Classic Doctor Who - Season 26 - Battlefield (1989) - Review

Starring: Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred, Nicholas Courtney & Jean Marsh

Written By: Ben Aaronovitch

Directed By: Michael Kerrigan

 

After celebrating twenty-five years of the show in 1988, Season 26 of Doctor Who was to look more towards its future. While the first entry, Battlefield, continued to celebrate some of the most loved things about the show, this change was clear and script editor Andrew Cartmel's goal of bringing back the mystery that once surrounded the Doctor began to take effect. But as we now know, despite just celebrating its silver anniversary, Doctor Who wasn't to survive into the 90s, and so began the last few classic stories.

 

In response to a distress signal, the Doctor and Ace arrive on Earth, near the village of Carbury. A nuclear missile convoy under U.N.I.T's control has run into difficulties, and the peaceful area soon becomes the backdrop for war when hostile knights from another dimension arrive looking for Merlin and the legendary sword Excalibur. Led by the evil Morgaine, U.N.I.T and the knights go to battle, and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart is called out of retirement to help. Furthermore, Morgaine and her knights appear familiar with the Doctor, and know him as 'Merlin'...

 

Battlefield is based off a great concept and I love the meeting of Doctor Who and Arthurian legend. The stories surrounding King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table are a rich and interesting tale on their own, but when combined with Doctor Who, there are tons of story-telling possibilities. In fact it shows, as writer Ben Aaronovitch doesn't have time to explore everything in great detail, but can only hint at them. Such things include an implied romance between Arthur and Morgaine, Morgaine and the knights referring to the Doctor as Merlin, and not forgetting the fact that this whole story is put into motion by events that take place off-screen and sometime in the Doctor's future. While you could argue that this is a result of Battlefield biting off more than it can chew, I'd personally argue that it allows us to use our imagination and makes events feel bigger and more important – as though there's a whole mysterious and unseen world where the Doctor is still having adventures away from us.

 

It's no lie to say that Battlefield works as an undeniably fun action romp. Just from the very premise, its clear that this story is designed to be a fun and entertaining time. Featuring knights with guns who go flying through the air whenever there's a nearby explosion, Brigadier Bambera shooting at those same knights from the roof of a car, as well as U.N.IT going to battle against them – it's all goofy and cheesy fun. That isn't to say that it's all particularly well-made fun. From Part 1, it's clear that the scenes of knights fighting look quite cheap and not at all well-choreographed. It does get better as time goes on though, and by the end of Part 3 when U.N.I.T get involved, it even gets pretty good, and I can see that a young audience will enjoy it.

 

As queens of evil go, Morgaine makes for a really good character. While she is an utterly watchable and menacing presence, you can also see that Jean Marsh is having a huge amount of fun in the role. Who can blame her? I know we're having just as much fun watching, and whether it be through evil laughs or long drawn-out pronunciation of certain words, this is such a great villain. However, it isn't always just fun and there are time where Jean Marsh balances enjoyment with the occasional darker and more serious moment. Perhaps the darkest of these is when she kills a young U.N.I.T soldier in the pub and reduces the body to ash, before returning the landlord's blind wife's sight. The same applies to Battlefield as a whole, and while it is fun, it can be serious when it wants to be. It even takes the time to make a statement about the then-present Cold War, but that still bears relevance today: “All over the world fools are poised, ready to let death fly. Machines of death Morgaine, screaming from above. Light brighter than the sun. Not a war between armies, nor a war between nations, but just death! Death gone mad!”.

 

It's a shame then that it's sometimes difficult to take Battlefield seriously in moments like this, given what surrounds it. Even by my very open standards, characters like Ancelyn and Mordred suffer from ridiculous overacting. Ancelyn and particularly Mordred take the 1st Place trophy in this area, and Mordred's evil laugh while summoning Morgaine is unintentionally hilarious. Not only do these two characters do little more than pump up the story with unneeded overdoes of testosterone, they feel as though they've just stepped out of a pantomime. There isn't an ounce of subtlety in either performance and they really just ended up pulling me out of the experience.

 

While Battlefield launched Season 26 with a new sense of direction (which is cruelly ironic when we remember this was to become the last season of Classic Doctor Who), the story still pays an effective tribute to the show's past. Not only do U.N.I.T and the Doctor's old car Bessie show up, so does the Brigadier. Now retired, the Brigadier in Battlefield feels more at ease and comfortable away from the military life of U.N.I.T, at least until he's called back into action. The Brigadier is as great as ever, still the Doctor's good friend and I still really love this character. Though he would show up again once more in The Sarah Jane Adventures, this was the Brigadier's last appearance in Doctor Who … and it feels right. It feels like one last adventure before the Brigadier enjoys life at home with his wife Doris. His stand-off against the Destroyer, possibly his defining moment, seems to cement this: “'Pitiful. Can this world do no better than you as their champion?' 'Probably. I just do the best I can.'”.

 

Speaking of the Destroyer, it was such a shame that such an amazing-looking creation and potentially one of the Doctor's most powerful foes …. did nothing. While the effects used for the explosions that surround him in the castle are very questionable, the Destroyer himself looks amazing. The prosthetics work is fantastic and up there with the likes of Draconians, the voice is deep and gruff and the dialogue makes sure we know just how powerful he is. So why doesn't he get to do anything?! (Spoiler Warning!) It's frustrating because the Destroyer doesn't even get entered into the story until the end of Part 3, and even then he spends half his time in chains. Even when he's freed, he gets killed by the Brigadier before he can do anything! If you're going to big up an enemy like that, at least show him getting to use his powers!

 

In conclusion, Battlefield often finds itself with a reputation it doesn't quite deserve. Especially when compared to other stronger stories in Season 26, such as Survival and The Curse Of Fenric, Battlefield does get overlooked. It's far from perfect and it has its fair share of problems, but I'd be lying if I said I don't really enjoy this story. Call it a guilty pleasure if you will, but with ambitious action sequences, a light-hearted tone balanced with serious moments and the Brigadier on form, Battlefield is a story I really enjoy.

Battlefield
 

7/10