The Trial of a Time Lord Part Three

The one where the Tribe of the Free invade Marb Station...

I love Dibber, he's by far the best character in these episodes, and played so charmingly by Glen Murphy (MBE!). I'd be quite happy if it were Dibber who made return appearances in later episodes, rather than Tony Selby's Glitz, but sadly we never see Dibber again after these four episodes (in one spin-off book he's reported as dead, but in others he's apparently alive and still teamed with Glitz).

Here, Dibber stands up to Broken Tooth, expressing disappointment at his poor aim with the gun in trying to destroy the L1 robot. "Squeeze the trigger, don't pull it!" he advises, before ducking and allowing Broken Tooth his revised shot. There's something very charming about the way Murphy plays Dibber, who's definitely not as thick as Glitz likes to make out.

With the L1 robot scuppered, Broken Tooth insists on taking the Doctor back to the village to see his Queen. Why? Broken Tooth has no idea who the Doctor is and has no reason to take an interest in him. It's Glitz and Dibber who are on the run, for blowing up Katryca's totem and escaping sacrifice.

There's a lot of standing around doing nothing in this episode, and a lot of people saying things that don't need to be said. The scene between the Doctor and Katryca achieves nothing, and is a tired retread of the scenes in part 2 between Glitz and Katryca, and Peri and Katryca. They are then all locked up to have a chat amongst themselves which is interrupted by a very naff scene in which the revived L1 robot smashes through the polystyrene wall in search of the Doctor. Poor Colin Baker is shackled to the ridiculous prop in a rather undignified fashion as it trundles pathetically through the forest towards Marb Station.

Thankfully the ferocious warrior queen Katryca has her hands on Glitz and Dibber's guns and the Tribe of the Free manage to disable the robot (again). Joan Sims gives her performance 110% as she strides/ waddles around, her flame red hair flowing in the breeze and her credulity slipping further by the moment. She leads the Tribe of the Free, with Balazar's help, into the underground, delayed only by a tedious discussion about which way to go. She goes forward, obviously.

So very little actually happens in this episode, writer Robert Holmes is obviously treading water because his story's come up short. We even get extended scenes in the courtroom in which the Valeyard has to explain how we can see what characters are doing when the Doctor isn't present. Too long is taken over this tedious explanation, which rather stupidly brings attention to something I hadn't even considered.

Amusingly, Holmes is continuing his sly tradition of using the courtroom scenes as a commentary on Doctor Who itself, with the Inquisitor questioning why they need to watch scenes of "graphic violence" (this is nothing compared to Season 22, love!). "I find primitive physical violence distressing," she says. "I would appreciate it if these brutal and repetitious scenes are reduced to a minimum." Is the Inquisitor played by Lynda Bellingham or Mary Whitehouse?

There are pointless dialogue scenes between "diminutive nitwits" Humker and Tandrell and their clunky master Drathro, who makes so much noise when he moves about that, quite often, you can't hear the pointless dialogue! And the exchange between Glitz and Dibber at the entrance to Marb Station is equally as superfluous, failing to build either character or plot. It's all just become people moving and talking, but not progressing. A lot of this episode is the sort of material you'd expect to be edited out, not left in.

There's not a lot else to say about this humdrum episode. I suppose we do learn that Ravolox definitely is Earth, and we also discover that the High Council of the Time Lords is censoring the evidence before the court in the public interest. It's something to do with the files Glitz and Dibber are there to find, but the Doctor rather stupidly goes along with the censorship, not thinking that this might have a bearing on his case (and be damaging his defence).

There's also a really, really rubbish cliffhanger, in which Merdeen - who's supposed to be the Doctor's ally - fires his weapon at the Doctor, but it's edited so weakly that there's no jeopardy or danger at all. It's just a lazy way to press pause on the story for a week. Maybe soon we'll start to get some answers about who the Sleepers were, why Ravolox is Earth, and what the Time Lords' secrets are. Mind you, this is part 3 of 14, so there might be a long way to go yet before we get answers!

First broadcast: September 20th, 1986

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: Dibber.
The Bad: That stupid L1 Robot.
Overall score for episode: ★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆

Word repetition: 7

NEXT TIME: Part Four...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: Part One; Part Two; Part Four; Part Five; Part Six; Part Seven; Part Eight; Part Nine; Part Ten; Part Eleven; Part Twelve; Part Thirteen; Part Fourteen

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.

The Trial of a Time Lord is available on BBC DVD. Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Trial-Time-Lord/dp/B001ARYYNG