Full Circle Part Four

The one where the Marshmen run riot through the Starliner...

It's weird seeing the Marshmen lumbering along the Starliner's corridors, but a cool sight nonetheless. We've only seen them on location, or in their natural habitat, so far, so it's mildly arresting to see them flooding the ship, wielding cudgels (and robot dog heads). They're really good at marauding, smashing up laboratories, breaking their way through barraged doors and tearing up those bloody silly system files. And there's a lot of them. Romana lets an awful lot of the Marshmen in!

Another thing the Marshmen do well is kill people, and the first victim we see is Tylos. I'm not sorry to see him go, he should have been written out episodes ago, but the way he goes at least has some pathos to it, as he helps a nameless supporting actor escape the clutches of a Marshman, only to be dragged back by the same monster. There's a very deliberate shot of the rescued man deciding not to return the favour, and running away instead of helping to save Tylos. It's a nice little character beat for a background artist, giving him more characterisation than Tylos had!

Full Circle Part Three

The one where Romana gets possessed by the Alzarian eco-system...

It's weird seeing the TARDIS rammed with youths in pyjamas. It's also amazing how the Outlers manage to operate the door mechanism and instigate dematerialisation with the very first switches they try. Beginners' luck, I suppose. These kids are becoming less relevant as the story progresses, starting out as a way to introduce new companion Adric, but increasingly becoming wallpaper. In truth, Tylos should have been written out in some way by now, because his presence is pointless, and Keara's only really there because she's Login's daughter. It's a real shame that Richard Willis is wasted as Varsh, because he's got such a striking screen presence, and he can act, which helps. It would be quite a different couple of years had Varsh become the companion instead of Adric

The Doctor is getting frustrated by the community's endless preparations for the fabled Embarkation, when the Starliner finally leaves Alzarius and returns to Terradon. Login tells him that the preparations take generations, despite the fact everything is checked and counter-checked on a monotonously regular basis (it takes six people to change a circuit at one point). Surely it's ready to go by now?

Full Circle Part Two

The one where K-9 has his head knocked off...

The Marshmen really are the perfect monsters. They're ugly, they're lumbering, they're scaly, they growl, and they emerge from the marshy waters grasping and dripping with seaweed. Peter Grimwade directs their emergence from the marsh with horror film elan, making it one of the most effective monster scenes Doctor Who's ever had. And if their initial appearance isn't eerie enough, once they've made it to the side of the water, they stand still, hissing and moaning as they acclimatise to their new world. Grimwade also has the Marshmen leer into the camera lens a few times, which proves he had a good eye for what's scary!

The Doctor and K-9 watch from the undergrowth as the Marshmen lumber slowly but purposefully through the forest, wading through bog and fen. Surprisingly, the Doctor asks K-9 to follow the Marshmen to see where they settle. This is the robot dog that can barely move across a perfectly smooth, flat surface, never mind a lumpy, boggy, grassy, muddy wasteland. At least the Doctor's optimistic about his pet's abilities!

Full Circle Part One

The one where creatures emerge from a black lagoon...

The Time Lords have put out a call for Romana to return to Gallifrey, and she's not very pleased about it. As the Doctor reminds her, she was only sent in the first place to help him find the Key to Time, and that's long done and dusted. The scenes between the Doctor and Romana in her bedroom are tiny glimpses into the real emotions and feelings of these characters, and it's refreshing because we're too used to them just swapping wisecracks and trying to outsmart one another. Here, writer Andrew Smith gives Romana a visceral, truthful reaction to the Time Lords' call. Why would she want to go back to Gallifrey after everything she's seen and done with the Doctor? It's a common refrain of many companions (once you've seen the universe, how could you possibly want to go back to the humdrum of daily life back home?) and you really feel Romana's pain.

The Doctor seems quite resigned to the fact she has to go back. In fact, he doesn't seem too bothered at all, and is quite looking forward to returning so he can see how Leela and Andred are getting on, and so that K-9 can meet his twin. Lots of little nods to continuity, stemming back as far as The Invasion of Time three seasons back, but not so heavy that they confuse the lay viewer. It's nice little mentions like that which please long-term fans (and again, are realistic things for the Doctor to say), but do not alienate everyone else.