The first time I watched The Caves of Androzani, I didn't like it. After a recent rewatch, I have come to realise that this was more due to the circumstance in which I watched it, not the serial's quality: I had been binging Doctor Who really hard and the Fifth Doctor was starting to drag a bit, so I couldn't wait to get to the Sixth Doctor's run. Following my rewatch, I can no longer deny that this is an absolutely excellent, stand-out, serial. It's tightly written and I think that the characters are really well done - I feel that there is some aspect of moral-ambiguity in each supporting character. The first and third cliffhangers were really good, although I do feel that the second was increadibly unecessary. Moreover, I felt that some of the special effects weren't great. Other than that, a great serial.

I'll be perfectly honest, I can't see why this story is rated so highly. While it followed the trend for the last two serials of actually giving the Fifth Doctor a personality (and how disappointing is that, that I only started liking him at the very end), it drops the ball in all other aspects.

It's meant to be a bleak and dark story where everyone sucks and everyone dies. While I can appreciate dark stories, I don't think this one did it well. Horror of Fang Rock has everyone die at the end, but at least some of the characters were likeable and you expected someone other than the Doctor and companion to make it put alive. It was the first story to do something like this, so it came as a surprise. Midnight was a bleak and dark story where almost everyone sucked, but you had at least a character or two who were somewhat likeable. There needs to be a balance. This story doesn't have it.

Zek is clearly based on the Phantom of the Opera. There are characters and stories I like that are based on earlier works, but again, it's a matter of execution. This episode came out more than seventy years after the original book was published, and the "deformed villain" trope was already a tired one. I knew that when he inevitably removed his mask he'd have a few burn scars that aren't nearly as horrifying as everyone in the story claims. His coming-ons to Peri are deeply uncomfortable and feel gratuitous and unnecessary. The original Phantom had something to offer Christine, and she was interested in him, at least at first. The whole thing strips Peri of her agency and turns her into nothing but a damsel getting dragged from place to place by men. Considering how much agency she had in the previous story, this is a serious step back.

Then there's Morgus. Like Zek, he's a flat, single-minded character. His focus is capitalism. I like anti-capitalist messages, but what we get eith Morgus is a rehash of previous anti-capitalist stories. His fourth-wall breaks really took me out of the story; I kept expecting other characters to comment on what he was saying.

Chellak feels like a re-skin of the Brigadier. He distrusts the Doctor at first, follows his orders, then works with the Doctor to defeat the enemy. He's good for the most part, but he's also willing to sacrifice other people to preserve his reputation.

So that's the characters, but what about the story? Well, I didn't like it either (obviously). I was fully ready for it to be a commentary on unending wars where neither side is willing to surrender or approach peace talks (you don't negotiate with terrorists! How topical), but instead it went the anti-capitalist route, treading common ground. Unfortunately, it doesn't do anything interesting with it. At the end Zek dies without compensation, Morgus is replace with his assistant who doesn't seem to want to actually *change* anything (seriously, she could have come forward much earlier and exposed him. She clearly had all the proof lined up, and the president seemed decent enough to believe her. She allowed innocent people to die for much too long), and we're back where we started.

And finally, the Doctor regenerates, and starts a brand new era being extremely condescending to Peri, which doesn't give me high hopes for the rest of my time with ol' Sixie.

I've tried discussing this serial with people who love it to understand what I might have missed, but my opinion remains unchanged. Maybe one day I'll rewatch and change my mind. I hope so.

some decent stuff here. i like jak's design, i like the foreign culture aesthetic of the mainplaneters. i like that both sides are vil not just jak. i dont like jak being kinda creepy towards peri. i like the doctor's descion to go into the dangerous cave and to only give the cure to peri, which is something six would never do they are very different incarnations. a lot of stories like this though have way too many similiar characters that all have different wants in regards to the political situation that are hard to keep track of whether you watch it all in one go or spread out. this is a consistent problem with this medium though. the recall of the docs companions is fun; i just love seeing adric. the masters inclusion and line is very curious though. i dont know what throughline they were going for with his character. Stotz's shooting of the men who don't want to join him and morgus felt very odd, unnecessary and especially dark for the show. i guess morgus was the main villain, not just jek, but i didnt like either, and i think and equal villains thing is more interesting, even in the case where jak is only villainous at first and then gets better and close to the doc and peri. i think the way this is consistently ranked as one of the best dr who/5 stories is wild it is not that good. i have liked many others more

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

Previous Story: Urban Myths

Yes. It lives up to the hype, as long as you know what you're getting into. It has comedic elements, but it's not a comedy. This story is so unique in Doctor Who, a story so bleak that the only morally good characters in it are the Fifth Doctor and Peri and the only character that really survives is Peri. The Doctor and Peri stumble into a situation where there is no way to win, only to survive. The stakes are high and yet the story is small-scale, it's not a universe-ending threat.

