State of Decay is the best of the E-Space trilogy pure and simple. This story was written by former Script Editor Terrance Dicks. The bones of this story were meant to form a story that later became Horror of Fang Rock (1977). The story arrives on a planet that seems to be in a feudal period. The inhabitants are being ruled by three Lord who have more than an interest in the red stuff. Sadly this story doesn’t feature the demise of Adric but thankfully there are more reasons (if any more were needed) to dislike the character.
The villagers that the Doctor and Romana meet are quite backward in terms of development and there is a wonderful moment when they are looking at a computer which is so 1980’s and if this story were made today it would be an iPad or a PC. The fact that the lords are descendants of humans in an interesting twist on the normal vampire story. Their names are different versions of normal everyday names. The lords are trying to protect the Great Vampire which is a great idea. It was clear that they wouldn’t be able to realise the creature properly and they clearly learnt their lessons from the Erato creature in The Creature from the Pit and we only saw a hand/claw. The story is very eerie and that is what is best about State of Decay. The lords are tremendously camp at times and it’s that mixed in with their appearance which is impressive that which carries the story. What does let the story down are the model sequences. The shots of the tower looked dodgy and as the heart beating of the Great Vampire also looked dodgy but was slightly better.
Of the three regular cast, Tom Baker and Lalla Ward put on good performances. The comedy from Tom Baker was a little more visible in this story but Matthew Waterhouse is drowning in this story and is very poor in this. I think that the story is hindered when Waterhouse is on the screen. Out of the three lords it was Emrys James that really stood out for me. He was totally creepy and was the one out of the three that posed the greatest threat to the regulars. Camilla (Rachel Davies) and Zargo (William Lindsay) are great as the King and Queen but slightly lack the terror that Aukon has.
State of Decay is a very good story that is only let down by the model sequences. It manages to avoid that trap that middle stories in a trilogy have and that is just being a holding place until the final story. This is a story that doesn’t rest on its laurels and goes for its own adventure and leaves the story arc to the beginning and end of the story. There is some really nice location work and Peter Moffatt has done well directing this story with what seems like a lot of stuff in it. The studio sets were great, the acting was some of the best that I have seen from this season and at the end of the day it is the best of the E-Space trilogy and one of the best stories from the season.
The villagers that the Doctor and Romana meet are quite backward in terms of development and there is a wonderful moment when they are looking at a computer which is so 1980’s and if this story were made today it would be an iPad or a PC. The fact that the lords are descendants of humans in an interesting twist on the normal vampire story. Their names are different versions of normal everyday names. The lords are trying to protect the Great Vampire which is a great idea. It was clear that they wouldn’t be able to realise the creature properly and they clearly learnt their lessons from the Erato creature in The Creature from the Pit and we only saw a hand/claw. The story is very eerie and that is what is best about State of Decay. The lords are tremendously camp at times and it’s that mixed in with their appearance which is impressive that which carries the story. What does let the story down are the model sequences. The shots of the tower looked dodgy and as the heart beating of the Great Vampire also looked dodgy but was slightly better.
Of the three regular cast, Tom Baker and Lalla Ward put on good performances. The comedy from Tom Baker was a little more visible in this story but Matthew Waterhouse is drowning in this story and is very poor in this. I think that the story is hindered when Waterhouse is on the screen. Out of the three lords it was Emrys James that really stood out for me. He was totally creepy and was the one out of the three that posed the greatest threat to the regulars. Camilla (Rachel Davies) and Zargo (William Lindsay) are great as the King and Queen but slightly lack the terror that Aukon has.
State of Decay is a very good story that is only let down by the model sequences. It manages to avoid that trap that middle stories in a trilogy have and that is just being a holding place until the final story. This is a story that doesn’t rest on its laurels and goes for its own adventure and leaves the story arc to the beginning and end of the story. There is some really nice location work and Peter Moffatt has done well directing this story with what seems like a lot of stuff in it. The studio sets were great, the acting was some of the best that I have seen from this season and at the end of the day it is the best of the E-Space trilogy and one of the best stories from the season.
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