Full Circle

50dw50 ‏@50dw50 oooh those horrible 80's titles and music....

Say whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!!!

Mark Davis ‏@DeadlyJellyBaby Greatest in the show's history, in my opinion.

MAW Holmes ‏@MAW_H I was a terribly serious sixteen year old when this season was broadcast, and still think it's rather wonderful...

These visuals never really suited Tom, to be fair, I always think of those titles as really being Davison's. (and later Colin's).

FinlayHS ‏@11thDoctorComic Personally, Tom's starfield is my favourite, the Davison one's a bit too much and the Colin one is naff. I always wondered how they came up with the different designs for the starfield that appears first in the credits.

I like the oddly pinkish star at the beginning of Tom's but the logo is oddly fuzzy & smeary, better in Davison's, and Tom's headshot isn't great. I used to dislike Colin's but I actually quite appreciate the way the largely blue prismatic effect blends the starfield with a more S12-17 Vortex effect.

The Doctor and Romana have been summoned to Gallifrey!

Simon G ‏@SHGB001 Look on Romana's face makes it seem the same as being to called to the Headmaster or boss for a huge bollocking.

"Now we've dropped our Earth friend off..." ooh, little linking reference back to last week's Meglos there. Who knows what scrapes the gang got up to before getting the curiously named "Earthling" back in time for tea?

And shout outs to Leela, Andred, Gallifrey, the Key to Time & the War Games in the following scenes...

Romana doesn't want to go; she's seen too much of life outside Gallifrey.

50dw50 ‏@50dw50 lovely bedroom, no wonder she does not want to leave it.

K9's driving pissed judging by the amount of double vision he's got there.

The Doctor's amazed to learn they came through that unscathed.

But K9 said all systems are functioning "normally", not "perfectly"!

Hang about...

...this isn't Gallifrey!

Love it when those birds startle Tom.

Well, whatever planet they're on, the local inhabitants are human-like, and enjoy frolicking in the river and gathering fruit. Great location this, but those Marsh fruits just look like melons & the orange pyjamas those guys are in... deary me.

A gang of outlaw kids try (and fail) to nick some marshfruits and are chased away...

Davad ‏@davadsteel Pretty sure that one of the chasers is the guy who played The Watcher.

Yes, you're right there!

As they hide, they watch one of their "Deciders" & a scientist, Dexeter, examining a marsh fruit.

The Doctor wants to know why the screen still shows Gallifrey and tinkers under the console with predicatable results.

Dexter has found insect eggs in the Marsh Fruit.

" Unfamiliar insect life is supposed to precede each incident.", he notes, but Decider Draith refuses to share any insight from "the System Files."

Terrible studio background outside the Outler's cave.

The outlers are believable as cocky kids, but Adric always just comes off as a snob.

Albeit Noone ‏@AlbeitNoone He really does. They tried making him socially awkward by being super logical and therefore cold, but it doesn't play at all.

Adric's brother, Varsh, is the leader, but even he doubts Adric's commitment when he can't answer the "embarkation" question.

Davad ‏@davadsteel Hmmm. Is Adric clairvoyant? He knows he'll be somewhere else.

50dw50 ‏@50dw50 i think it is time to turn over to ITV for Buck Rogers...

Cheerio then! ;-P

50dw50 ‏@50dw50 the irony was when the VHS was released in its lovely boxset it felt like new Who because i had never seen them.

Albeit Noone ‏@AlbeitNoone I know the feeling! Bought the e-space trilogy on DVD. Had only read the Target novelisations! State of Decay etc.

Adric has his badge for Mathematical Excellence, but if he wants the Outlers' ropey looking badge, he'll have to earn it.

Dexeter continues his tests back in his lab, where the other two Deciders, Garif and Nefred tell him to be careful what he wishes for when he says he'd like to study the ominous sounding "Mistfall".

Urgh, what smells like wet Adric?

Simon G ‏@SHGB001 Smells worse than a wet dog :)

"Mistfall!" Great bubbling marsh effects there, even if it is only dry ice or whatever.

Davad ‏@davadsteel Really effective. It's shot really well. This is a great script. Setting up all sorts.

Decider Draith tries to maintain calm but evacuates the marsh as per their procedure...

...but then runs off alone to retrieve Adric when his fruit-thievery is detected.

Davad ‏@davadsteel  Really don't like Draith. Spreading superstition and hiding what he knows. Hope he gets dragged into the swamp.

