Written by one of the few who's written for both Tom's onscreen run and his audio range, this is a rather dark and scary tale with some amazing moments, and the first of the E-Space Trilogy. Let's hope that the other two stories are as awesome as this!

You can tell that Tom Baker isn't having a lot of fun here, unfortunately. He comes off as a lot more aggressive and nasty, even if the line isn't intended like that. However, this darker side of the Fourth Doctor helps to create a scarier atmosphere within the story, especially as the emotional ties of the Marshmen hit the Doctor close to home, and he's a lot more vulnerable. The opening scene where the Doctor and Romana discuss the power of the Time Lords is a really important one, and shows you how the pair have grown and developed over the course of two and a half seasons, with the Doctor starting off brash and rude and quite spiteful towards the Time Lords for dumping Romana on him, whilst Romana was faithful to the Time Lords - where now the roles have reversed. Romana's character gets some real development from this story, which can't be said for many of the companions of the Classic Series, and it's one of her finest performances. It's really unnerving when she's attacked and infected by the spiders, it's like she's playing an entirely different character, but it's so heartwarming when she's cured, and that grin returns to her face. K-9 gets a bit to do here, but not much - I find it hilarious when he's pursuing the Marshmen, and then comes to a stream and just thinks "Ah, my deadliest enemy - water!" and just turns around and runs off. Nearly forgot about Adric - and so did the writers at the end, it seems. He's a rather boring companion at the moment, and I'm not sure who he's meant to be. He considers himself a rebel, yet stays true to the word of the Deciders. His personality is all over the place, and I struggled to connect with him at all - Most people consider Adric to be just plain annoying and insufferable - me, I'm annoyed by him because I don't understand his character, and he has little reaction to his brother's death - but at least he got that belt! The ending cliffhanger was excellent, when the starliner launches, but then it dawns on the Doctor and Romana that they're stuck in E-Space, setting up the next two stories - but seriously, what happened to Adric?

The Marshmen looked excellent - really creepy monsters for sure. The twist at the end is distinctive and genius, with the Marshmen attacking their own people, who look different due to evolution - the racial themes behind it are so progressive and interesting, and fits into the story perfectly, with a great final message to cap the story off with the aggressive analogy for slave owners being defeated and forced out of the territory they're invading. Aside from the message that accompanies them, they're really intimidating, especially when they're breaking into the cruiseliner, and their defeat felt like it was earned, and still hlped to push forward the message that, even in our society now, one measly fight didn't defeat them, and racism, or the Marshmen in this case, exists outside of their spaceship and in the mistfall. The spiders were really horrifying, especially since I have arachnophobia, but that moment when Romana picks up a fruit to throw it at them, and one jumps out of the fruit to bite her really takes the cake for me. Scariest. Cliffhanger. Ever.

The location footage is excellent, the swamps are really atmospheric, especially when the Marshmen climb out of the water and attack the Terradonians. The culture was built up really well, and although the spaceship looks a little cheaper, the whole episode has an air of creepiness about it, and the visuals do help to boost that creepiness and it looks fantastic.

The subplot of the Terradonians' spacecruiser is really interesting and built up to match the main plot of the Marshmen invasion that the two interlink together quite effectively, and the world-building used for the Terradonians' society is fascinating, and you can tell that Andrew Smith worked hard to keep the story engaging throughout.

The music does not fit the tone of this story at all - Apart from a few subtler moments, the story feels really lighthearted and weird with the score - When K-9 is stalking the Marshmen, the song "K-9 on a Mission" plays - it's an epic track, but seriously does not fit the scene at all.

This is a really strong story, incredibly progressive and full of stellar dialogue! Lalla Ward's excellent acting is really setting us up for a big punch at Warrior's Gate. I'm not ready for her to leave. But this is an amazing outing for this series, and redefined the show's themes in a way that's never been done before - I wouldn't be surprised if this was a New Series story. But it's a brilliant start to the E-Space trilogy, and the tone and atmosphere of the story is so dynamically different from N-Space, which is what I really like to see with parallel universe stories, and something that disappointed me a little with stories from Big Finish's Divergent Universe arc. But here it's excellent.

Thworping through time and space, one adventure at a time!

“FULL CIRCLE: MISTFALL, MARSHMEN, AND MUDDLED SCIENCE”

Full Circle marks the beginning of the E-Space Trilogy, throwing the Doctor and Romana into a parallel dimension and introducing Adric, the young mathematical prodigy from Alzarius. The story centres on the crashed starliner’s inhabitants, who live in fear of the Marshmen and the recurring event known as Mistfall. The Doctor’s primary goal is to help them escape before the next catastrophe—but things are not as simple as they seem.

INTERESTING IDEAS, UNEVEN EXECUTION

While the plot is straightforward, it carries some interesting themes, particularly the blind faith in scientific experimentation and the revelation that the Alzarians can maintain their ship but don’t actually know how to fly it. Part 4 adds a surge of tension as the Marshmen attack the ship, delivering an action-packed climax. However, the ending fizzles out, and the Deciders’ arc never fully develops into anything satisfying.

