Classic Doctor Who - Season 19 - The Visitation (1982) - Review
Starring: Peter Davison, Matthew Waterhouse, Sarah Sutton, Janet Fielding & Michael Robbins
Written By: Eric Saward
Directed By: Peter Moffatt
Ironically,
the original run of Doctor Who isn't really remembered for its
trips back into history, so much as it is for its often rather
questionable alien worlds and space stations. The reason this is
ironic is because often many of classic Doctor Who's best
adventures come from trips to the past, such as The Time
Warrior or Pyramids Of Mars. Yet when The
Visitation first aired in 1982, it was the first entirely historical
story since the brilliant Horror Of Fang Rock from four
years previously. So, is The Visitation up there with
many of Doctor Who's other historical classics?
The
Doctor attempts to take Tegan back to Heathrow, but ends up in the
wrong time zone, and instead lands in Heathrow, 1666. When the TARDIS
crew encounter sulphuric gases, hostile villagers and an android
disguised as the Grim Reaper, they decide to investigate along with
the help of friendly highwayman, Richard Mace. The group learn that
some sort of object has recently landed, but rather than it being a
meteorite, it was instead an escape pod carrying fugitives of the
Terileptil race. In need of a new home, the Terileptil fugitives plan
to wipe out life on Earth and claim the planet for themselves.
The
Visitation
is hardly going off any sort of innovative formula as far as story is
concerned, but it still has a simple and entertaining premise. Some
may criticize the typical “Earth Invasion” plot as being too
simple, but I personally welcome this approach. Also, just because
it's going down the simplicity route, this doesn't mean that it can't
find other ways to be innovative and come complete with its own spin.
The 17th Century English setting is surprisingly fitting, and allows us to
have something of a twist ending at the end of Part 4, which while
not strictly necessary, was still a nice way of tying the story in
with some proper real-life history. I particularly love the idea of
an android disguised as the Grim Reaper stalking the towns and
villages, as well as the idea of aliens invading and wiping out
humanity using plague rats.
Stuart-era
England is also brilliantly realized, and The
Visitation gets
to show off its strong production values when it comes to depicting
history. A strong opening few minutes establishes a very Gothic tone,
as the local squire and his family first encounter the Terileptils,
and the rest of the story continues to be dripping with atmosphere
throughout. Unexpectedly, costume and set design is a huge strength
throughout The Visitation,
with the sets in particular showing some great scale and attention to
detail. If there's one area of the production that I am a bit mixed
towards, it's the Terileptils themselves. Part of me likes the idea
and sees what they were trying to achieve, but the other part of me
feels underwhelmed. Don't get me wrong, Michael Melia is acting his
socks off trying to give the Terileptil leader a presence, but acting
from behind three inches of rubber does restrict him. Similar mixed
feelings go towards the Terileptils' android, as while it looks great
when disguised as the Grim Reaper, the unmasked version looks like a
playing card that's come to life.
Mostly
strong production design compliments some equally strong
performances, the first of which comes from Peter Davison. Now in his
fourth outing as the Doctor, Peter Davison is quickly growing further
and further into the role, and while his famous cricket outfit should
stand out hugely in this historical setting, he is so engrossed in
the role, that we just go along with it. However, the absolute
stand-out performance in The Visitation (and
for all the right reasons) is Michael Robbins as the lovable rogue,
Richard Mace. Michael Robbins could very well be the best thing about
this story, bringing such irresistible charm and making Mace into one
of the best supporting characters the show may ever have seen. You
can just tell that he's having so much fun in this role (“I
find this house full of style and quality”),
and while some may say he overacts it, who cares when it works this
well? That being said, performances aren't always a strength here,
given Matthew Waterhouse's really quite strange performance as Adric.
I understand that Adric is far from being one of the most popular
companions, and even though I don't view him quite as negatively as
many others do, here he ranges from being either whiny, emotionless
or annoying.
Although
for the most part this is a story that's fresh and written with a
fun, hearty romp in mind, there are some pacing and plotting issues
to be found, and it's here that we find what is perhaps The
Visitation's
main weakness. Not to spoil too much, but it isn't until midway
through Part 3 that the Doctor even talks to one of the Terileptils,
and this is after we've spent Parts 1, 2 and the first half of Part 3
following our main characters just finding power packs or alien
bracelets. This build-up to the Doctor meeting the Terileptils and
learning of their plans wouldn't have been so bad if it had happened
sometime in Part 2, but it instead comes quite late in the day. It
also leads to quite a hurried conclusion, and while I do like how the
ending links to the Great Fire of London, we're only left with about
five minutes for a last confrontation between the Doctor and the
Terileptils, which would have felt more complete if that time was
extended to about ten minutes instead.
As
a whole, The Visitation is
a fun little adventure that takes us back to the 1600s, and marks a
solid writing debut for Eric Saward. It may not be perfect, and it's
not quite on the same level as stories like The
Time Warrior,
but it is a thoroughly enjoyable entry to the series. Now I apologize
for this review being a bit shorter than usual, but there's not a
great deal more for me to say other than the fact that this is worth
watching if you fancy re-living Peter Davison's tenure as the Doctor.
The Visitation
7/10