Colony in Space Episode Five

The one where we see inside the Master's TARDIS properly...

This episode is all about the Master's TARDIS. It's quite exciting, getting to see inside a TARDIS other than the Doctor's, for the first time since 1965's The Time Meddler (there have been glimpses before this, but it was just a plain backdrop). The Master's TARDIS obviously has a fully functioning chameleon circuit, and is currently disguised as the Adjudicator's spaceship. It's rather amusing when Jo says she hasn't seen the Master's horsebox (from Terror of the Autons), and the Doctor reveals that a TARDIS can "change its shape". Yeah, except for yours, Doctor (but Jo doesn't think to question this).

Entry into the Master's TARDIS is somewhat laborious, as there is an alarm beam across the doors which, if broken, warns the Master that his ship has been infiltrated (and I love his little handheld compact with in-built CCTV!). The sight of Jon Pertwee and Katy Manning wriggling their way along the floor to get under the beam is very silly!

Inside, the Master seems to have a more adventurous approach to decor than the Doctor, with a multi-coloured wall, two huge and mysterious tubes, and a bank of blue filing cabinets. This is obviously where the Master keeps all of his evil plans, all studiously filed away in folders, hole-punched with care. I can just imagine him wandering over to his files one lazy, boring Sunday afternoon and randomly plucking a new "evil plan" out to start work on for the week ahead!

There's a wonderful little moment where Jo mentions "duralanium" and the Doctor corrects her ("duralinium"), and Manning turns away with a girlish smirk which somehow sums up this duo's marvellous working relationship. Jo is amused that she got it wrong and the Doctor corrected her, but it's probably just as much a reflection of Pertwee and Manning's relationship as it is the fictional one. That fleeting girlish smirk kind of sums up the Third Doctor and Jo's relationship for me.

Annoyingly - because every now and then Jo Grant has to do something painfully stupid - Jo walks carelessly through the alarm beam to get back outside, thus warning the Master that there are intruders in his ship. What happens next doesn't quite hang together, because he activates the gas jets to render the Doctor and Jo unconscious, but later admits that he could "quite as easily have used lethal gas". When the Doctor asks why he didn't, the Master admits that he wants to use the Doctor as a guide in the Primitives' city - the problem being that the Master didn't know the Doctor had been to the city until after he'd released the gas. Which means he released non-lethal gas on purpose, because he didn't want to kill the Doctor. Is the Master going soft?

The Master and the Doctor team up yet again to go to the city. This partnership is getting rather tedious and predictable now. It's the fourth story in a row where the two Time Lords have had to join forces, and by the time they're having to walk after being attacked by Primitives, there's a real element of camaraderie, as if they're enjoying it (notice how the Doctor slaps the Master on the back when they set off on foot to the city). Meanwhile, people are killing each other back at the colony, and Jo Grant is in danger of being gassed to death if the Master so chooses. But no, you make sure you're having fun with your old mate at the same time, Doctor.

Another thing that's just struck me is why does the Master get involved with the colonists at all? Why does he impersonate the Adjudicator and get embroiled in these petty politics, when all he really wants to do is locate the Primitives' city and (I presume) find the doomsday weapon? Why all of this squabbling over who owns the land is going on over here, the Master could be happily carrying out his plan, completely untroubled, over there!

The rest of the plot is running in circles while it waits for the Doctor and the Master to reach the city in episode 6. The colonists defeat the IMC crew and send them on their way, adding that unless they take off in their ship immediately, they will set off the explosives they have laid beneath the ship and destroy them on the ground. I'm not quite sure how the IMC ship does take off with explosives underneath it - surely the exhaust from the rocket take-off would trigger the explosives and blow them up? Unless Winton is bluffing, but he doesn't strike me as the sort of chap to bluff...

When Dent discovers the Master is a fraud, and not the Adjudicator at all, he turns the ship around and heads back to Uxarieus for revenge. The real Adjudicator pictured on the terribly sophisticated 25th century teleprinter looks remarkably like the Anthony Ainley Master, although it is believed (but not known for sure) that the photo is actually of Douglas Camfield, one of Doctor Who's regular directors. Oh, and his real name is Martin Jurgens, and he's employed by the Bureau of Interplanetary Affairs.

And so back at the dome, Dent and the IMC men take back control from the colonists following another point-blank gunfight which in reality would probably wipe out every single one of them on both sides! Dent orders that all of the colonists leave the planet in their clapped-out ship, despite warnings from Ashe that their ship is so old that it'll probably explode on take-off. To which Dent deliciously replies: "Make sure all IMC personnel are clear of the area before take-off." What a bastard!

There's a lovely little scene between Bernard Kay's Caldwell and Helen Worth's Mary where you can really see her future soap opera supremacy in its infancy. Worth has played the same character (Gail Potter/ Tilsley/ Platt/ Hillman/ McIntyre) in Coronation Street since 1974, and has had some of the soap's juiciest and most memorable storylines (hence the plethora of surnames!). In her scene with Kay, Worth seems to channel future Gail in her outrage and indignation at what IMC are making them do. The way she delivers her lines with Kay is pure Corrie. Gail in space!

Other little things I like about this episode:

• Notice that Caldwell is the only member of IMC not using a gun in the shootout scenes. Good attention to character there.
• The colonists are probably the hairiest human beings to appear in Doctor Who. When seen side by side, Nicholas Pennell and Pat Gorman look like 70s porn stars!
• I couldn't help but chuckle at Winton's line: "Your arms and ammunition are in our hands." It reminded me of the even sillier line "Have any arms fallen into Xeron hands?" in The Space Museum episode 4!
• The Primitives watch the Doctor and Master's progress in the buggy from on high, signalling to each other across the hills with their weapons. A remarkably similar thing would happen six years later when Luke Skywalker and C-3PO go looking for R2-D2 and get accosted by Sand People in Star Wars.

The cliffhanger sees Caldwell and Morgan breaking into the Master's TARDIS thanks to the Doctor's convenient sleight of hand with the key. They set off the alarm bell and the Master threatens to fill the mysterious tube imprisoning Jo with lethal gas. It's hilariously bad when Roger Delgado edges his finger ever-so-slowly toward the Big Red Button to release the gas, to allow time for the sting to come in to lead into the end titles. To add to the silliness, it made me laugh when Pertwee says: "What's that bleeping noise?" I don't know why, but the whole final scene makes me chuckle!

Episode 5 is great to look at, but little really progresses, especially concerning the colonists and IMC. It's great to see inside the Master's groovy TARDIS though!

First broadcast: May 8th, 1971

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: I did like Helen Worth and Bernard Caldwell's charged exchange in dramatic terms, but I can't help also loving the fact the Master has filing cabinets full of evil plans!
The Bad: The plot involving Ashe, Winton, Dent et al is just going in circles.
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆

"Now listen to me" tally: 13
Neck-rub tally: 6 - there's a neck-rub when the Doctor tells Jo that the colonists don't believe him when he says the Master is a fraud.

NEXT TIME: Episode Six...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: Episode One; Episode Two; Episode Three; Episode Four; Episode Six

Find out birth/death dates, career information, and facts and trivia about this story's cast and crew at the Doctor Who Cast & Crew site: http://doctorwhocastandcrew.blogspot.com/2014/05/colony-in-space.html

Colony in Space is available on BBC DVD. Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Colony-Space-DVD/dp/B005CW11AO