The Armageddon Factor Part Three

The one where the Doctor discovers there are no Zeons on Zeos...

Merak's a bit of a thicko, isn't he? He's supposed to be a highly intelligent and qualified surgeon, but he's written and played as if he's really dense. His whole existence seems consumed by the need to find his beloved Astra safe and well. Forget the fact he has loads of ill and dying patients to care for in his bombed out hospitals. Merak seems content to dedicate his life to walking around calling "Astra!", or asking stupid-ass questions like "What are bees?"

I got a personal pang of pleasure from seeing Romana set about him with her previously unseen self defence skills, because he really is such a wimp. And now he's joined the Doctor's gang on Zeos, along with the slightly less annoying Shapp, played by Davyd Harries as if he's in a children's play. Up to now, his presence has been largely forgettable, but now he has his own story strand (if that's what you can call it), he's let a tendency for silliness rise to the surface (perhaps influenced by Tom Baker?). The truth is, both Merak and Shapp are completely surplus to requirements, following the Doctor and Romana around like lost sheep. I'm hoping they're being set up as canon fodder, but somehow I doubt it.

The best thing about this episode is the revelation of who the bad guy is: the Shadow! What a wonderfully dark and sinister performance from William Squire, swathed in dark robes and with muslin covering his mouth which makes him look extra strange. Squire uses his voice to great effect (it puts me in mind of Peter Pratt's Master), and his stillness adds to the Shadow's overall intimidating presence. He's written well too, not like your typical pantomime baddie spouting melodramatic threats. The Shadow knows what he wants, means what he says, and does what he wishes. He's a perfectly credible adversary.

"I have watched you and your jackdaw meanderings," he tells the Doctor, inferring that he has been waiting for the Doctor to collect the first five segments of the Key to Time so that he can pinch them off him and add the sixth, which he seems confident he has in his possession. The secret of the sixth segment seems to have something to do with Princess Astra, although she claims to know nothing about it. But the Shadow insists he'll get the truth from her, even "if I have to tear it from the living fibre of your very being!" As I said, this guy means business!

Back on Atrios, John Woodvine is getting an appetite for the scenery and starts chewing away as the Marshal is utterly consumed by his thirst for victory. Despite the fact the assault from Zeos has stopped, he sees this as his only chance to win the war, and jumps into his personal escape shuttle - sorry, I mean command module - to take the final strike to the enemy.

The Marshal's module is realised very well, and there's yet another obvious Star Wars influence in the way the cockpit resembles that of the Millennium Falcon's, complete with starscape beyond.

But where is that enemy? Where are the Zeons? The Doctor, Romana, Merak, Shapp and K-9 spend plenty of time wandering around the empty corridors of Zeos, but don't meet a single one. It's only when K-9 reveals he's been chatting to the Zeon Commandant that it's revealed that there are no Zeons. There are no Zeons on Zeos. All that's left is a super-computer called Mentalis which has been orchestrating the Zeon war strategy all along. K-9 rather admires Mentalis, which is of a pretty basic but pleasingly functional design, and seems to have the Megara trapped inside it (oh, please no!). It's nice that K-9 has something to do other than act as a gun on wheels, but then this is written by his creators, I suppose.

There's plenty of revelations in this episode to sustain the intrigue: Who is the Shadow? How does he know about the Key to Time? And whatever happened to all the Zeons? Although there's nothing spectacular going on here, it's still suitably engaging and is keeping my interest.

First broadcast: February 3rd, 1979

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: William Squire's Shadow is the best Doctor Who villain in a long time.
The Bad: Merak and Shapp need to go.
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

"Would you like a jelly baby?" tally: 18

NEXT TIME: Part Four...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: Part One; Part Two; Part Four; Part Five; Part 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: https://doctorwhocastandcrew.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-armageddon-factor.html

The Armageddon Factor is available on BBC DVD as part of the Key to Time box set. Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Key-Time-Re-issue/dp/B002TOKFNM