'Doctor Who: State of Decay' (1980)


When I saw 'Full Circle' for the first time (as a five year old) the marsh men freaked me right out and thinking about it, I suspect that this was why the next 'Doctor Who' story I saw was 'Warrior's Gate' and not 'State of Decay'. It's been a long time coming but now I have the 'E-Space' box set, I thought I'd see what I'd missed out all those years ago...

Searching for a way out of E-Space, the Doctor and Romana (along with a hidden stowaway) land on an Earth-like planet. Here the people live in fear of 'the Three who Rule'; cruel lords who live in a high tower overlooking their village. Suppressing all learning to keep their subjects ignorant and helpless, what chilling secret are these ruthless monarchs concealing? An ancient evil is rising once again and only the Doctor and Romana can destroy it.

After the gloriously atmospheric yet strangely fragmented 'Full Circle', I found that 'State of Decay' was the story that came along and did everything that it's predecessor should have done right first time. The story was tighter this time round and the murky atmosphere of the planet really complemented it. On a side note, 'Classic Doctor Who' has it's slightly clunky moments here and there (the giant vampire hand was that moment here) but I love the way that the makers of the show could take something like a bit of English woodland and somehow make it really feel alien. That's what they did here with a deft mixture of modelling, woodland and a smoke machine. I love it ;o)

But back to the story itself. I like the way that you know it's a vampire tale right from the off (scared villagers living in the shadow of a castle couldn't be anything else really) but there's more to it that gradually comes out over the episodes. Before you know it, a simple vampire tale is suddenly a threat to the universe and it all makes perfect sense the way it unfolds. Tom Baker is at his scenery chewing best here and the look on his face, when he finally realises what he is up against, is just the icing on the vampire cake. The three vampire lords are a little bit 'all words and no action' but when I realised that was kind of the whole point, I could live with that too. Scary then, but in a slightly overblown 'not really that scary' kind of way. But yeah... It would have totally freaked me out as a kid, probably best that I missed it back then.

It's not just Tom Baker though. Lalla Ward's Romana is more than just another assistant and is able to point the Doctor in directions that he wouldn't have known to take. It's not too much to say that without Romana, the Great Vampire would have made it off the planet and the story would have ended very differently. I'm really not sure what to make of Adric at this point though. Was he really bluffing it out or would he have gone for eternal life as a vampire? I think Romana knows and I think I agree with her... The jury is definitely out on Adric as far as I'm concerned.

'State of Decay' ended up being just the right level of spookiness for me with a liberal serving of Tom Baker showing just why he is my favourite Doctor. It took a while to get round to it but 'State of Decay' ended up being worth the wait.

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