State of Decay: Part One

A degenerating planet governed by aging monarchy, why would anybody stomach such despotic autocracy, will the Doctor and Romana help the peasants rise and free, or will tyranny control, and bite down on them with glee.

Landing an unnamed planet in E-Space The Doctor and Romana ( Not knowing they've picked up a stowaway ) enter a village that resembles one seen in the Dark Ages of Earth . The Doctor is intrigued to find anachronistic equipment hidden in the village . Do the Lords living in the near by castle have anything to do with this and why do the villagers live in fear of the Lords ?

Terrance Dicks wrote this for the Hinchcliffe era in the mid 1970s but because the BBC was producing a prestigious version of Dracula starring Frank Finlay and Louis Jordan it was decided to dump Dicks script and instead he wrote Horror Of Fang Rock to kick start season 15 . I've always considered Fang Rock to be an overlooked masterpiece and in comparison State Of Decay is an inferior work . That's not to say it's bad , it's just not exceptional and to be fair it sticks out slightly more due to its homage to horror in general and Hammer horror movies in particular . There's even a nod to the old clichéd line of " Strangers sir ? We don't get any strangers here " and all the story needs is an appearance from Michael Ripper as an inn keeper to complete the illusion

Peter Moffat is considered to be one of the very worst directors to have worked on the classic series but his ill founded reputation is down to him constantly being assigned glitzy space opera type tales something he had no understanding or empathy for . Here as in next season's The Visitation he is on top form and shows he was a natural talent for directing stories that were pseudo historical fantasy . The location filming is very effective and moody with the right amount of lighting used and the interior sets look like they've come from the grimmest historical productions at the BBC and never fail to convince . Moffat also uses a couple of directorial flourishes such as a cutting cross fade of a Lord in to a bat

The script rattles on at a superb pace and is well directed for the most part but like a few other stories from the classic show what lets things down is the final episode , especially the climax which leads one to ask did the budget suddenly run out . The model work in particular is rather poor and is something of an anti-climax for the story . Another irritant is Adric who is supposed to be both a rebel and a mathematical genius but played by Matthew Waterhouse always comes across as a not very good actor playing a big girls blouse

Review of all 4 parts:

I find this very reminiscent of the Hinchcliffe & Holmes era from several years earlier with a gothic horror story and Tom showing dark seriousness mixed with eccentric wit. I love it.

Very much like a Hammer Horror in many ways this features a world which appears much like a medieval village with a castle like a classic Dracula tale and sure enough it turns out there are vampires ruling the castle. The twist is that the vampires are ancient aliens and the idea introduced of a historic battle between the vampires and the Timelords is an epic bit of lore which I adore.

The story is great, the atmosphere of grim horror is terrific and the idea of the vampires is superb. I do not actually feel it is the absolute great classic it could have been with Hinchcliffe & Holmes in charge but it is very near to greatness and is thoroughly enjoyable.

Writer Terrance Dicks has created a brilliant story and there are nice performances from a number of cast members, particularly the vampires and of course Tom Baker. I also, as usual, enjoy K-9 whenever he is on screen.

My ratings: All 4 parts 9.5/10.

The Doctor and Romana land on a planet that's seen better times, they discover an oppressed people, and some carnivorous bats.

A story originally penned for Tom and Leela, for my money, it's one of the very best. It's a terrific start, the tone is different to all those many around the same time, it echos back to Tom's classic era, it's full of gothic horror. You get a vampire vibe, but nothing is overplayed, yet.

It's a shame that Tom and Lalla clearly weren't in a good place, their body language is so noticable, they don't make eye contact with one another though, but being such professionals they get on and deliver.

Terrific visuals, it looks wonderful, I love the costumes and sets, The Lords in particular look wonderful,as do Tom and Lalla, suitably gothic.

There aren't many better than State of Decay, a terrific start. 9/10