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TARDIS Guide

Overview

First aired

Monday, February 1, 1982

Production Code

5Y

Written by

Christopher Bailey

Publisher

BBC

Directed by

Peter Grimwade

Runtime

100 minutes

Time Travel

Future

Tropes (Potential Spoilers!)

Body Possession, Human Colony, Mind Control

Inventory (Potential Spoilers!)

Sonic Screwdriver

Location (Potential Spoilers!)

Deva Loka

Synopsis

The TARDIS visits the planet Deva Loka, where Nyssa remains behind in the ship to recover from a mild mental disorientation while the Doctor, Tegan and Adric explore. Tegan falls asleep under some wind chimes and becomes possessed by an evil force, a Mara.

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4 Episodes

Part One

First aired

Monday, February 1, 1982

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Christopher Bailey

Directed by

Peter Grimwade

UK Viewers

8.4 million

Synopsis

The TARDIS lands on the jungle planet Deva Loka, where an Earth expedition has been sent to study the Kinda, a tribe of primitive people. Three team members have already vanished. Are the Kinda as primitive as they seem?


Part Two

First aired

Tuesday, February 2, 1982

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Christopher Bailey

Directed by

Peter Grimwade

UK Viewers

9.4 million

Synopsis

Sanders meets Panna and Karuna who leave a lasting impression on him, while the Dukkha does the same on Tegan. When Hindle's breakdown begins, the Doctor and Todd are in danger.


Part Three

First aired

Monday, February 8, 1982

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Christopher Bailey

Directed by

Peter Grimwade

UK Viewers

8.5 million

Synopsis

Aris now carries the mark of the Mara and has gained voice, so Panna shows the Doctor and Todd exactly what the past, present and future hold for Deva Loka.


Part Four

First aired

Tuesday, February 9, 1982

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Christopher Bailey

Directed by

Peter Grimwade

UK Viewers

8.9 million

Synopsis

As the Mara finally breaks free of its dream dimension, the Kinda must do everything they can to contain it. Hindle's need to destroy everything and everyone is unstoppable.



Characters

How to watch Kinda:

Reviews

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9 reviews

Don't like this one as much as a lot of the fanbase, but it's still enjoyable, more than the fifth Doctor's first two stories. Not much to say except when the doctor is in a scene it's good. The rest of the cast are just fine. Teagans dream sequences look kinda cool with the colouring, but are also slow. The obvious inflatable snake, the Mara, is poor but fine as it's what this show is like sometimes.


Scottybguud

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This review contains spoilers!

Mara - cool design, wish i had watched this episode before legend of ruby sunday!

Kinda - probably an insensitive portrayal of 'tribal' people/'savages'. they discussed them being scientifically advanced with the double helix but that was not super touched upon. i think a lot more time should have been spent with them, learning their culture and history so that we could understand the mirrors better, the mara better, and their cycles of time - because all that felt very thrown in at the last part of the story

Nyssa - strange to completely write out nyssa. i like the scientist woman, Todd, she was pretty cool and interesting, but why not have nyssa play her role really? but she was definitely the main person filling the companion role in this story.

Tegan - it felt like we barely saw tegan as well, the doctor just left her like that in the woods for 2 days!! what the f**k?? it will be interesting to see how the mara coming back in future episodes relates to her

Adric - adric again sees ooc from his s18/castrovalva characterisation.

i dont know, nothing here really did it for me at all


lizshaw

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This review contains spoilers!

This is part of a series of reviews of Doctor Who in chronological timeline order.

Previous Story: Four to Doomsday


I'm glad that Doctor Who is being experimental and branching out but it doesn't always mean it'll be great

Peter Davison is absolutely shining as the Doctor. Simon Rouse and Richard Todd as Hindle and Sanders respectively are great, especially the former who brilliantly captures the devolution into insanity. It was one of the most engaging parts of this story. The scenes inside Tegan's mind are experimental Doctor Who at it's best.

The whole story feels like a fever dream and I love it, though it's not without it's faults. Nyssa is written out of this story because they just couldn't handle 3 companions. It also feels like the Doctor doesn't really care about his companions, especially Tegan who he just leaves to sleep in the middle of a jungle.

In general I think it's absolutely a fun story, but with a lot of glaring issues that are present not only in this story but as a whole throughout the season so far.


Next Story: God of War


thedefinitearticle63

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This review contains spoilers!

This is the craziest story to date. Unhinged but believable performances from Tegan and two of our wonderfully drawn colonialist characters Hinden and Saunders. Who look like they’re on drugs as they get taken over by the Kinda - it adds to the trippy, offbeat quality of the production. The sergeant character fits nicely within this alien “savage” community, a community that has more mental agility and powers (telekinetic) than their aggressors initially estimated… and it's pushing our characters to their mental limit.

The Doctor and his companions continue to impress. Davison’s Doctor is a great mediator with the skeptical colonialist. He doesn’t show his hand too early and is entirely practical in his approach. The trippy scenes with Tegan in a ghostly dimension are spooky and affecting. You get whiplash cutting between the scenes in the colonialist’s base and Tegan’s mental world. It's not clear initially how the two settings are connected.

It’s a bit of a cop out, shelving Nyssa for the whole story (apparent sickness) then her turning up again at the end. Having said this, the focus on a smaller number of main characters does work for the story.

In the end the scenes set on the colonialist’s base are a lot more interesting than those amongst the tribe - in many ways thanks to Hindle’s excellent and insane performance. The ending with a giant puppet snake also leaves something to be desired, even if it all ties up nicely.

Overall this story screams potential and is memorable for a lot of compelling reasons, but it’s cons mean it doesn’t live up to that potential.


15thDoctor

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This review contains spoilers!

For a story that sprouts as much conversation as this one, it's terribly inconsistent. I just can't decide how I feel about it.

There are plenty of cool and interesting concepts here. The dream sequence is very cool, I like it when Doctor Who gets experimental. The idea of the locals being very scientifically advanced despite appearances is interesting, but wasn't explored or expanded upon at all. I like the design of the Mara, both in the dreamscape and in reality.

The guest cast is interesting, too. They all have different things going for them. Unfortunately, it's overshadowed by the complete lack of substance from our regular companions. Adric somehow managed to be even worse than in the previous serial, and I'm getting really tired of him fake-siding with the bad guys to save his own skin. Tegan continues to get on my nerves - so far, her only character trait is complaining about wanting to get to work on time. And Nyssa continues being sidelined - she isn't even in this story at all!

At least the Doctor is finally coming into his own. Five is beginning to grow on me.


uss-genderprise

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Statistics

AVG. Rating542 members
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Member Statistics

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Favourited

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Quotes

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DOCTOR: There's always something to look at if you open your eyes.

Kinda

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Transcript Needs checking

Part One

[Control room]

(A modular building stands in a dense jungle. An older man with a moustache enters to see a young man apparently asleep in front of the control desk and viewscreen. He goes over and turns down the audio of the birdcall in the jungle and moves a piece of equipment to another desk. The chairs have peoples names printed on them, like director's chairs. Then he picks up a tribal mask with a fringe of coloured wool, puts it in front of his face and spins the young man's chair round to wake him.)

SANDERS: Boo!

(Everyone say Hi to the great Richard Todd.)


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