That probably sounds a lot more negative that I’m intending it to, because this isn’t a bad episode. In many ways, it’s quite a strong episode. It’s simply a bit of an unusual choice to go with when you’re trying to present your new Doctor to the public for the first time. For starters, it opens picking up the events from Logopolis. That’s fine, in a way, because we’re given a recap of the regeneration before the titles start (the first pre-credits sequence we’ve ever had?), but I sort of want them to hurry up, get in the TARDIS, and be off. It probably doesn’t help that I didn’t take to the last story, so I’m keen to be away from it as quickly as possible. But then even when we do finally make it back to the TARDIS, we spend the whole bloody episode in there!
It’s lucky, really, that we’ve got quite a strong team on hand here, both in terms of the actors and the characters. This particular TARDIS crew come in for a lot of stick from various parts of fandom, but they really do work well in this episode. I love that the Doctor can call on all of them to help him in this time of need, and assign roles for them that suit their personalities. If anything, my biggest issue is still how well Tegan has settled in to all of this... but I’m enjoying her so much that it’s hard to really care too much. I’m hoping that this slightly jarring feeling of having her so au fait with everything, taking it all in her stride while still having only been around for a single afternoon!
And then there’s the new Doctor himself. This isn’t the first story that Peter Davison recorded as the Doctor (he started with Four to Doomsday, to ‘bed in’ to the role a little first), but it’s amazing just how well he takes to everything here. I love his near-breakdown when he’s roaming the corridors, and unravelling the Fourth Doctor’s scarf as he goes couldn’t be more perfectly symbolic. His impersonations of the earlier Doctor’s aren’t the best, but that’s besides the point - he’s very good when he’s just doing his own thing. I think we’re probably in for a treat with this one.
There’s the traditional ‘choosing an outfit’ scene, although it’s less about ‘choosing’ and outfit, and more just picking up the first one he sees. I don’t dislike this idea, though, and I really enjoy that he tries the recorder first, decides that it’s not for him, then suddenly realises his affinity with a cricket bat. I assume that the clothes were left out for him by the Watcher (it’s the only logical explanation, surely?) but I do rather wish that there’d been a few outfits, and he realised that this was the one for him.
On the whole, this entry of the Diary has sounded very negative, but I assure you that it’s not supposed to. I have enjoyed today’s episode, and they much have done something right - 9.1 million viewers tuned in to see Peter Davison’s first appearance as the Doctor, but by Episode Four of this story, the ratings will have hit 10.4 million! When you compare that to the fact that Logopolis Part Four, which saw off the ‘most popular Doctor ever’ only attracted an audience of 6.1 million (and Season Eighteen as a whole attracted a high of 8.3)... you start to wonder if this refresh of the programme was the best thing they could have done, after all.