Adric demonstrates his companion-suitability with a modern take on the Susan ankle-twist.

Adric's just put the Decider in the Marsh.

Does this mean that he's the bay harbour butcher and not Dexeter?

The other Alzarians return to the Starliner, ready to batten down the hatches.

Inspector Wexford is the father of Outler Keara, and grows increasingly worried that the Starliner will be sealed before the Outlers realize that Midtfall is imminent.

Great supporting cast here; George Baker, Alan Rowe, and the always wonderful James Bree.

"Tell Dexeter, we've come Full Circle!"

Davad ‏@davadsteel People getting dragged into swamps! It's what Doctor Who is all about!

The starliner is sealed, Draith abandoned.

The remaining two Deciders will have to recruit a replacement.

The injured Adric spots the TARDIS as a convenient stopping off point as he struggles back to the Starliner.

The Doctor fails to hear Adric hammering on the door as he's busy hammering under the console.

"Who are you?"

The remaining Outlers make it back to their cave, where Varsh insists that Mistfall is just a myth that the Deciders use to maintain control over their society. "Well you'd be better be right, or we're dead," replies Tylos.

Delirious as the Doctor patches him up, Adric warns that Mistfall is very real.

Wexford helps the last stragglers into the Starliner, and has to accept that his daughter is lost.

The Deciders recruit Wexford to replace Draith.

50dw50 ‏@50dw50 or the Emperor Tiberius, which might not work out so well for them.

They won't like it when he's succeeded by the War Decider.

The Doctor is willing to believe Adric but decides to go and check the water for himself.

Adric may not have been hallucinating before, but he thinks he is now, as he gets his welcome "bigger on the inside".

The Doctor seems to have figured out where they are when he hints to Romana that the scanner is showing Gallifrey because it can't read negative co-ordinates...

That "Doctor!" of Romana's was her flashback-y bit in Logopolis.

K9 accompanies the Doctor on his swamp-watch.

Davad ‏@davadsteel  Hadn't noticed before - Lalla uses an iPad in the TARDIS!

Davad ‏@davadsteel  The homing/plot device!

Blimey, Adric's knee's healed already!

Just as the Doctor starts to lose interest, a group of monstrous figures rise from the swamp...

Not sure the slo mo really works for the Marshmen emerging here.

Does seem to have been shot in the middle of a rather pleasant sunny afternoon... 

...but thankfully it doesn't dim the spooky effect, and we have ourselves a Cliffhanger!

Davad ‏@davadsteel The Marshmen are brilliant. So effective.

Very piggy sounding, these Marshmen. Think I've figured out what that marsh gas is.

The outlers plan to hijack the TARDIS & hapless Adric having shown them the homing device gives them their in.

Davad ‏@davadsteel  Stupid boy! Plenty of book learning but no common sense!

The Doctor's very quick to shove K9 into danger.

One of the Marsh Creatures, a child, is late to the party, and starts to follow the Doctor.

But it takes fright and scarpers when he tries to give it a bit of friendly encouragement.

"How odd. I usually get on terribly well with children."

Romana is busy at her calculations, so doesn't notice when the Outlers arrive to hijack the TARDIS.

Nefred read the news today, oh boy...

Wexford decides to be a Decider.

Davad ‏@davadsteel It's a great wee tune that plays as K-9 follows the Marshmen. Should've been the theme to "K-9 and Company"!

After a brief struggle, and a little help from Adric...

...Romana gains the upper hand over the Outlers.

But she hands back Tylos' knife in a particularly Doctor-ish move.

When she learns they've come to flee Mistfall she doesn't have long to worry about the Doctor...

...before the TARDIS suddenly lurches; something has picked it up!

In fact, by the time the Doctor returns...

...the TARDIS has been completely half-inched!

He can't quite believe it at first.

As the TARDIS is carried away...

...the Marshchild follows the Doctor to the Starliner.

He makes it inside...

...but there's no-one about, just a sorry looking Marsh-fruit that he skewers with one of the gatherer's blades.

In a worrying development, the marshchild seems to have started playing with knives.

Nefred announces to his citizens that the Embarkation for their planet of origin, Terradon, will be their goal.

Romana and the Outlers (another great band name for Who) finally arrive at their destination...

...but the TARDIS scanner still thinks it's Gallifrey, so they have to go outside to see where they are.

In fact the Marshmen have carried them back to the Outlers' cave. I wonder why?

