Travels of a Tymelord - Warriors' Gate
Tymelord
For the sheer sake of it, I have decided to watch every Doctor Who story in
order from AN UNEARTHLY CHILD all the way to THE CURSE OF FATAL DEATH, going
through my collection, despite Canon and continuity, and seeing these
episodes as they were supposed to have been - in order. Also, to give me a
reason for watching them, I'll post a review of each story I watch from week
to week, so everyone else can see my opinions of a certain story.
This week: WARRIORS' GATE
Eh?
This has to be a first for the series, or at least something that hasn't for
a long while - a story which seems to make no sense whatsoever. Not since
at least INSIDE THE SPACESHIP did I feel so confused at the end of a story,
although at least that one gave me some sort of explanation. What makes the
confusion in this story so disappointing is that it features the departure
of one of the most interesting and wonderful companions ever to appear in
the series and should have been given a decent farewell. Instead, we have
this.
This has to be about the twenty-somethingth time I've seen this story,
purely because I always liked Romana and for a long while my personal Romana
collection consisted of this, SHADA and THE FIVE DOCTORS, so this was the
only one that was remotely representative of her time in the TARDIS. After
watching it this morning, I think I've *finally* managed to piece together
what was going on with the plot, but even then I'm very confused and not
sure what was happening, why this person did that, etc. Now, I'm all for
the idea that stories can be watched multiple times and you get more and
more out of them each time, but I'm a strong believer in that on the first
time of watching it you should know exactly what's going on and why. This
is especially important on a show like Doctor Who where the series was
supposed to be watched only once, since by 1980 VCRs were in their infancy.
Yet here we are, with most of the plot about the Tharils and their empire
explained away briefly in a throw away line, some resolution to the plot
which managed to end up cut off Magrs style with some "do nothing" dialogue
and everything blows up and things play out as if the Doctor and Co. had
never been there. Oh, and Romana and K.9 stay behind in E-Space for some
reason (probably to go on a quest for the missing plot), whist the Doctor
and Adric somehow know how to return to N-Space and magically do so. If you
thought THE ANCESTOR CELL was a bad ending to a story arc, you'd better not
see WARRIORS' GATE.
At least the performances were of a decent standard. The regulars, as
usual, were superb, but Romana really stole the show by virtue of actually
doing something. Think about it, the Doctor goes for this wander through
mirrorland (I don't even know what all that was about) and seems to
disappear for an episode or so, while Adric wanders about in the void
reminding everyone he's still there but forgotten by the writer who didn't
know what to do with him, Romana manages to deal with the slavers head on.
Of course, then she's rescued by a Tharil, chases the Doctor into the mirror
and ends up outside the mirror again via a stream of technobabble Bidmead
likes to call "putting science into Doctor Who", but I like to call refusing
to make sense. Her performance was great though, possibly surpassing her
previous work. Here I had absolutely no trouble visualising this being the
same person as Mary Tamm used to be, especially in that lovely seductive yet
mysterious scene where she talks to the slavers outside the TARDIS ("vision
is subjective" and all that). I do have a problem with her goodbye scene
(apart from its existence. Why does she have to leave..), it was far too
brief and short. The Doctor's saying goodbye to his best friend that he's
travelled with for goodness how long, someone he shares a close friendship
with, yet he says goodbye as quickly as possible, as if he was about to add
"beware of the traffic, give me a ring when you get there. Get some milk on
your way home". She's staying behind in another universe, for crying out
loud! He showed more emotion over Sarah Jane staying in ordinary South
Croydon. At least he could get back to her.
The Doctor was good also, as usual, but seemed somewhat distant. Probably
because the plot sidelined him for half the story (actually, it seemed to
sideline everyone somehow). I still miss the marvellous wit and humour he
used to throw about - thanks, JNT, get rid of one of the more interesting
parts of the show. He tries to do the odd one liner, weird quip and such,
but it doesn't seem to work as well as it used to. Perhaps it's because he
knows he's about to embark on his final stretch and the sense of doom and
gloom is starting to become apparent. Meanwhile, Adric did next to nothing
for me. He seemed to provide two functions for this story, find a way to
get K.9 out of the TARDIS and off irritating everyone, and rescue the Doctor
and Romana with the big satellite dish thingy. Otherwise he wandered around
by himself keeping out of the way of the plot. Perhaps if there's a silver
lining to Romana's departure is that it might give Adric a bit of room to
grow and be a better companion, thus avoiding such blatant sidelining as we
see here. Or not.
The guest cast weren't bad either, at least to start with. The boredom and
lack of enthusiasm from the crewmembers of the duck shaped ship was well
done, as well as the captain who kept wanting to run everything properly,
using all the jargon and pretending he was on the Enterprise (not sure why
he kept going on about everyone being upset about loosing their bonuses. No
one else seemed interested). Of course, about when they found the TARDIS
and interacted with the TARDIS crew a bit, they became moronic morons,
wandering about being silly and stupid ("It doesn't have an automatic"
indeed). So much for hoping they could carry the story.
I'm very disappointed in WARRIORS' GATE, reminding me why the E-Space
trilogy was my least favourite of JNT's little story arcs. The plot seems
to have gone walkabout somewhere, the ending seems, well, rushed and it soon
became plain boring. Not to mention it got rid of the only interesting
factor the series has at this point. I wonder how the show will work now
without Romana along for the ride?
