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TARDIS Guide

Overview

First aired

Wednesday, November 23, 1988

Production Code

7K

Written by

Kevin Clarke

Directed by

Chris Clough

Runtime

75 minutes

Time Travel

Present

Tropes (Potential Spoilers!)

Doctor Who?

Inventory (Potential Spoilers!)

Fez

Location (Potential Spoilers!)

Windsor, Earth, England

Synopsis

The arrival of a mysterious comet heralds impending danger from enemies both old and new. As Ace helps the Doctor defend Earth, she is confronted with a dangerous question... "Doctor Who?"

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3 Episodes

Part One

First aired

Wednesday, November 23, 1988

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Kevin Clarke

Directed by

Chris Clough

UK Viewers

6.1 million

Appreciation Index

71

Synopsis

The Doctor and Ace battle the time traveller Lady Peinforte and the Cybermen for possession of the incredibly powerful Nemesis statue, which is on its way back to the planet Earth to rendezvous with a destiny set in stone by the Doctor himself.


Part Two

First aired

Wednesday, November 30, 1988

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Kevin Clarke

Directed by

Chris Clough

UK Viewers

5.2 million

Appreciation Index

70

Synopsis

As hostilities break out between factions vying for ownership of the comet, the Doctor goes after the worst of the lot - Cybermen, using Ace's upgraded boom box to flood Cyber Communications with jazz music while trying to locate the whereabouts of the fleet beyond this mere scouting party.


Part Three

First aired

Wednesday, December 7, 1988

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Kevin Clarke

Directed by

Chris Clough

UK Viewers

5.2 million

Appreciation Index

70

Synopsis

With the Cyber Fleet poised nearby, the Doctor may have no choice but to let them have Nemesis. Meanwhile, Lady Peinforte and Richard navigate modern society, De Flores encounters an open betrayal, and Ace combats Cybermen with a slingshot.



Characters

How to watch Silver Nemesis:

Reviews

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10 reviews

This review contains spoilers!

What a mixed bag. Now halfway through McCoy's era on my first ever watch-through, I feel I understand its vibe a little better than I had simply absorbing the 7th Doctor through other media.

This season continues to outdo McCoy's first season even when it stumbles. Though I can't even truly say whether Silver Nemesis is a stumble. I find myself asking: What does it all mean?

For example, our opening shot and a decent amount of the plotting involve a neo-Nazi group from South America pursuing this powerful weapon. But why Nazis? Two stories ago, we got a Nazi-lite far-right group getting mixed up with Daleks in a way that intentionally drew parallels between the two. Here, the Nazis seem to be nothing more than a recognizable, definable and evil faction included because we can reliably count on them to pursue the MacGuffin du jour and expect our heroes to oppose them, Indiana Jones-style. There are definite themes you can pull out of a Nazi/Cyberman crossover. This adventure very nearly does that in Episode 2, when the Nazi leader speaks of supermen and superiority. But I kept expecting and hoping it would amount to more.

Relatedly, there's a level of confusion that pervades this era. Maybe I'm not as media literate as I need to be to understand these plots better, but basically every 7 story to this point has left me asking, at multiple points, why characters are doing what they're doing. Why are things happening? Why are characters going where they're going? Saying things the way they're saying them? Taking a step back, the plots make sense from a distance. But actually watching them leaves me with the feeling that there are steps missing. This is mirrored in the geography of some scenes. The clunkiness of yelling out chess moves as the Doctor and Ace twirl around Cybermen is definitely something that looked good on paper and absolutely falls apart as it starts happening on screen.

All of this said, I do appreciate what this episode does well. The characters are fun and better defined than in some other McCoy serials. I love an episode where we hop between different times. It makes the Whoniverse, and the concept of time-travel, feel very alive and less like a device to drop our protagonists in Pompeii or wherever.

Other reviewers have pointed our that this adventure adds little to the mystery of who the Doctor is, and I would agree and add it seems to be mysterious for mystery's sake, which is always annoying. But it is interesting to me, someone who came to DW through NuWho, how well the dialogue here gels with the Timeless Child revelations.


jiffleball

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Rewatched 2025-05-07 (⭐⭐⭐)


jamesnneill

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Hmm, well. In terms of how it's filmed it's probably the worst of the McCoy era, if not late 80s Who. A lot of location filming that makes it look like a student film, and not a very good one. The writing's decent, not bad but also the plot could have had a few extra drafts. So, in terms of how this is made its really forgettable.

That being said, I like most of the performances - Lady Peinforte especially, I'd really like to see her in another story (if its able to capture her energy) - and I can at least understand what goes on at the end so it isn't the worst McCoy serial.


ankarstian

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  • I'm not sure what I was expecting with this story, but maybe something a little more exciting
  • The Cybermen don't have much of a presence and that disappointed me, I love the Cybermen
  • I'm not sure how this story adds much depth to the mystery of the Doctor, it doesn't really
  • I did enjoy the scenes of Ace battling Cybermen
  • Performances were great, so at least that served when the story doesn't

KieranCooper

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I went into this one expecting to be disappointed, but it was better than I'd anticipated. Not good, mind you, but an enjoyable enough watch. I really think this one suffers from having too much happening at once; Lady Peinforte, the Nazis, the Cybermen, at least one of them needed to go (preferably not Peinforte, though). The whole thing felt pretty bizarre, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it really could have done with a few more rounds of editing. Mind you, I did quite enjoy Seven and Ace here, and Peinforte's gambit at the end was interesting indeed. Overall, I think that this story is just overshadowed as the 25th anniversary story when compared to Rememberance. On its own, it's pretty fun, though I'm not in a hurry to rewatch it anytime soon.


6-and-7

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Statistics

AVG. Rating452 members
3.08 / 5

Member Statistics

Watched

804

Favourited

32

Reviewed

10

Saved

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Skipped

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Quotes

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DOCTOR: Hello, I'm the Doctor! I believe you want to kill me.

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Transcript Needs checking

(Transcribers note - this version is taken from the Silver Nemesis extended edition video tape, 1993.)

Part One

[De Flores's villa]

(South America 22nd November 1988. A group of men in camouflage fatigues get out of a jeep and go to into a Spanish style villa. Actually, it is at Goring by Sea, what an appropriate name. Inside, Nazi paraphernalia and old scrolls are scattered on a table. The Ride of the Valkyries blares out as a young man works at a computer. He completes the data input and the screen tells him - Landing Location Windsor Grid Ref 74W 32N November 23 1988. Outside on a balcony a silver haired man stands next to the record player. Everyone say Hi! to Anton Diffring, the wonderful German actor. He picks up a modern bow to shoot a macaw in a nearby tree, then the young man comes out.)

KARL: Herr De Flores. Herr De Flores. Wonderful news.


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