Still mooching around the starliner with the marshchild in tow, the Doctor is somewhat relieved to find the marsh-blade has been left for him.

The marshchild is terrified by the Alzarians, who capture it, despite the Doctor's efforts.

They're hauled before the Deciders...

...who announce themselves in such a pompous and overblown way that the Doctor can't help but make light of them.

Like JNT & Chris Bidmead, the marshmen are no K9 fans...

...knocking his block off at the first opportunity!

Romana sighs resignedly and says "we're always repairing him..."

She has a nasty suspicion as to why they've been brought to the cave: the marshmen intend to send the TARDIS down the hill as a battering ram to break into the starliner!

The Deciders believe that the marshmen resent their presence as alien interlopers on their planet.

"I'm an alien and you don't want to drag me into a swamp do you? ...You do?"

Davad ‏@davadsteel All I can hear is the voice of the Security Chief!

Professor Who ‏@ProfessorWho He is certainly a very CHEESY actor. See what I did there?

Wexford is horrified to learn from the Doctor that the mist is not poisonous - his daughter might still be alive!

The Doctor is pleased to meet Dexeter when he hears he's a scientist, but we'll see how long that lasts. He's already offering him a second opinion.

Romana goes out for a recce...

...just as the marshfruits split, and a bunch of nasty looking spiders crawl out.

Odd doubling up of Romana's "they're only spiders" line there.

"I think I pulled the wrong lever!" Waterhouse re-enacts his audition on Gary Downie's casting couch. Allegedly.

The spiders are pretty unconvincing but they still look nasty & gruesome so job done I guess.

50dw50 ‏@50dw50 i had the View Master version of this story, the spiders looked better in 3D, well a little better.

Romana is just about to hurl a marshfruit at them...

...when it splits in her hands & a spider bites her face!

There's a cliffhanger: wonder if she'll regenerate?

Adric heroically leaves Romana in the lurch.

The Doctor's gone right off Dexeter...

...he seems far more interested in cutting things up then figuring out what's happening.

The Doctor wants the marshchild returned to its natural habitat, then wonders if his own - the TARDIS - has shown up yet.

Wexford wants the Doctor to show him how he got in the starliner; he's hopeful his daughter may still find her way back.

As the TARDIs whisks the Outlers away, the spiders gather around Romana...

The march of the marshmen continues.

The Doctor finds it hard to believe that the repairs are taking generations.

Davad ‏@davadsteel "Too much patience goes absolutely nowhere." Genius.

The Doctor finds his TARDIS & Login's daughter when they just fall into his lap.

So to speak. 

The Doctor tells Adric to cross his fingers for a short hop to Romana's cave.

When they get to Romana she doesn't seem herself. "I'm fine. Who are you?"

Dexeter secures the Deciders' persmission to dissect the marshchild...

Davad ‏@davadsteel Tom and Matthew do work very well together it has to be said. By Logopopolis they're a real team.

"Quiet! The Deciders are coming!"

Davad ‏@davadsteel This set is great. It looks massive! Real sense of scale. This story is brilliant on the design front.

MAW Holmes ‏@MAW_H "My milk crates bring Time Lords to the bar..."

The outlers are let off with community service.

Leaving Romana in the TARDIS, the Doctor and Adric return...

...just in time to see Dexeter begin his dissection of the marshchild.

The Doctor urges Dexeter to stop what he's doing.

As the creature awakes, so does Romana. The two seem psychically connected.

Highly distressed, the creature rampages around the lab, and strangles Dexeter to make its escape.

It calms down when it sees the Doctor's face.

But it becomes agitated again, not understanding the monitor screen, and when it smashes the screen, it's electrocuted.

Davad ‏@davadsteel The marsh child stuff is very upsetting. Rare for Doctor Who to be so emotive in those days.

Tom's roaring rage when the Marshchild is harmed is really quite something. He cared so much.

Davad ‏@davadsteel Glorious. Tom is still firing on all cylinders.

James Cooray Smith ‏@thejimsmith The moral rage is key. It's the most effective writing of the Doctor's character for *years*.

Chris ‏@KosmicKris I agree - I think Tom’s Doctor in s18 was some of his finest work in the role.

M.R.Michael ‏@The_Cybermatt There’s also the “appreciate it?” scene in Pirate Planet, and “go away” in Eden: think it’s been simmering.

Gareth Roberts ‏@OldRoberts953 Think this has to be sparing or he seems like a nutter.

