The Ultimate Foe

As momentous as this being Colin Baker’s final outing is, an equal amount of attention must fall on this being the very last of 18 Robert Holmes scripts that stretch way back to the 1960s. At this point in the show’s history he is the undisputed heavyweight champion of writing Doctor Who, some would still consider him to be so. It’s a shame then that (the uncredited) Pip & Jane Baker share scripting duties - there are points when their inimitable style becomes apparent. They really ram home whatever was in the initial script about bureaucracy. The Shakespeare quotes are also quite pretentious and unjustified.

The Matrix being a physical place The Doctor and Sabalom can visit is an excellent idea and very Doctor Who. The show gets a rush of energy as the action enters the present and The Doctor leaves the confines of the courtroom. Sabalom Glitz and The Master returning make The Ultimate Foe feel more like a finale. It works and I’d love to see either of them return.

There are various twists and turns, the fake courtroom scene being the one that packs the biggest punch. It is rewarding to see this story finally concluded, giving answers to questions that have built up over the 12 episodes. Unfortunately some of those answers are delivered in the most perfunctory way possible. (Peri’s misreported death comes to mind.) The resolution is a bunch of technobabble and The Doctor tinkering with a machine which makes things blow up and wraps up the plot. The ending is rushed which is especially annoying here as a 12 part story needed a more solid, drawn out conclusion. Still, The Ultimate Foe is one of the better segments of this season, it does not out stay its welcome.

Out of any season of Doctor Who so far this was perhaps the worst one to introduce a new companion from nowhere halfway through. Having Mel come from the future and Peri disappear into the ether gives The Trial of a Time Lord a lack of cohesion.

As The Doctor and Mel left Gallifrey I took no pleasure in feeling relieved that their short time together was over. This was undoubtedly the worst era of the show so far - and probably will be for some time to come. Much like Davison before him, Colin was not always given the greatest scripts but his choices as an actor did not help him and in fact tainted a couple of potential classics he had during his run.

Bring on the new Doctor. RIP Holmes. (Oh - and bye bye Eric Saward!!)