User Reviews

Refers To All Four Episodes . Suggestive Spoilers

Arriving on a desolate planet the Doctor and a newly regenerated Romana see a spaceship land . A series of explosions leaves the Doctor trapped under some rubble . Going back to the Tardis Romana is accosted by a mysterious stranger and in her escape falls in to a derelict underground base only to find the planet isn't uninhabitated

As the 1970s drew to a close DOCTOR WHO was drawing to a close behind the scenes involving prolific contributors. Such luminaries as Terry Nation , Bob Baker and Dave Martin , Dudley Simpson and Graham Williams were set to leave leading to a a brief Renascence for the show in the 1980s that would eventually see the programme stagger in to worse health and eventually be cancelled . To be honest season 17 kickstarted by this story was by no means bad but like the rest of the Williams produced era it remains an acquired taste with humour dominating amongst very uneven production values and post moderenism

Nation's last script for the programme showcases these uneven tones . From the outset we have a jarring quality where a new incarnation of Romana arrives in the shape of Lalla Ward ( Better known these days as Mrs Richard Dawkins ) which leads one to ask what happened to Mary Tamm ? Ms Tamm found herself pregnant towards the end of the previous season which called for a hasty replacement in the role and Ward was cast in short notice and because it's DOCTOR WHO the companion remains very generic .which probably means its difficult to compare the two Romanas . It's okay for the Doctors to be widely contrasting but not the companions who are there to pout , scream , fall over and get rescued regardless of who is playing them

Once again there's something of a clash between the locations and the studio work . . Director Ken Grieve films in a notorious quarry in Surrey and yet he manages to bring an understated air of other worldliness and desolation to the story and one does quickly buy in to the fantasy that the action is taking place on the Dalek home world of Skaro . Nation's script originally called for night filming and the budget didn't stretch this far which is a pity because Grieve's camera work is cinematic standard on location and this is the best aspect to the production

The rest of the production doesn't live up to this but there are some positives to be had such as the striking design of the Movellan costumes . which make them rather memorable one off characters in a very forgettable era of the show . The fact that they're later revealed to be villainous androids no better than the Daleks themselves is also a nice twist on the part of Nation and the fact that the audience are left to ask for themselves who built them and where do they come from makes them even intriguing and enigmatic

Where Destiny falls down is the return of both the Daleks and Davros . The Daleks seem to be badly spray painted plywood creations which is what they are and the illusion that they're encased in a totally metallic shell is lacking . Davros is now recast and instead of the Oscar worthy performance of Michael Wisher four and a half years earlier David Gooderson is a painfully pale imitation not helped by the fact that you can see him furiously peddle about in his Davros casing . Gooderson can take some comfort in the fact that he only gives the second worst performance in the story and is beaten in the worst actor stakes by Tim Barlow as Tyssan

One negative aspect that you also can't get away from is the resolution to the climax which defies all logic . as in let's turn the Daleks in to suicide bombers which comes across as very lazy writing on the part of Nation . He also reuses a plot turn in episode three previously used in the BLAKES 7 episode Spacefall . The scene where the Doctor points out Daleks can't climb stairs is almost certainly down to script editor Douglas Adams rather than Nation

Having a reputation at school as a massive DOCTOR WHO fan after the first episode was broadcast I was the subject of some good natured ribbing on Monday morning as my peers asked me " Hey Theo did you see the Daleks smash through the milk bottle tops ? " It's that type of production but whatever the flaws it remains enjoyable for the most part

Shortly after Romana regenerates, the Doctor and Romana find themselves on a mostly desolate world, only to find that the world is being visited by another race.

One of a number of criticisms about this episode was that Romana's regeneration was executed in a manner which was perceived as being too frivolous. However, some fans were quick to point out that it was similar in some ways to the fourth Doctor's regeneration at the end of "Logopolis" or Kam-Po's regeneration in "Planet of the Spiders." At any rate, Romana's regeneration was a brief opening scene which certainly spawned theories among fans. Fans have always had a knack for explaining away any inconsistencies. After her regeneration, Romana didn't seem to display any of the signs of disorientation, which the Doctor frequently displayed after his regenerations. Perhaps, the difference was that Romana's regeneration was a matter of choice as opposed to the Doctor's regenerations, which were more commonly a consequence of injury or depletion.

During Lalla Ward's first episode as the new incarnation of Romana, her character initially seemed somewhat less assertive compared to the previous version played by Mary Tamm. However, Ward's Romana generally made a very favorable first impression and later went on to become one of the fourth Doctor's more memorable companions. Lalla Ward and Tom Baker displayed a great deal of on-screen chemistry which apparently carried over into their real lives, resulting in a brief marriage between the two.

Other frequent criticisms of the episode pertained to its production values. The Daleks showed signs of damage from having been kept in storage since the previous Dalek story. One could certainly argue that the Daleks in this episode were simply a bit more battle-weary. Since many aspects to the show's production values had varied greatly over the years, this was not necessarily a major issue for this story.

The episode had a good straight-forward story. It was well-paced with plenty of mysteries and moments of suspense. As always, Tom Baker's Doctor relieved moments of tension with his unique sense of humor. The design of the Movellan ship was clever; and, the Movellans themselves were well realized. In spite of whatever criticisms some people might have had about the Daleks, they were as menacing as ever in this episode, with their abrupt appearance being quite jarring. This episode also featured another example of a "Doctor Who" tradition in which outdoor scenes of an alien planet were filmed in a quarry.

This first episode did a good job of setting up all of the problems which the Doctor and Romana would later have to solve. In spite of any perceived flaws in the overall story, this episode was a good start to an enjoyable adventure.