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| "I feel as though you've just killed an old friend..." |
4 episodes. Approx. 96 minutes. Written by: Eric Saward. Directed by: Peter Moffat. Produced by: John Nathan Turner.
THE PLOT
The Doctor's attempt to return Tegan to her own time fails miserably. He reaches the right place, but the wrong time - missing his destination by about 300 years and materializing the TARDIS in a wooded area near a quiet English village, circa 1666.
Before they get a chance to simply leave and try again, they find themselves the target of a mob of paranoid villagers who believe they are "plague carriers." They are rescued by actor-turned-highwayman Richard Mace (Michael Robbins), who tells them of strange lights in the sky.
That's when the Doctor discovers alien technology. The lights were a ship, crash landing. Now the survivors of the ship, members of a species known as the Terrileptils, plan to wipe out all life on Earth. And far from proving an impediment, the Doctor's arrival actually helps their plans - because it gives them access to his TARDIS!
CHARACTERS
The Doctor: Though I'm no fan of writer/script editor Eric Saward, I will give credit where it's due. In his first serial for Doctor Who, he gets the Doctor right. We see a Doctor who is temperamental. When Tegan has a minor meltdown at his failure to return her to Heathrow Airport, he is not inclined to forgive her - at least, not until Nyssa and Adric press him to. He does play favorites with his young charges, clearly preferring Nyssa's company to the other two. When the alien technology is found in Episode One, he becomes instantly transfixed on the thought of alien survivors in this village. But he only explains why to Nyssa, not pausing to explain himself to the others. Davison remains terrific, and seems energized by the character beats in the script.
Nyssa: After largely sitting out the previous story, The Visitation gives Nyssa a much larger role. She acts as the Doctor's most reliable support, with the first two episodes seeing him treating her almost as an apprentice. He keeps her with him when he enters the deserted house, insisting that his other companions wait for them outside. Upon discovering some Terileptil technology, he snaps at Tegan and Adric to touch nothing; then he and Nyssa take a closer look and exchange observations. Though Nyssa is less than pleased at the Doctor's plan to "improvise with an armed android," she ends up being the one to carry out his plan - which ends up working very well when she finds herself in close quarters with the android.
Adric: Senses Tegan's dislike of him, and there's an amusing early beat when the Doctor tries to evade the issue by very awkwardly reaching out to touch his shoulder. He behaves impulsively at several turns, ignoring Nyssa's very reasonable arguments to stay in the TARDIS and promptly getting himself captured by villagers. His headstrong nature does help the Doctor near the end, however, when his need to act by moving the TARDIS overcomes the Terrileptils' attempts to seal the Doctor and Tegan inside the house.
Tegan: Though her opening meltdown seems a particularly unwarranted "stroppy Tegan" moment, the script does at least provide some context. We first see her recalling what happened to her with the Mara, grappling with the idea of her body being taken over by this creature. In this way, we are shown that she is already in an emotional state when confronted with the disappointment of the TARDIS' missed landing. The rest of the serial sees her being barely tolerated by the Doctor, who clearly prefers Nyssa's company. However, her emotional nature does make a good contrast to her companions' more clinical responses, and she's the only one who seems genuinely appalled at the aliens' plans.
THOUGHTS
The Visitation is noteworthy, in that it was the first contribution of Eric Saward. Saward clinched the post as script editor on the strength of this story, apparently largely because it was a rare script that did not require any significant rewrites.
I've already given Saward credit for his characterization of the regulars, particularly the Doctor. And I will admit that showing understanding of the characters is a significant quality. Add to that, The Visitation is well-structured, with each episode building on the information established in the one before.
Unfortunately, it is also the very definition of a bog-standard average Who story.
This is my third viewing of it, and my reaction remains unchanged. As I sit in front of the screen, it isn't long before I find myself getting just a bit sleepy. There's an awful lot of tromping back and forth between the house and the TARDIS, the TARDIS and the village, the village and the house. All the back and forth makes the pace feel very leisurely, even downright sluggish. The final episode manages to eke out some momentum - but even then, there's no real urgency. It feels very much as if Saward had enough plot for a 2-parter, and then just stretched it out until he reached 4 parts.
Decent direction would have overcome a lot of the problems here. This story cries out for a bit of atmosphere: some clouds, some fog, some darkness. Instead, the Doctor and his friends tromp around a very pleasant-looking bit of woods on a very clear and pleasant day (and usually do so in long shot). Peter Moffatt's stagy direction is just ill-suited to this kind of piece. Fiona Cumming, Peter Grimwade, or even John Black would have gotten much more out of this. Moffatt appears to be afraid of the close-up, and keeping distance from the characters puts the audience at a distance from the action as well.
I emphasize that this story isn't at all bad. It all hangs together and is perfectly watchable, and it does get better as it goes. It also has a terrific performance by Peter Davison, who is firmly the Doctor by this point, and an engagingly campy one by Michael Robbins as a theatrical actor-turned-highwayman. But with no spark of inspiration, a sluggish pace, and outright lifeless direction, it's hard to see how this ever gained such a high reputation. I enjoyed all three of Davison's previous stories considerably more than this one (yes, even Four to Doomsday).
As for Saward? Well, on the strength of this story's characterization and structure, I would certainly have re-commissioned him for another story. But with the lack of inspiration on display here, it wouldn't even have crossed my mind to make him the series' script editor...
Rating: 5/10.
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