Planet of Fire (1984)

Planet of Fire is the penultimate story for Peter Davison as the Doctor. It’s fair to say that the 1984 season hadn’t been quite as successful as previous years and this is why Davison left the role after three years in the next story. This story also sees the debut of Nicola Bryant as Peri, the departure of Mark Strickson as Turlough and more thankfully, the departure of Chameleon who was even more useless that Adric. Planet of Fire was the second story to be written by Peter Grimwade who’s previous contribution to the show was the less that successful ‘Time-Flight’. The story is also the fourth story to be directed by Fiona Cumming who has become one of my favourite directors. Planet of Fire is one of the rare stories that feature some location filming away from Britain’s green and pleasant land. Script Editor Eric Saward always seems to be grumpy on this situation but to be honest, I think that it’s nice to film away from Britain as it gives the story a new feel that most stories don’t have.

The story is set on Sarn where yet again we are treated to some primitives who think that fire is somehow related to a god. There is talk about chosen ones and to be honest this story is somewhat boring and it gets in the way from the main drama which is that Anthony Ainley is back as the Master. Ainley was last seen in ‘Time-Flight’ and his contract was expiring so what we were getting was in effect his swansong. Which is of course isn’t the case as we all know. The Master is much more effective in this story than he was in Time-Flight. This is due to the fact that he starts off the story as a mini version of his normal self and uses Chameleon to help move the box that the Mini-Master is into a flame that has special qualities.

Nicola Bryant spent close to three and a half years on the show and the only thing that she is really remembered for is that bikini scene which is a shame really because she is quite good in this story. She has a lot to deal with in this story including Chameleon that takes on the appearance of her step-father who then changes into the Master. She also has to do a lot of running on the rocky landscape of Lanzarote. In his final story, Mark Strickson finally gets to put some meat to his character which had spent the best part of a year doing pretty much nothing. We learn that his family was a bunch of criminals and his father was being sent to Sarn as a prisoner. As a result, this is Turlough’s story and he leaves the show as someone who has been redeemed from his past mistakes and is able to go back to Trion as a hero of sorts. It’s well played by Mark Strickson and his departure is actually quite well handled. Anthony Ainley puts in his best performance as the Master (so far), there is less of a pantomime feel to it and his ‘final’ scene was the best scene of the entire story because it leads to the possibility that the Master has died but also that the last line Ainley gives might have said ‘Brother’. We will never know which is probably the best thing.

Planet of Fire is better than Time-Flight because it was a lot more sensible. The story benefits from some lovely location filming and as Fiona Cumming’s swansong, it’s a very well directed story that has a nice pace despite having some less than sparking characters. As the penultimate story for Davison, it’s the sort of story that Davison should have been doing from the beginning.

Mawdryn Undead (1983)

Mawdryn Undead is the first story in the Black Guardian Trilogy. This has become the third such story arc in five years with The Key to Time (1978-79) and The E-Space Trilogy (1980). Nowadays it’s nothing unusual to have a story arc running through several stories but back in 1983 it’s out of the norm. We are introduced to Turlough played by Mark Strickson who is a public school (even though he was 24 when this aired) and by a million to one chance, The Brigadier is also at this school but a teacher. After stealing a car and crashing it, Turlough is given the chance by the Black Guardian (last seen in The Armageddon Factor) to return home to Trion. However he has to kill the Doctor. This is plot over the next three stories and to be honest is two stories too long. This story is written by Peter Grimwade who I think is save to say a much better director than writer. Previous stories have been a tad rubbish.

The main story plot is split between 1977 and 1983 where there are two Brigadiers’ and they have done a clever thing of distinguishing between the two by having one with the trademark moustache. There’s a lovely scene where they are missing each other on Mawdryn’s ship. The moment when they meet and their hands touch shows why the same person from different areas of their own time stream should never meet.

The story seems like it could be totally baffling because of all the different Brigadier’s and one set of characters in 1977 and the other set in 1983. However it doesn’t go too far as to totally ruin my enjoyment. It’s quite nice than in the shows 20th Anniversary year that it allows itself a time to get nostalgic with a scene between the Doctor and the 1983 Brigadier where they allude to what has happened to other members of UNIT. We also learn that the 1983 Brigadier has suffered a nervous breakdown which sadly is never given any detail. What we do get is a wonderful scene in the TARDIS where the Brigadier remembers things from his past and the lovely moment when he realises who the Doctor is also lovely. It might be a tad indulgent but I think from time to time it’s worth it.

There are a few flaws with this story. The first being the design of Mawdryn. I must concede that in 1983 it might have looked quite impressive but sadly with 21st Century eyes it just looks like someone has plonked a bowl of spaghetti on David Collings (Mawdryn) head and it ruins the credibility of the character. Though credit to Collings because he does a great job being the leader of the spaghetti head crew. Another flaw is the idea that Nyssa and Tegan mistaken Mawdryn for the Doctor. I suppose at the time it might have been plausible but I never understood how they could have made such a massive error.

I quite like Turlough. I think that Mark Strickson does the best of bad job. The cliffhanger to the first episode was the most obvious chance that he has to kill the Doctor but faffs around for so long that he loses his chance and he fluffs every other chance over the next twelve episodes. Over the course of his time in the show, we never really learn much about him except in his last story and he’s never really given much of a chance to become a fan favourite during his time on the show and it’s only during his Big Finish time that Mark Strickson is given the material to work with. The Turlough we get in this story isn’t particularly a nice character and acts a bully to ‘Hippo’ Ibbotson. Even going to the stage of blaming him for the crash. It’s a good attempt to portray the character as an unlikeable guy and that’s why I like him. He’s completely different from any male companion in Doctor Who.

This is the first appearance for Nicholas Courtney since Terror of the Zygons in 1976. Since then the character has retired from UNIT and become a teacher. It’s a plausible character development and to be honest I don’t really care because it’s just great to have Courtney back in Doctor Who and we get two of them to add to the excitement.

Out of the three stories from the Black Guardian Trilogy, it’s arguably the best because there seems to be more enthusiasm and more energy in this story than in the next two. Despite the Spaghetti headed Mawdryn, the idea that they need to use the Doctor’s regeneration cycle to survive is quite a good one and it’s definitely one of the better Peter Grimwade written stories.