So after seven years, the Tom Baker era comes to an end. The longest serving actor to play to the Doctor on TV and as a result the story needed to be a fitting send off. Admittadley this season hasn’t been the strongest but the after the very good previous story there was an sense that this might be the story it should be. Written by script editor Christopher H Bidmead, this story does revel in hard science which Bidmead was a fan off. This story introduces Janet Fielding as Tegan and sees Sarah Sutton return as Nyssa after her appearance in the previous story. What I do like about this story is how it’s essentially the middle story in a trilogy of adventures with the fall out from The Keeper of Traken and what will happen in Castrovalva.
Tom Baker’s final performance is quite a downbeat one. Over the course of seven years, his performances have ranged from standard to comical and then to this where it’s almost at times seems like he isn’t acting and the realisation that he is about to become and out of work actor after such a long time dawns on him. Matthew Waterhouse is window dressing in this story because all he seems to do is to follow the Doctor around and occasionally open his mouth. Sarah Sutton’s involvement was a last minute decision and it feels like it because without her the story wouldn’t have been any different. It’s a shame because Sarah Sutton is very good as Nyssa and in future stories she would show why but here she doesn’t really contribute anything. Janet Fielding is the mouth on legs that we knew she would be. She stumbles into the TARDIS and spends a long time running up and down corridors. Her whiny tone does get a bit grating after a while but it does get drowned out by everything else that is going on this story. Anthony Ainley is the Master properly in this story and its his involvement that causes things to go a bit crazy. It must have been a bit strange for viewers at the time getting use to the actor playing Tremas one week and then playing the Master the next week. In this story, Ainley is quite good in this story and the Master’s plan is not as convoluted as previous plans. Ainley’s tenure as the Master starts off quite well.
Every so often the a white figure appears and its quite a mystery as to what he is but we soon learn that it is in fact the fifth Doctor which is quite a good idea and it’s something that could only really be done once because it would lose its mystique and effectivness everytime it appears. The story moves to the planet Logopolis after various set pieces in a layby on a dual carriageway and on a ship on the Thames. The planet Logopolis doesn’t really look very good. It doesn’t help that one of the Logopolitans look a lot like Noel Edmonds. As a race they are pretty irrelevant because they don’t seem to have anything about them. Yes they are clever but that only goes so far and when they start being wiped out I don’t really find myself caring.
The regeneration sequence is very good. The flashback of various enemies that the fourth Doctor has faced over the seven years was quite a good idea and then Tom Baker’s final scene was very solum and downbeat but I think that it was very emotional and had is a sad moement everytime I watch it. Tom Baker’s final words are very fitting and it’s better than what Colin Baker gets. Logopolis is not the story that I think Tom Baker deserves but there are things that I quite liked. Due to some of the inconsistent stories in this season the end result of Logopolis is quite enjoyable and a nice end to this season.
Tom Baker’s final performance is quite a downbeat one. Over the course of seven years, his performances have ranged from standard to comical and then to this where it’s almost at times seems like he isn’t acting and the realisation that he is about to become and out of work actor after such a long time dawns on him. Matthew Waterhouse is window dressing in this story because all he seems to do is to follow the Doctor around and occasionally open his mouth. Sarah Sutton’s involvement was a last minute decision and it feels like it because without her the story wouldn’t have been any different. It’s a shame because Sarah Sutton is very good as Nyssa and in future stories she would show why but here she doesn’t really contribute anything. Janet Fielding is the mouth on legs that we knew she would be. She stumbles into the TARDIS and spends a long time running up and down corridors. Her whiny tone does get a bit grating after a while but it does get drowned out by everything else that is going on this story. Anthony Ainley is the Master properly in this story and its his involvement that causes things to go a bit crazy. It must have been a bit strange for viewers at the time getting use to the actor playing Tremas one week and then playing the Master the next week. In this story, Ainley is quite good in this story and the Master’s plan is not as convoluted as previous plans. Ainley’s tenure as the Master starts off quite well.
Every so often the a white figure appears and its quite a mystery as to what he is but we soon learn that it is in fact the fifth Doctor which is quite a good idea and it’s something that could only really be done once because it would lose its mystique and effectivness everytime it appears. The story moves to the planet Logopolis after various set pieces in a layby on a dual carriageway and on a ship on the Thames. The planet Logopolis doesn’t really look very good. It doesn’t help that one of the Logopolitans look a lot like Noel Edmonds. As a race they are pretty irrelevant because they don’t seem to have anything about them. Yes they are clever but that only goes so far and when they start being wiped out I don’t really find myself caring.
The regeneration sequence is very good. The flashback of various enemies that the fourth Doctor has faced over the seven years was quite a good idea and then Tom Baker’s final scene was very solum and downbeat but I think that it was very emotional and had is a sad moement everytime I watch it. Tom Baker’s final words are very fitting and it’s better than what Colin Baker gets. Logopolis is not the story that I think Tom Baker deserves but there are things that I quite liked. Due to some of the inconsistent stories in this season the end result of Logopolis is quite enjoyable and a nice end to this season.
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