Enlightenment Part Four

The one where the Doctor wins Enlightenment...

According to Wrack, the image of the Doctor in Tegan's mind is "quite intriguing". This poses a number of questions, and even Tegan looks confused by the statement! Is Wrack talking romance here? Or is she merely referring to the knowledge Tegan has of the Doctor, such as that he's a Time Lord, can regenerate and likes long scarves? I've never felt that Tegan harbours even the remotest romantic feeling for the Doctor, so Wrack must be referring to the way Tegan thinks of the Doctor, and the combative relationship they have. Is the Doctor like Tegan's big brother? A father figure? Intriguing indeed...

Back at the party, Marriner is trying some of his legendary chat-up lines on Tegan. "I missed you, I was concerned. I am empty without you," he moons. "You are life itself. Without you I am nothing. Don't you understand? I am empty. You give me being. I look into your mind and see life, energy, excitement. I want them! I want you. Your thoughts should be my thoughts. Your feelings, my feelings."

Marriner's been doing his homework because he's starting to sound like a Mills & Boon novel. Tegan asks him if what he's trying to say is that he's in love with her. "Love? What is love?" queries Marriner. "I want existence." It's actually really sad, that this Eternal - a race of creatures commonly incapable of feeling - has managed to recognise his fascination for an ephemeral. He doesn't know it as love, but he can understand it as life, existence, energy. These are all ways of identifying what love feels like, but to him, the word love is meaningless. He seeks the ability to feel as ephemerals do, but vicariously through Tegan. He wants to experience what Tegan feels, rather than experience it first-hand. It's tricky for we ephemerals to get our heads round, but it's a fascinating concept.

While the Doctor and Tegan return to the Shadow, Turlough again sides with Wrack. The Doctor presumes it's so that he can stay aboard the Buccaneer and prevent Wrack winning the race, but he doesn't know that, and neither does the viewer. As far as we can tell Turlough really has sided with Wrack, to meet his own selfish ends, and this is reinforced by the fact all Wrack can see in Turlough's devious mind is greed. Mark Strickson pulls out all the stops again in his scene with Lynda Baron, trying to convince the Eternal that he's on her side and only wants a share of the prize. He stares maniacally, unblinkingly, his soft tone lulling the Captain's suspicions. At this point, Strickson looks completely demented. Maybe it's something to do with those brushed-up eyebrows?

I have questions though:

• Who are the Enlighteners of whom Striker speaks? The prize is Enlightenment, which seems to be a reward of universal knowledge and understanding, and by proxy, power over all existence, but who are the Enlighteners? Who are those who do the enlightening, or look after it in their beautiful space chandelier? Spin-off fiction tells us that they're the Guardians of Time, White and Black being only two. There's also a Red Guardian of Justice and Truth, and a Gold Guardian of Life and Death, according to the book Divided Loyalties, as well as an Azure Guardian, a Silver Guardian, a Green Guardian and even a Beige Guardian. Exhausting, isn't it?
• Why does the Doctor not ask Turlough why he tried to top himself at the end of part 2? It was a pretty major, unexpected and extreme thing for the boy to do, but it's not referred to at all. Does the Doctor not wonder who Turlough vowed never to serve again?
• Why do ephemerals need space helmets on deck if the atmosphere is breathable, "maintained by an invisible energy barrier" according to Marriner.
• When the Doctor rashly smashes the focus jewel with the axe, foolishly creating lots of mini focus shards, why does he start picking all the bits up to put into a handkerchief when surely it'd be far easier to just scoop up the rug and chuck that overboard?
• We see two people fall overboard from the grid room. At first we're led to believe it's the Doctor and Turlough, but it's actually Wrack and Mansell. We don't see them fall, and don't know how it happened, but seeing as I doubt they'd go willingly, does this mean the Doctor and Turlough pushed them? The Doctor knows they'd merely transfer, not perish, but it's still a pretty brutal thing to do.
• Why does the White Guardian - the Guardian of Light in Time - shield his eyes from the glare of Enlightenment? Surely he'd be at one with such a force, not repelled by it?