James Cooray Smith ‏@thejimsmithT I don't think he should be doing it constantly, no.

Craig Williams ‏@craigwill1982 Love how Tom goes apeshit with the Decider's lever arch files.

"It's been ready for centuries!"

Nefred and Garif reveal the reason for the generations of prevarication. No bugger knows how to actually fly the ship.

The Outlers start their community service.

The Doctor analyses the spider's innards & slowly puts 2+2 together to get mistfall...

Romana has rampaged her way out of the TARDIS...

Romana's on the move, headed for the starliner doors.

Following Romana's trail, the Doctor finds one of his waistcoats, torn. Seems the kind of thing he'll probably remember in a post-regenerative haze, I reckon.  

He wonders if the starliner's image translator will work in his TARDIS.

Re: Tom's Burgundy coat, if he turned up that massive collar, it'd look like Time-Lord robes.

What an odd font they use on Starliner safety instructions. I like it. 

Davad ‏@davadsteel  It's a bit Charles Rennie Macintosh.

Romana opens the doors...

...allowing the marshmen to enter the starliner! Traitor!

Is Romana turning into a marsh creature due to the spider bite? That's not evolution.

She lets in more marshmen...

...who soon set about attacking the Outlers.

When Tylos goes back to help a stranded colonist, he falls prey to the marshy marauders.

Adric finally remembers Draith's message that they've "come Full Circle", which, coupled with Adric's super-fast healing powers, just adds further to the Doctor's suspicions.

They bump into the fleeing Outlers, and they all head back to Dexeter's lab to escape another wave of Marshmen.

"The Deciders" are, of course, a right bunch of ditherers.

Davad ‏@davadsteel They all need a slap!

When the Doctor finds the hapless Tylos, dead, the marshmen approach.

At least he gets K9's head back.

The Doctor is able to persude Romana to stay by the TARDIS, so she obviously still feels some connection to it.

Adric half-inches the microscope's image translator as a prezzie for the Doctor. It's the thought that counts.

The Deciders propose to do nothing... 

...but change their minds when the Marshmen attack.

Simon Watkins ‏@simon_watkins Some deaths from marshmen laughably unconvincing. Not expecting graphic violence but surely more than a tap on the shoulder.

Heh, yeah. When people are killed they seem to have the same toxin in them as from the spiderbite so maybe a line was needed to say they had a sting of sorts (like Vervoids?).

Davad ‏@davadsteel I had bad dreams for years after this story! Marshmen in white corridors. (I was 7 when it was shown)

The Doctor breaks the bad news of Tylos' death to his fellow Outlers.

Adric has pinched an image translator for the TARDIS but the Doctor needs it for the microscope.

Michael Seely ‏@mpseely I never really swallowed all that image translator stuff. Even as a kid. I thought the scanner had a camera!

His version blowing up in the microscope seems to confirm some of the Doctor's suspicions about where they really are.

"From Spiders to Marsh Creatures and Beyond.." So that's Ziggy Stardust, Labyrinth and what? Tin Machine?

Injured, dying, Nefred begins to reveal the truth. "We cannot return to Terradon; because we have never been there."

Davad ‏@davadsteel They are the Marshmen! Rosebud was his sled! Soylent Green is people!!!

The Marshmen can't adapt quickly enough to pure oxygen, so the handy nearby tanks are the perfect repellant.

When Romana breaks in, she too is overcome with a blast of pure oxygen.

The Outlers go on the attack to drive the Marshmen out of the starliner.

The Doctor works on a cure for Romana. 

Blimey, it's fast acting!

BeatCityTone ‏@BeatCityTone I've said this before but how can Richard Dawkins wake up next to Lalla Ward every day and STILL not believe there's a God?

Wexford and Varsh come across the dead Tylos, and the Marshmen aren't too far away.

Uh-oh, Varsh has run out of deodorant. He's no longer having the Lynx effect on the Marshmen.

The spiders and the Marshmen have the same cells.

Adric comes back to aid his brother...

...but Varsh is dragged to his death.

All he has left of Varsh is his rope belt.

50dw50 ‏@50dw50 shame they did not use Varsh in the Tardis crew, he is oddly watchable

The starliner has a system that will actually flood the ship with oxygen. The Doctor can use it to drive the Marshmen back to the swamp.

The Marshmen leave, but can breathe the planet's atmosphere now anyway.

