Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start...
Day 532: City of Death, Episode Two
Dear diary,
I’ve not noticed it before, but this episode doesn’t actually feature any of the Paris filming, beyond those establishing shots of the Scarlioni residence, which are re-used from yesterday’s episode! I wonder if the lack of such ‘running through Paris’ padding has been partly to thank for my enjoyment of this episode more than yesterday’s? It’s not only that, of course - the fact that the story is underway, and that this episode contains far more interesting developments than the last episode also combine to create an episode that - on the whole - I’ve very much enjoyed.
The episode really hinges on the Doctor’s three encounters with Scarlioni, and the fact that each one of these is played in a slightly different way. That initial meeting in the drawing room is perhaps the most famous of the three, with that immortal line ‘my dear, nobody could be as stupid as he seems…’ summing up the Fourth Doctor (and Tom Baker’s) entire personality at this stage of the programme. This is then followed up by the later confrontation in the cellar, during which the Doctor gets the chance to interrogate his foe, receiving only brisk ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers in reply. The tables are then turned, to see the Doctor answering questions in a similar fashion. Of course, both of these scenes are there to set up that cliffhanger, and it’s one of the best we’ve had in ages. The Doctor has travelled back in time to visit Leonardo, and is set upon by a guard. His superior enters the room… and it’s Scarlioni!
Knowing how and why the man has been scattered throughout time means that I’d forgotten just how much impact that cliffhanger has - but as I say, it’s one of the best we’ve had for a long, long, time. Truth be told, I’m struggling to think of the last time a cliffhanger made me sit up and take notice as much as this one did, and I wish I could come to it clean, without the knowledge of what’s going on!
The main thing that I’m enjoying in this tale has to be the comedy elements. Adams was responsible last season for The Pirate Planet, a story where the comedy fell almost entirely flat for me. Here, though, things are on a much greater form. I think it helps that the story is set in the real world, and so there’s a more identifiable context for the jokes to be played in. Duggan is amusing with his blustering ways, because we all know someone like that. The Doctor is amusing as he goon around the laboratory, because we’re used to the Doctor doing that, but not often in this kind of setting (it’s strange that what would have felt like such a Doctor Who location only a few seasons ago - a large house with a home-made laboratory - feels so fresh and new here). And all of this takes place as part of a story which revolves around the theft of the world’s most famous painting. We don’t need to work to believe in this world - we already live in it.
It’s telling that almost all of my notes for today’s episode (and there’s a lot - I’ve not written so many for a while!) are snippets of dialogue, and almost exclusively that of the Doctor’s. Adams by now has a real handle on the way that Tom Baker plays the role, and so every line seems to have been written specifically for him, which seems to be keeping Tom in check a little more. He’s able to be commanding when he needs to be, but it never feels like he’s going over the top in the way he’s sometimes prime to doing! Even if things aren’t quite perfect for me, yet, I’m really able to see why people can love this story so much.
