The Visitation: Part Four

By the fourth episode the Doctor is without his sonic screwdriver. It will be absent from the show for a few decades.

The Terileptil plans to spread the bubonic plague in London. The Doctor and Richard Mace gives chase.

Back in the Tardis, Nyssa is constructing a device to deal with the android.

The Visitation promised much. There is some great visuals. The sonic screwdriver being destroyed. A cheeky ending with that fire.

However the story is very average. It feels too long with the four episode format.

Following the strong serial Kinda, The Visitation was always going to struggle a bit for me, and in a way it probably helps it that it is a bit of a throwback to the old black and white days of Doctor Who. At least, it feels that way at first because it often seemed back then that every other serial was raiding the BBC historical drama department for costumes and actors - and this has that same air to it. The androids and lizard creatures sort of change that up a bit, but it doesn't matter because generally the serial feels like a bit of relaxed fun, playing to Who standards, and not rocking the boat too much with big ideas.

The plot is straightforward, but has some nice historical context built into it (eg the link to the plague), but ultimately it goes from point-to-point in a very easy to follow way. Often these serials can have lots of padding in them, but it wasn't the case here and mostly things feel to be moving forward rather than looking for ways to fill time or create moments for the sake of it. It doesn't make it a great serial or hugely memorable, but it is quite enjoyable for the various aspects. Performances are solid; the companions are kept busy but not overly used, although Waterhouse still managed to nark me. Davidson is good but I noticed that in a few moments his Doctor has an impatience to him that I'm not sure works (one moment in particular where he snaps at Tegan's dig at the Terileptils not leaving a forwarding address). He does enjoy himself alongside Robbins though - and the latter gets the balance right of making a colourful character but not making him too silly or out of place. The Terileptils are rubbery of course, but they are pretty decent villains, and the androids are imposing in a sluggish-but-unstoppable sort of way.

A bit basic and 'by the book' but it still works well as a solid enough serial, with a handful of effective elements making it rise above its structure.

Part 3 had been a big disappointment after the very good Parts 1 and 2, could Eric Saward's story be turned around and satisfactorily concluded? Sadly, not really.

The Doctor manages to overcome a possessed Tegan, and outfox Mace halting the release of the deadly rodents. The renegade Terileptil sends the android to capture the TARDIS, fortunately Nyssa has been hard at work and manages to destroy the Android with a device she's created. The Doctor discovers the Terileptil base, a fight breaks out and a fire starts, an interesting take on how the great fire of London started.

Nyssa had been non existent for the last 2 episodes so it's great that she was finally given something to do.

Why have the guards spent most of the episode walking Adric around, is he being given a guided tour? 6/10