Well, that's the unanswered questions out of the way, what about the Big Finale? With Wrack out of the picture, the Doctor and Turlough have to bring the Buccaneer into harbour with the mysterious Enlighteners. This makes the Doctor the winner, and so he is offered the prize of Enlightenment by the Black and White Guardians (welcome back, Cyril!). The Black Guardian's ultimate plan is rather sly: he wanted the Eternals to win Enlightenment so that they could gain knowledge of good and evil (in particular, evil), invade time and create chaos. "The universe will dissolve," claims the Black Guardian, revealing that he wants to destroy all of creation, something he originally wanted to do with the Key to Time.

But the Doctor's foiled him again. The Doctor's defeated the Eternals and placed himself as the winner of Enlightenment. Predictably, he refuses the prize ("I'm not ready for it. I don't think anyone is"), but a share of the reward is offered to the joint winner, Turlough.

Yet again, Strickson acts everybody else off the screen, his face lit by the power of Enlightenment (a rather disappointing prop). He has to choose between Enlightenment, the power of over all people and things, and the Doctor, a man who represents all that is good and proper in the universe.

And he chooses the Doctor. Who wouldn't? Turlough, as he sweeps the Enlightenment crystal aside, finally proclaims his loyalty to the Doctor, showing his hand at last. He was offered the universe, but chose the Doctor instead, which in a much subtler way amounts to the same thing. The Black Guardian is destroyed in a conflagration of flames caused by Enlightenment ("Light destroys the dark"), and Turlough is vindicated at last. "I never wanted the agreement in the first place," Turlough laments. "I believe you," says the Doctor, reinforcing his faith in the boy. Tegan may take a little longer to convince.

The White Guardian warns of a third encounter with the Black Guardian. First the Key to Time, then Enlightenment, but what next? This promise of a third meeting with the Guardian of Darkness and Chaos suggests it might happen soon, especially as we're in an anniversary year. In the event, the Guardians would never be seen again on TV, but there would be further reckonings, in Big Finish audios and Doctor Who Magazine comic strips. But perhaps the official third encounter has yet to take place...?

The story comes to a close with Turlough asking the Doctor to take him home, to his planet. That's all he's wanted all along. It's what he wanted of the Black Guardian, and it's been his prime focus all along, whether by hijacking the TARDIS or trying to get home via other people's ships. It's quite sweet that that's all he wants, but it does beg the question of how he ended up masquerading as a public schoolboy in 20th century England in the first place. Who was that mysterious and strange solicitor in London that Brendon School's headmaster liaised with? Turlough's quest to get home, and the viewer's need to know more about this mysterious young whippersnapper, should make for an interesting arc...

Enlightenment is a great story, richly told, and boasts a fantastic cast in Keith Barron (although Striker sadly fizzles out in the latter half), Lynda Baron and Christopher Brown. The real star of the show is Mark Strickson though, who gives the official star of the show a run for his money. I won't be sorry to see the back of Valentine Dyall and that bloody pocket crystal though.

An aside... The world of female buccaneering is a heady theme to explore, and one only a female writer at this time would have thought to do. Lynda Baron is perfect casting as the fictional Captain Wrack, but I'd love to see Doctor Who delve a bit deeper into female piracy, perhaps centring a story around real-life buccaneers such as Anne Bonny, Rachel Wall or Mary Critchett. When Doctor Who did The Curse of the Black Spot in 2011, it was boring old male pirates that took the stage. I'm surprised, and disappointed, that Chris Chibnall hasn't given us a story about a female pirate in the Thirteenth Doctor's era (Cheng I Sao would be ideal!), or even a lady of the Wild West like Annie Oakley, Calamity Jane or Belle Starr. Perhaps that's one for the next showrunner.

Also, I'd love to see a re-match with the Eternals at some point, there's plenty of mileage left in them as a concept. They pop up in spin-off fiction, but have remained elusive on TV since Enlightenment (although the 2021 Doctor Who Annual states that Zellin and Rakaya from Can You Hear Me? were Eternals).

First broadcast: March 9th, 1983

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: Mark Strickson dazzles throughout this story.
The Bad: Marriner's vicarious feelings for Tegan ultimately come to nothing when the White Guardian sends the Eternals "back to that echoing void". It's a shame there's no resolution in that regard.
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ (story average: 8 out of 10)

NEXT TIME: The King's Demons...

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.

Enlightenment is available as part of the Black Guardian Trilogy BBC DVD box set. Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Guardian-Terminus-Enlightenment/dp/B002ATVDBY