The setting of Alzarius is a refreshing change from Doctor Who’s usual quarries and industrial backdrops. The lush forests, marshes, and lakes give the planet a natural, almost fairytale quality. The young rebels evoke a Lost Boys or Lord of the Flies vibe, but their characters lack depth. Adric’s older brother, Varsh, is introduced as though he should be significant, yet the story promptly forgets about him. The performances are generally serviceable, though June Page is particularly wooden, and Matthew Waterhouse’s Adric immediately leans towards being an irritating know-it-all—though this is mild compared to his later appearances.

STRONG PERFORMANCES AND ATMOSPHERIC MOMENTS

Tom Baker and Lalla Ward seem to be enjoying themselves here, tapping into the energy of Season 17. Baker shines in the scenes where he passionately challenges the Deciders on their callous treatment of the Marshmen, injecting a rare spark of intensity. Ward is strong in the first half but is unfortunately sidelined once Romana is bitten by a spider and possessed. K9 makes a welcome return, used effectively to gather information about the planet.

James Bree and Alan Rowe make solid contributions, though their characters, like much of the Deciders’ storyline, feel underdeveloped. The direction is a mixed bag—there are some wonderfully atmospheric moments, particularly the chilling emergence of the Marshmen from the water in Part 1, but also some unintentionally comical sequences, such as Romana’s awkward fight with the spider.

EFFECTIVE MONSTERS AND FINAL THOUGHTS

One of the standout elements of Full Circle is the design of the Marshmen. Their make-up and costumes are strikingly effective, making them one of Doctor Who’s better-realised alien species. They are also more than just mindless monsters, with their fear and confusion adding a layer of depth to their threat. The second half of the story builds atmosphere well, even if the scientific research subplot never fully ignites.

There’s a nice bit of continuity at the start, as the Doctor attempts to bring Romana back to Gallifrey as per the Time Lords’ orders—though she clearly doesn’t want to go. These moments add some emotional weight to Romana’s arc in the trilogy.

VERDICT: A SOLID, IF UNEVEN, START TO THE E-SPACE TRILOGY

Full Circle is an intriguing, atmospheric adventure that introduces some strong ideas but doesn’t fully capitalise on them. The setting and Marshmen are memorable, and Baker’s passion for the material lifts the story. However, slow pacing, underdeveloped supporting characters, and a lacklustre resolution hold it back from being truly great.

📝7/10

Full Circle and the E-Space trilogy don't exactly have the best reputation.  After all, this season is generally viewed as what drove Tom Baker to leave the role after so many years excelling at it.  And the E-Space trilogy does away with Romana II, one of the best companions in Doctor Who history.

Yet I had more fun with Full Circle than I didn't.  From details like K9 getting blown up in a way I found surprisingly effective in raising the stakes, to the novel and unique setting of E-Space and the Starliner.  Adric is introduced here and he's great.  This is easily the best Adric story I've encountered so far.  His character feels well-rounded and a loot less abrasive than he was in the Fifth Doctor era.  I can see how and why Adric was made into a companion in Full Circle, which does kind of make his later appearances all the more disappointing as the young man becomes little more than a source of complaints for and about the Doctor.

Where the story gets weaker is around the special effects (I didn't like the look of the marshman) and pacing.  Full Circle is entertaining enough at first but after a while it feels like Romana doesn't have anything interesting to do, falling into the role of a generic companion surviving a horror scenario when her character always felt like it was capable of much more than that.  Meanwhile, the plot sort of fizzles out rather than going in any satisfying direction.  The Starliner is fun and offers come cool concepts but they never really get fleshed out.  The story is not great, overall, thanks to these weaknesses, but it was not terrible, either, resulting in a pretty easy watch.

DOCTOR WHO: SEASON 18: STORY 3 (The E-Space Trilogy: Part One)

Full Circle is notable for being not only the start of the E-Space trilogy but also the first appearance of Matthew Waterhouse as the Alzarian, Adric, who joins the TARDIS crew.

The story is set on the planet Alzarius, and the location footage definitely helps immerse you in the story.

The story was written by Andrew Smith, who, at the time, was the youngest writer to contribute to the series. While some aspects of the serial can come off a little silly, like the scenes with the Doctor and the Marshmen running around the Starliner, the concept of a whole species having been lied to and stunting their ability to leave the planet is very well executed.

From the outset, I thought this would be quite a boring story. How wrong I was!

While the story has its faults (I thought the Marshmen weren’t the best monsters), it has great moments, such as the emotional death of Adric’s brother, or the horrifying Mistfall scenes.

Overall, the pacing, writing and acting led to an enjoyable story with a great atmosphere.

This serial is a thrilling story, with a great twist concerning the Mashmen being the ancestors of the crashed ship's occupants. Romana doesn't get much to do, and it is a shame that in his debut story Adric spends a short amount of time with the Doctor, but Andrew Smith does a brilliant job at evoking an unnerving vibe with Alzarius. The image of the Marshmen stepping out of the Mistfall fog, in particular, really stands out.