Tymelord
--
http://zap.to/crossovers/
(The Doctor Who Crossover Adventures)
"Give him a fire, he'll be warm for an evening.
Set him on fire, he'll be warm for the rest of his life"
J2rider
reminding everyone he's still there but forgotten by the writer who didn't
know what to do with him, Romana manages to deal with the slavers head on.
Uhm, Adric was the only one who managed not to get caught and beaten up...he
also was the only one who could navigate through the void...it seems no one is
happy. Adric is coming into his own by not getting into trouble...while Romana
gets captured and cannot get away without help and even when she does, she gets
caught again and can't do much. Adric on the other hand, helps them all get
away. Also: while this story is a bit confusing, there were explanations...just
like INSIDE but INSIDE didn/'t make much sense...the TARDIS was trying to warn
the travelers by making them kill each other? Huh? WG was not perfect but it
was good. Uhm, also: Romana and the DOctor are alien Time Lords that do not
show much emotions, even to each other...possibly because they are trying to
outTimeLord each other, who knows?
Tymelord
news:20011113210343...@mb-fs.aol.com...
> while Adric wanders about in the void
> reminding everyone he's still there but forgotten by the writer who didn't
> know what to do with him, Romana manages to deal with the slavers head on.
> Of course, then she's rescued by a T>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.
>
> Uhm, Adric was the only one who managed not to get caught and beaten
up...he
> also was the only one who could navigate through the void...it seems no
one is
> happy. Adric is coming into his own by not getting into trouble...
As I said, wandered about forgotten by the writer. I'm sorry, but his whole
role in the story smacks of being thrown into the script at the last minute,
thus pretty much appears at the start, wanders off during the middle only
glancingly interacting with the rest of the cast and then taking off in the
TARDIS at the end.
> while Romana
> gets captured and cannot get away without help and even when she does, she
gets
> caught again and can't do much.
Umm, she was escaping by herself without Adric's help, wasn't she? I know
he said he'd just rescued her, but I hardly call that rescuing when he
happened to be hiding under the same sheet Romana chose to hide under.
Whether Adric was there or not, Romana would have escaped.
Besides, it wasn't her aim to escape. As she said "pity, I'd rather be on
the inside", and they both proceeded to investigate the hull breech,
considering a possible entry route.
> Adric on the other hand, helps them all get
> away.
Which is *all* he does for the whole story.
> Also: while this story is a bit confusing, there were explanations...just
> like INSIDE but INSIDE didn/'t make much sense...the TARDIS was trying to
warn
> the travelers by making them kill each other? Huh?
I know there were explanations. But they wern't particularly forthcoming.
IIRC, the only time we're told what happened to the Tharils and given any
indication as to why in one bit they're rulers and now they're slaves, and
that was when the Gundan robot explained it briefly (in a voice which was
slightly too difficult to understand, IMO). Key plot elements wern't
particularly clear unless you're paying absolute attention whilst holding a
script. This sort of storytelling works better in print rather than screen,
IMO.
> WG was not perfect but it
> was good. Uhm, also: Romana and the DOctor are alien Time Lords that do
not
> show much emotions, even to each other...possibly because they are trying
to
> outTimeLord each other, who knows?
Umm, Time Lords have emotions too, otherwise why would either of them care
what happened to the Tharils or anything in general? If Romana had no
emotions, why did she hate going back to Gallifrey? Hate happens to be an
emotion. The Doctor has shown emotion when saying goodbye to his companions
before (Sarah, Leela, Jo especially). Even when farewelling other Time
Lords like Susan he was a bit teary. Why not here?
I think I know the excuse - the Doctor was rushing at the time trying to
escape before the domain was destroyed, so goodbyes had to be rushed. But
Romana was such a marvellous companion, she deserved so much more...
J2rider
Not really. She was doing it badly.>>>>>> As she said "pity, I'd rather be on
the inside", >>>>>>>>>> But that is what got her caught again. Some people are
never pleased. Adric gets caught: they complain. Adric helps the others get
away, they complain.
Bokman7757
> Some people are
>never pleased. Adric gets caught: they complain. Adric helps the others
>get
>away, they complain.
Adric exists, I complain.
Tymelord
> Umm, she was escaping by herself without Adric's help, wasn't
she?>>>>>>>>>.
>
> Not really. She was doing it badly.
No she wasn't. She wasn't even trying to escape, she was hiding in the
machine so she could avoid the guards then snoop about again. Adric just
happened to be trying to get in. If you must insist that Adric was
responsible for getting Romana out of the ship, then surely he's made a
bigger blunder and got her out of the ship when she didn't want to be, thus
causing her to get caught a few minutes later.
> >>>>>> As she said "pity, I'd rather be on the inside", >>>>>>>>>>
> But that is what got her caught again. Some people are
> never pleased. Adric gets caught: they complain. Adric helps the others
get
> away, they complain.
But he *didn't*, that's my whole point. Watch the episode in question and
see what I mean. Romana hides from the guards in the machine, then Adric
independently sneaks aboard the machine. The guards then move the machine
out of the building. Adric saying "but I just rescued you!" was a bit of
ironic humour on the writer's part, since it's patently obvious Adric did
nothing to rescue her. She would have escaped just as quickly without
Adric's help.
And who's complaining? No slight against the character itself to say that
Adric was sidelined for the entire show. More against the writer if
anything. I can't see why you're getting so worked up over this...