State of Decay Part Four

The one where the Great Vampire arises (or his hand does)...

It's so hard to tell, which is why I missed it at the end of part 3, but Adric actually throws a knife at Zargo, which imbeds itself firmly into the vampire's heart. It's directed by Peter Moffatt with rather too much obfuscation, resulting in it passing me by completely the first time. I can understand they might not want to show something as graphic as a knife to the heart in a family show, but in that case, why have it in the final draft? At least we didn't get a comedy "booiiiing" sound effect like we did in The Robots of Death.

The Three Who Rule cannot wait for the Great Vampire to arise so that they can get on with swarming through the universe, devouring people and planets and growing ever greater in number. The Great One apparently knows the secret of passing more easily between E-Space and N-Space, so the threat is very real. Now that the Great One is sufficiently regenerated, all wounds healed, it's almost time for The Arising. In readiness, Aukon plans to sacrifice Romana, a Time Lord and sworn enemy of the Great Vampires.

State of Decay Part Three

The one where the Doctor tells Romana of the Great Vampires...

We get told a lot of information in this episode, but it's told engagingly, and rarely feels like a blatant info-dump. The early scene between the Doctor, Romana and Aukon tells us that the Hydrax fell through the CVE and was lured to the planet by the Great One, and now the Three Who Rule hope their master can help them return to N-Space.

It's also revealed that Zargo, Camilla and Aukon are not ancestors of Sharkey, MacMillan and O'Connor - they are Sharkey, MacMillan and O'Connor! They were given "unending life" by the Great One, and now they hope for the same for the Chosen Ones (ie, the Doctor, Romana and Adric).

State of Decay Part Two

The one where the Doctor and Romana discover that the tower is the Hydrax...

The first 10 minutes of this episode are sublime, some of the best written, performed and directed Doctor Who ever, but you'd be forgiven for not realising it. It's all done so subtly, so organically, that you don't quite realise that you're watching brilliance. It's almost like you're spellbound by the brilliance. It all starts with Terrance Dicks' effortless yet elegant dialogue, which inspires the performers to riff on it gleefully, and it's all directed so precisely by Peter Moffatt.

Everything that takes place or is said between the Doctor, Romana, Zargo and Camilla is so well done. Moffatt directs the foursome like they're performing an Elizabethan dance, keeping the characters on the move all the time through what is a very dialogue-heavy scene. If they'd all just sat down and chatted for 10 minutes, the scene would be much less engaging, but thankfully it's orchestrated like a stage play, with characters moving in and around one another, foregrounded and backgrounded, so that the visual is never dull.

State of Decay Part One

The one where the Doctor and Romana encounter a swarm of carnivorous bats...

I have a deep-rooted relationship with State of Decay. When I was five I had the Pickwick audio cassette of the story which I listened to over and over again, both fascinated by and slightly afraid of Tom Baker's doom-laden narration. It came out before the Target novelisation, and differs from both the TV and book versions significantly (I seem to remember it cuts a lot of K-9 out). Another fundamental connection I have with this story is that (I believe) it is the first memory I have of watching Doctor Who. There's a very specific scene and shot (maybe in part 3 - I'll know when I get to it) of Romana and the Doctor climbing the ladder to the top of the Hydrax, which for some reason, despite its humdrum quality, stayed with me. I can even visualise it in the same hazy way I could for all those years until I got the VHS and could relive it again.

The episode opens with a tracking shot of a huge cathedral-like tower looming over a rural landscape and village. So far, so folk horror. The architecture inside the tower is what I might call gothic, others might call rococo, still others might call Romanesque, but whatever the truth, it's a gorgeous design by Christine Ruscoe which, in partnership with Amy Roberts' sumptuous costumes, just screams HAMMER HORROR! Doctor Who and Hammer are two of my favourite things in the world, so State of Decay is already shaping up well.