We've nearly got all the way to the end without me saying so, but Paddy Kingsland's soundtrack to this is gorgeous.

Chris ‏@KosmicKris The music in s18 is absolutely brilliant. The Radiophonic Workshop produced some wonderful electronica for Tom’s last hurrah.

50dw50 ‏@50dw50 pah! i am going to find Dudley Simpson and get drunk with him!

MAW Holmes ‏@MAW_H Be careful... he'll write you a theme... on a bassoon...

50dw50 ‏@50dw50 that would be lovely!

MAW Holmes ‏@MAW_H Five jaunty notes every time you make an unexpected appearance... yes, it would :-)

With nothing left for him on Alzarius, Adric stows away in the TARDIS.

Now they know the truth, the Alzarians can leave in the starliner. If the Doctor will show them how, that is.

Adric donates the stolen image translator as payment for his lift out of town.

Even when the Doctor's shown them which buttons to press...

...the Deciders still don't quite live up to their name.

The Doctor tells Romana that they asked him to be the new third Decider.

Davad ‏@davadsteel "I decided not to." Amazing.

Adric's stolen image translator confirms the Doctor's fears...

...the TARDIS has been trapped in E-Space!

MAW Holmes ‏@MAW_H ...at least it's better than F-Space...

And they haven't even twigged that Adric's stowed away on the TARDIS yet!

We'll find out what happens next in State of Decay!

MAW Holmes ‏@MAW_H The third part of any trilogy must, by George's Law, feature teddy bears.

No bears, chief, but I'll knock you up a lion, chuck in 1 of yer actual Gun-Dahn Row-bots an' all. Can't say fairer'n that.

MAW Holmes ‏@MAW_H Of course, given that it came out before RotJ, you could argue that the Tharils are prototype Ewoks.. ;-)

But after A New Hope, so knock-off Wookies?

Simon G ‏@SHGB001 Tom seemed to age so much between S17 & S18 
50dw50 ‏@50dw50 and looks so miserable!
Phil Creighton ‏@phil_creighton he was ill and he lost weight. Issues with his romance also didn't help.
50dw50 ‏@50dw50 and the production team were stomping on his ideas and jokes
Phil Creighton ‏@phil_creighton it's a shame they did as they sucked the Doctor's life force out. It does add a funereal atmosphere though still can't get over the costume though. It doesn't suit him and is very sombre. imho he should have left at end of Key To Time. I adore Season 17 though...
Simon G ‏@SHGB001 Yeah. Maybe he should have left with Graham Williams
FinlayHS ‏@11thDoctorComic Yeah, in hindsight Tom stayed on for too long. At the least, he should've before Season 18.

Perfectly true/logical of course, but I wouldn't be without any of his stories! :-)

50dw50 ‏@50dw50 would have been fascinating to know who Graham Williams would have cast as Dr Who.
Phil Creighton ‏@phil_creighton Graham Crowden! I like to think had Tom quit, Williams would have stayed longer & 80s would be v different. flipside is fandom at time was crying out for JNT's serious approach over season 17 laughter show.

50dw50 ‏@50dw50 Williams would have had a much happier time i suspect. Without Letts and Bidmead JNT got it perfectly right with series 19, lovely season

Phil Creighton ‏@phil_creighton season 17 is very clever with v imaginative stories. Bidmead's Who packed with bafflegab technospeak.

Think the real problem was - as a producer - Williams was never really the right man to follow Hinchcliffe. Many of his stories were great but he could never manage Tom, nor the budget, arguably the 2 out of his 3 main jobs.
Phil Creighton ‏@phil_creighton he was drafted in to be the anti-Hinchcliffe: more humour, less horror. Response to Mary Whitehouse. he was hugely capable - key to time worked well. But constrained by inflation and Baker's inflated ego.

Hmm, not sure I can agree with "hugely capable" as an overall assessment. As for the inflation...
James Cooray Smith ‏@thejimsmith The inflation thing is a fan myth. Inflation shock peaked in early 75. Over by 78. For most of Williams' time on Who inflation is in single figures; See for yourself. (RPI data tables for post war UK inflation). It increases as Season 17 finishes, but Williams lucky compared to immediate predecessors. But "inflation" is the 70s equivalent of "deficit"; the contextless popular economic term. There's always one. A phrase through which the public conducts all discussion of economics, & it's always broadened & coarsened into meaninglessness by crude overuse.

TTFN! K.

Coming Soon... State of Decay