-man”. Do you see what they did there? Very clever, actually not really and this sort of joke sums up what’s wrong with this time in Tom Baker’s era. Then there is the moment in episode two where the Doctor tries something in the TARDIS, it blows up and there are a series of comical noises. This is just an awful thing to stick in the show. I’d find it funny if I wasn’t so annoyed. It’s hard to believe it’s the same show and Doctor from what we saw in stories like The Deadly Assassin and Horror of Fang Rock.
The Nimon is another thing that doesn’t work in this story. It doesn’t help that it does look like a bloke with a massive mask with horns on it. Also the sound effects that are added to the voice is not particularly good and lacks anything creepy or scary about it. It’s hard to believe that anyone would find this scary.
Graham Crowden (Soldeed) was apparently tipped to play the Doctor so this is a classic case of ‘What if?’ but I think he probably wouldn’t have made as good a Doctor as people think. He does do the job of someone scared of their master pretty well but apart from that it’s an average role. The most famous of the children was Janet Ellis as Teka. Ellis would go on to star in the show ‘Blue Peter’ but in this story she’s actually better than the more senior members of the cast.
Tom Baker’s performance was far more comical than it should have been and it was the fault of Graham Williams and Douglas Adams for not reigning it in and getting a more toned down performance. I really cant stand David Brierley as K9. As much as I dislike the character, at least when John Leeson was doing the voice it was more suited to the character and it sounded more computer like that the theatrical tone that Brierley gave it. Lalla Ward is again the best of the main cast, she is the one given all the serious stuff to do and actually holds the story together. It’s so often the case during her time on the show that she is the one who has to lead the story and it’s a shame she didn’t stay in the story longer than she did.
The cliffhanger for episode one is terrible. Tom Baker just hams it up and there is no sense of drama or tension. If I had been watching this on December 22nd 1979, I would have been trying to think of a reason to come back next week. Though to be fair to Baker, the build up in terms of direction and music left a lot to be desired. It’s shocking that the show gained nearly three million viewers for episode two (must have been another strike by ITV) .The other cliffhangers were also a little lacking in drama.
I’m really struggling to find anything positive to say about this story which is unusual for because there is normally something that redeems it slightly. Even Underworld has a plus point which is Episode One. In The Horns of Nimon, I can’t think of a single good thing. Maybe someone else can show me why I’m wrong. The Horns of Nimon is a story that suffers from a lacklustre script and very poor production values. The models look decidedly ropey and there is a moment where the model looks like a bunch of egg cartons painted grey. I know Doctor Who was on a pretty small budget but it could have done better than this. Doctor Who often gets a bad rap saying it looked cheap and a bit rubbish but in this rare case, that argument is valid and the story continues to inconsistent quality of stories from the latter half of the Tom Baker era. This is a story that drags and by the half way mark I have all but given up and just waiting for the final credits of Part Four to come around. Very bad.
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