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TARDIS Guide

Overview

First aired

Thursday, January 19, 1984

Production Code

6M

Written by

Eric Pringle

Directed by

Michael Owen Morris

Runtime

50 minutes

Time Travel

Present

Tropes (Potential Spoilers!)

Visiting Family, War

Location (Potential Spoilers!)

Little Hodcombe, Earth, England

Synopsis

The year is 1984. The Doctor, Tegan and Turlough arrive in Little Hodcombe, a small English village, looking forward to spending some time with Tegan's grandfather. They soon discover that all is not well - Tegan's grandfather is missing and the locals are re-enacting English Civil War battles from 1643.

With the past mixed up with the present, can the Doctor stop the games before an evil entity hidden in the village church awakens?

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2 Episodes

Part One

First aired

Thursday, January 19, 1984

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Eric Pringle

Directed by

Michael Owen Morris

UK Viewers

7.9 million

Appreciation Index

65

Synopsis

The sleepy English village of Little Hodcombe, 1984. The village re-enactment of the English Civil War is in full swing, but a malign alien presence intends the mock-battles to be rather more realistic than planned...


Part Two

First aired

Friday, January 20, 1984

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Eric Pringle

Directed by

Michael Owen Morris

UK Viewers

6.6 million

Appreciation Index

63

Synopsis

The Malus, an alien that's purely evil, needs the civil war re-enactments to become authentic so it can feed off the psychic energy of dying and embattled men and fully revive. Not if the Doctor can derail things, of course.



Characters

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Reviews

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2 reviews

This review contains spoilers!

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

Previous Story: Meanwhile Turlough


Another great story, if Season 21 keeps this up it'll easily be 5's best. The two-parters of this era have been very mixed but luckily this is on the better side. I'm a bit disappointed how much it feels like a genuine historical despite being set in 1984 but that doesn't detract from it being a good story.

It's got a great mystery running through with the classic explanation of an alien spaceship crash. While that is fairly cliché, it makes up for it in the excellent design of said alien. The Malus is such a cool-looking villain that I can't be mad at how simple of an idea it is.

The cast really sell this story. We get more of the witty and sarcastic 5 and Peter Davison feels very comfortable in the role. I really didn't like the character who was all creepy about Tegan, and I feel like he shouldn't have gotten off so easy by the end. Overall though, it's a really good story, it's not Black Orchid level, but it shows promise for the rest of this season and I really hope that this season keeps the momentum and doesn't screw it up.


Next Story: And You WIll Obey Me


This review contains spoilers!

What a shame Eric Pringle never wrote another story! This is a very neat two parter (the best two part story there has been so far!). It builds up a lot of strange mysteries, then manages to pay them off!

The Doctor and his companions land in a modern day setting (1984) where most people they come across are mysteriously taking on olden day personas, pretending it's the 17th century. This is a novel and very entertaining premise. You are left baffled by what this entire town’s motivation would be to isolate themselves from the rest of the world and play war games, deliberately ignoring all the elements of their town that reveal their in the 1980s, such as the town telephone box. Some of the townsfolk seem more taken in by the roleplay than others, but all of them are playing along - even if they know it's a bit strange.

This strange twist on reality in a subverted domestic environment reminds me of Terry Nation’s Survivors. There is a spooky uncanniness to the world they enter that feels convincing.

The cliffhanger is one of the best from the series that I’ve seen in recent memory. The wall of an ancient church falling away to reveal a giant stone face with glowing eyes - it's a visual treat (much needed after our run in with the Myrka last week). I like the Malice as a one off enemy. A big static statue that controls people through psychic projections and by taking over their minds, explaining the strange behaviour of the townsfolk.

This is a short but sweet one - a great antidote to duller, more overlong tales. I’m surprised more people don’t talk about this underrated gem!


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Statistics

AVG. Rating248 members
3.02 / 5

Trakt.tv

AVG. Rating120 votes
3.45 / 5

The Time Scales

AVG. Rating140 votes
3.25 / 5

Member Statistics

Watched

496

Favourited

16

Reviewed

2

Saved

2

Skipped

0

Owned

7

Quotes

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TURLOUGH: We're running out of places to run.

TEGAN: The story of our lives.

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Transcript Needs checking

Part One

[Stable yard]

(Three horsemen gallop across country as Jane Hampden searches for someone in Bishops Court Farm, Shapwick, Dorset. Everyone say Hi! to Polly James.)

JANE: Ben? Ben? Are you there, Ben?

(The horsemen ride in, dressed in Civil War armour. One of them rides at Jane with his lance pointed at her.)


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