Nightmare of Eden Part Four

The one where we find out who the drug smugglers are...

There's a lovely scene near the start of this episode where Romana and Della talk about what happened on Eden and to Della's lover, Stott. Romana knows that Stott is alive, but holds this vital information back until she discovers exactly why Della thinks Stott's dead. It transpires she was told as much by Tryst, who even went to the trouble of mocking up a grisly vis-print to prove it. Lalla Ward and Jennifer Lonsdale pitch the dialogue beautifully, Lonsdale in particular hitting the right emotional tone when she learns Stott is still alive. It doesn't quite pass the Bechdel Test, but it's a touching moment between two women amid the nonsense.

The Doctor comes round aboard Dymond's Hecate, having slipped through the wrong side of the closing matter interface. He discovers Dymond has a CET machine and an enchooka laser aboard ship, which would enable him to extract the crystal projections from Tryst's CET machine aboard the Empress, then turn tail and run (with the vraxoin safely stowed within the projections). It's an ingenious idea, and all credit to Bob Baker for such an adult, thoughtful, workable plot. When you take away the silly monsters and the silver space costumes, Nightmare of Eden is actually one of the most original stories of the era.

It's amusing that this story refers directly to the "Eden Project" (on Dymond's monitor), which means something very different to us today. In 1979 there was no such thing as the Eden Project biome attraction in Cornwall, but it's serendipity that both Tryst's expedition and the aim of the Eden Project is essentially environmental conservation. The clay pit the Eden Project was eventually built on in 1998 was used by the BBC in 1981 as the surface of the planet Magrathea in The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, so there's an additional invisible connection there via script editor Douglas Adams! Spoo-kee!

It makes sense for Dymond to be involved in the drug smuggling as he has been a pretty low-key character throughout, played somewhat blandly by Geoffrey Bateman, who had things to say and do but never really made an impression. Dymond blended into the background, despite his silver space clothes, so it makes sense for him to be the culprit, along with Tryst, who it seems did know what was going on all along! He claims the only reason he did it was to pay for his expedition, which he says way back in part 1 had lost its government funding due to a galactic recession. The seeds were sewn early by Bob Baker, as was the CET machine's missing dimensional osmosis dampener (mentioned in passing in part 2).

Tryst may claim to have got involved with the vrax smuggling for the sake of conservation, to preserve entire species, but when he rather coldly says it is people's own fault if they become addicted to the drug, he loses every ounce of dignity. He also refers to Rigg's addiction and demise as "unfortunate". He's a pretty despicable man, and this is perfectly demonstrated by the Doctor's treatment of him at the end. Tom Baker has had fewer finer moments than when Tryst pleads with him to make the authorities understand that he only did it to fund his research. Unable to bring himself to even look at Tryst, the Doctor stares implacably ahead and simply murmurs: "Go away... Go away." It's spine-tinglingly powerful how Baker delivers that line, so dismissive and understated. Tryst is no longer worth anger or outrage. He just needs to go away. It's one of my favourite Fourth Doctor moments of all.

There are weaker aspects of this episode, such as the poorly aligned laser effects, sometimes laser effects missing altogether. There's also the rather farcical notion the Doctor can lure the savage Mandrels back into the Eden projection using K-9's whistle, like the Pied Piper. It's actually the second time this season that K-9's whistle has been used to overpower an enemy. It is just as unconvincing here as it was in Destiny of the Daleks.

The worst of all, of course, is when the Mandrels chase the Doctor around the Eden projection like they're in a slapstick movie, culminating in perhaps the most cringe-inducing scene of all when Tom Baker exclaims: "Oh gosh, oh lord, oh Doctor! Oh, my fingers! My arms! My legs! My everything! Ohhhh!" And then he emerges with his clothes torn to shreds. This is not a Mel Brooks film, this is Doctor Who, and this is not funny, it's puerile. And embarrassing.

Nightmare of Eden has one of those awful eye-rollingly poor endings forcing comedy into a scene where there is none. Romana suggests there's only one animal which would be at home in an electric zoo (ie, K-9), but K-9's a bloody robot dog, and dogs don't live in zoos, so it just doesn't work, it's not funny! Gawd 'elp me!

I love this story, it's got a fantastic, innovative plot, full of twists and revelations. It's packed with ideas and incident, it's brave and adult and sometimes very silly. The Mandrels are great monsters which kill people indiscriminately, plus they are vitally important to the plot (imagine how much scarier it would have been if they'd knocked the lights out on the Empress and the corridors were crawling with predatory monsters?). Yes, it has its weak spots (Geoffrey Hinsliff and Lewis Fiander prime among them) but that's not enough to blunt its shining charm and ingenuity.

First broadcast: December 15th, 1979

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: "Go away..."
The Bad: "My fingers, my arms, my legs, my everything!"
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ (story average: 7 out of 10)

"Would you like a jelly baby?" tally: 21

NEXT TIME: The Horns of Nimon...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: Part One; Part Two; Part Three

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/nightmare-of-eden.html

Nightmare of Eden is available on BBC DVD. Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Nightmare-Eden-DVD/dp/B0074GPF26