A lot of people complain about bringing back beloved writers when the show isn't really working, or isn't hitting the heights that it used to. They say it's "lazy" and it shows you're "desperate". To some extent I agree but then again this is also probably Robert Holmes' best work next to The Deadly Assassin. This story is visually incredible aswell. Graeme Harper's directing makes this story so visually unique, from the wide shots at the beginning to the claustrophobic camera angles it makes this story look like no other.

This story, in my opinion, built on the idea of an epic swansong for the Doctor in Logopolis and set the tone for the epic finales of New Who. Peter Davison gives the best performance of his entire run on TV and fully cements 5 as one of my favourite Doctors. While I think the Fifth Doctor's run hasn't always been the strongest on TV one thing that has always remained a highlight is the Doctor himself and that hasn't changed now. Nicola Bryant is also exceptional here, especially her dynamic with Davison but also her reactions to Sharaz Jek and being slowly poisoned.

The rest of the cast of characters are all great, from the slimy Morgus, to the vengeful Sharaz Jek. Thanks to exceptionally witty dialogue by Robert Holmes it means this story doesn't get bogged down in over-the-top outdated performances. I'm going to leave this review here, so as not to ramble.

After this I truly think 5 is the most Doctor-y Doctor beaten only by maybe 12. His willingness to lay down his life and save a companion that (excluding Big Finish) he'd only just met while suffering from one of the deadliest poisons in the universe is one of the most noble things the Doctor has ever done and is one of the main reasons why this story has and will continue to go down as some of the greatest Doctor Who (atleast on TV).

"I owe it to my friend to try because I got her into this. So you see, I'm not going to let you stop me now!"

Next Story: The Twin Dilemma

Stories during: Circular Time: Winter

I really hate putting together reviews like this, because I know damn well this is a highly rated episode, but just like Inferno, I'm not sure if the hype did me any favours. I had seen and heard so much about Caves of Androzani I expected a lot more out of it than what I got.

Now, don't get me wrong, there is a lot to like here. The Doctor getting desperate and doing everything he can to save Peri, even sacrificing himself, is very moving. The ending with his regeneration is memorable and might, to date, be my favourite regeneration scene. An 8/10 is not a bad rating, after all, it is just not quite as high as what some others have given here.

I stand by it though, because a lot of the surrounding plots and ideas don't live up to some of Androzani's stronger moments. The shoot-out at the end felt a little dull from a narrative perspective. Peri's fake American accent really stuck out to me here. Some of the sets were really cool looking while others felt very artificial and hastily constructed, while the ADR at the beginning stuck out like a sore thumb.. It is perhaps most impressive that the episodes look pretty good thanks to how well shot they are considering the above. Graeme Harper and the cinematographer did a really good job in that regard, at least. I just think this story is more of the John Nathan-Turner era than people want to admit, sadly, as it has a lot of those traits.

The extent to which the Fifth Doctor benefits from recency bias is bonkers in all honesty.

Let me go back a bit: The Caves of Androzani is almost exactly as good as everyone says it is. The plot is good, the characters are good, I actually do like that one guy's asides made direct to the camera, it's good television

And as a side-effect, when I think of Five's run, I remember this one stronger than the others, which yknow, fair play. It's good

Across Doctor Who’s first 21 years the show has simply never been this dramatic. The Doctor has never had an opportunity to be more of a classic hero figure. And no Doctor has had an opportunity to bow out on such a wonderfully perfect story. The best story in many years. The best since Talons which was also written by the master of writing Doctor Who: Robert Holmes. The quality is his only defining feature here with the story, appropriately for this era, being extremely dark.

So many twist and turns and betrayals give The Doctor, awesome new companion Peri and the rest of the cast (including two prominent stand out baddies) an opportunity to truly shine. Every member of the cast pulls their weight though and makes for a flawless production.

Part one kicks off with some incredible matte paintings which are seamlessly blended with the quarry. Even by today’s standards I can’t tell where the seams are. It looks genuinely alien, otherworldly and beautiful.

It’s weird that so many of the fan’s favourite adventures are those that are as deeply dark as this - but it has to be said that there is particular depth to this story. Much has been writing about Graham Harper’s direction but it can’t be underlined enough - he absolutely nailed this. It looks phenomenal. The fact that a quarry could look so alien and that big embarrassing monsters could look so menacing is a triumph.

It’s the end of an era. And a relief in some ways because I’m leaving The Fifth Doctor’s time wanting more after having been fairly lukewarm on it to begin with. Season 21 has been head and shoulders above Davison’s first two seasons. Of course, the season is not quite over yet…!

This was a high water mark for Doctor Who.