MR 009: The Spectre of Lanyon Moor

Kind of wild how all the good stories so far are Sixth Doctor stories. Coincidence? I think not! Am I saying that the Sixth Doctor is the best Doctor? Well yes, obviously. That's just an objective fact. But am I saying the only good Doctor Who stories are Sixth Doctor stories? I feel like we'll just have to let history decide that one.

Speaking of history, this story has a real sense of it. An alien that looks like an imp of some sort has been stranded on earth by his shipmate for 18,000 years, well outside of human recorded history. It can't really do anything because its ship has gone and it draws its psychic power from its ship. The most it can do is cause manifestations of itself and use those to influence people. Which it does.

This is just a fantastic little adventure. I don't normally like the Brigadier, especially not on the show, but here he's fine. He gets a nice little "get off my world" moment at the end when he fights the alien. And I'm glad he got a story with the Sixth Doctor.
There's a really interesting cast of characters here as well. An archeologist digging up the moor and getting more than he bargained for. An eccentric rich guy funding the dig who is more than he seems. The archeologist's assisstant who is secretly working for the rich guy. The assisstant to the dig who has been influenced by the alien. And all of these characters have their own backstories and quirks and are really enjoyable to listen to and digest their stories. Not to mention that Evelyn herself is ridiculously comfy to listen to.

I particularly enjoy the rich guy's arc here. He thinks he can harness the alien's power and use it to take over the world. But the alien kills him with a thought for daring to try to use his power. The alien does the same thing with the woman who he's influenced to help him.

In the end it turns out that the alien accidentally shot his shipmate instead of the shipmate having left him. So he decides to take out his revenge on the Earth for having been trapped there for so long. But that's when the Brigadier tricks him.

It's genuinely a fantastically engaging story from start to finish. This is the first story that really FEELS like a classic who serial in the way it's presented. Wandering around the Moor. The mad rich guy. The archeology dig. The alien manifestations. I could see this on the classic show easily. Definitely not during Colin's actual seasons, probably more during Tom's early seasons. Great story all around everyone. It's wild how this is Nicholas Pegg's ONLY writing credit for BF considering how good it is. Pull him off operating Daleks and have him write some more please and thank you. It makes me more than excited to continue to hear Six and Evelyn. Come on Five and Seven get your act together. lol