19x4. The Visitation
Writer: Eric Saward
Director: Peter Grimwade
Script Editor: Antony Root
Producer: John Nathan-Turner
Synopsis: The TARDIS materializes in England in 1666, where
Terileptils have established themselves in a small village, using
control bracelets and an android that resembles the Grim Reaper to
manipulate the residents for their own purposes. As escaped criminals
from a violent society, they plan to wipe out Earth's population and
claim its resources as their own.
Review: "The Visitation" is perhaps most noteworthy for further
exploring the contentiousness, inexperience, and occasional mistakes of this TARDIS
crew. Davison's Doctor is proving to be a
bit irritable at times and sometimes struggles to control the situation - he is forced to
leave Adric and Tegan behind at one point when menaced by the
Tereleptils' android, and the final fight with the Tereleptils results
in the Great Fire of London breaking out. While the Tereleptils are
certainly dangerous and had to be stopped, it's also clear that they
come from a pretty brutal culture, and the Doctor and Nyssa both show
noticeable regret at their rather gruesome demise (they are trapped in
the fire). Meanwhile, Adric is noticeably frustrated when he feels as
if he can't contribute much and gets himself captured. On the other
hand, the Doctor's light-hearted reaction when someone points out that
they're partly responsible for the fire seems inappropriate - not that
I expected him to intervene, but a more sober "we can't change history"
response would have been more appropriate. Still, this is a solid entry
that makes good use of the setting, and Richard Mace - the thief who
gets reluctantly drafted into helping the Doctor -proves to be an entertaining guest character.
Rating: *** (out of four)
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