'Doctor Who: The Visitation' (1982)


My weekend reading went particularly well and I've got a nice little stack of books to post about this week. I know, right? That doesn't normally happen does it... Having said that though, today is my first day back at work, after leave, and I know it's going to be a tough one so... No books today I'm afraid, I thought I'd go easy on myself last night and watch a little 'Doctor Who' instead.

I may be the only person who isn't getting their 'Doctor Who' fix off Britbox these days but there's still a lot to be said (by me anyway) for a speculative visit to CEX that turns up a few 'Doctor Who' DVDs that I don't have, there are loads by the way but that's the joy of it. Yesterday, I popped in and came out with three DVDs, one of which was 'The Visitation'. Now the last time I watched this, I was six and vague memories of melting aliens were all I really had of this one. Until last night that is. Let me tell you all about it.

England 1666 – the darkest days of the Great Plague. When the Doctor and his companions step outside the TARDIS into a land gripped by fear and mistrust, they soon discover that they are not the only new arrivals. Strange lights have been seen in the sky, the Grim Reaper stalks the local woods and evidence of advanced technology is all around...

For a show that routinely attracts comments about dodgy sets and monsters that are clearly people in rubber suits... Well, the Tereleptils flew the flag for 'Rubbery Monsters' very well but as far as the dodgy sets go, there was none of that on display here. 'The Visitation' just looks gorgeous with someone, somewhere, a big fan of making things look 'just so' if there's the slightest hint of real history being involved. I can get behind that but when you think that the previous story was 'Kinda' and how the Mara came across there (I mean, it wasn't bad but it was very clearly a large plastic snake), it doesn't seem fair really... Oh well. 'The Visitation' is played out against backdrops that really make you feel you're in that period of history and that's never a bad thing.

Talking of 'Kinda', it's interesting to see the ramifications of that story bleed over into this one. Tegan is trying to process things that she can barely remember, and appears to have decided that she wants out of the TARDIS, while Adric... Adric is getting told off, by the Doctor, for going off in the robot suit. That was the least of the problems that I had with Adric, in that story, but there is clearly something about him that makes the Fifth Doctor just want to look after him all the time. I can't put my finger on it other than that he's bloody annoying and he has plenty of opportunities to be just that in this story.

But enough about Adric... 'The Visitation' is another good example of 'Doctor Who' doing what it does very well; mind controlled humans under the grip of a shadowy alien figure with designs on the planet. There is plenty happening here and it's all urgent, I was going to watch the whole thing anyway but it was still very easy to go to that next episode and keep watching. There are some nice little cliffhangers that keep you hooked. Peter Davison really seems to throw himself into this story, going from a 'Doctor that wants to help' to a 'Doctor that will quite happily let the Tereleptils suffer the consequences of their actions' with all the passion that both of those approaches require. The star of the show though is Michael Robbins' 'Richard Mace' who is just superb.

And yes, I got to watch the Tereleptils melt all over again, it was brilliant :o)

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