Battlefield Part Three

The one where Morgaine summons the Destroyer...

Finally, four minutes into part 3, the Brigadier and the Doctor are reunited. It's taken the old soldier more than half the story to arrive at where the action is, making it a most leisurely comeback. But it's nice to have the Brig meet yet another incarnation of his old friend ("Who else would it be?"), and rather fitting that he saves the day with a squash of his boot - the first thing we ever saw of Lethbridge-Stewart way back in The Web of Fear was his boots.

Ace escapes through an airlock to the surface of Lake Vortigern, where she rises from the water holding Excalibur aloft, like the Lady of the Lake. Warmsley notes that the site of the archaeological dig was supposedly where Mordred faced Arthur in the mythology, and where Bedivere threw Excalibur into the lake. Writer Ben Aaronovitch is toying with the various versions of Arthurian legend here, as Arthur and Mordred apparently faced each other at Camlann, which according to dialogue elsewhere in this episode has already happened. In the legends, Mordred dies at Camlann (and sometimes Arthur too), but seeing as he's alive and well here, the events of the alternative dimension must differ.

Meanwhile, Morgaine instructs her Knight Commander to lead the assault to recover Excalibur, finally deciding to do something after spending ages in this new dimension ruminating about honour. It seems silly that she banished her son Mordred almost as soon as they arrived, because she's going to need him in battle, and so makes for the local bar to find him (where else would you find a sulky son?).

I love all of the scenes at the Gore Crow in this episode. Mordred's there drowning his sorrows by consuming copious amounts of ale and poking fun at the publicans ("With your aspect, it is well that she is blind"). Then in limps poor Pilot Lavel, abandoned by the Brigadier following the helicopter crash, who wants to use Patrick's "furrn". Mordred takes quite the fancy to Lavel, but his advances come to nothing once his mum walks in.

Morgaine enters and consumes Lavel's mind to gain knowledge of the enemy's forces, and Dorota Rae gives a heart-breaking performance as her mind is torn apart and she screams out in agony. Morgaine has the mercy to soothe this warrior maid's final moments, and Lavel slumps dead to the floor. What a tragic and unexpected end for a thoroughly likeable incidental character.

"You can't leave her like that!" Pat interjects, leading Morgaine to burn Lavel's corpse to ash, then opt to reward the publicans for the beer Mordred consumed. "Did my son drink well?" she asks. "Oh I see that it is so. I must 'get the tab'." Her "getting the tab" is a rather dark yet subtle way of showing that Morgaine consumed the contents of Lavel's mind, as the pilot suggested Mordred got the tab earlier in the scene. Morgaine pays the bill by giving Elizabeth her sight back, showing that this witch from another dimension is not entirely evil, but like the best baddies, has mercy in her too.

It's such a touching, powerful moment, and June Bland sells it so well, looking up from her hands and crying: "I can see. Patrick, I can see!" All credit to Keff McCulloch's score at this point, which amplifies the gravity of what's happened.

Elsewhere, his score's pretty diabolical though. In the battle scenes his music sounds like an instrumental B-side by some half-remembered synth-pop band. It tries to evoke a sense of urgency, action and danger, but simply ruins everything by making it sound like a pop video. There's some wonderfully well choreographed stuntwork, with explosions and sword-fights, bullets and bazookas, but McCulloch undermines it with wildly inappropriate music. It's kind of hateful.

Now that the Brig's arrived, he curiously starts to fade away, becoming uncharacteristically uninvolved and sedate. It's great that he gets to drive the Range Rover that's attacked by the knights, but he's so not bothered that Bambera - a successor and rank equal - is in terrible danger. Nicholas Courtney seems to be on autopilot, delivering lines as if it's a rehearsal. "What do you want us to do?" he shrugs to Ace. "The area's swarming with Morgaine's troops." And then the unforgivable: "Better get back to the hotel." This does not reflect the Brigadier we know from the Pertwee years, who wouldn't give in so easily. Maybe his blood and thunder days really have gone for good.

It's a shame the Brig is disarmed in this way, after such a build-up to his arrival. It feels like he's in the story merely for nostalgia's sake (rather like Bessie), not for any particular or valid reason. Originally, Aaronovitch wrote him into the story in order to kill him off, but when it came down to it, he couldn't bring himself to do it. This is a shame, because at least then the Brigadier would have had a reasonably memorable and worthy send-off, rather than the off-screen death in bed and subsequently being turned into a Cyberman. Urgh!

The knights also attack Bambera and Ancelyn in the 2CV, and it's interesting to see an emerging attraction between the two previous antagonists. Bambera makes the first move by asking if Ancelyn's married, and later Ancelyn asks her if she is betrothed. "Not now Ancelyn," replies Winifred as the enemy approaches, suggesting she's happy to pick the conversation up later.  Although the romance isn't all that convincing, it's nice to see it developing all the same.

Back at the hotel, UNIT is unpacking its armaments (look out for a 22-year-old Marc Warren behind Pat Rowlinson (below), 17 years before facing the Abzorbaloff in Love & Monsters), but the locals are refusing to be evacuated. In steps the dark Doctor, who exercises some kind of mind control over Pat and Peter to persuade them to leave Carbury. Is it a form of hypnosis, similar to what the Master uses, or another example of him being something "other" than a Time Lord? There were early hints at this extra-sensory ability in Remembrance of the Daleks (also by Aaronovitch) when the Doctor seems to miraculously cure the concussed Embery, and this wouldn't be the last time he'd demonstrate a magical power.

Also in this scene, the Doctor teases the Brig by asking if UNIT has any silver bullets, and this is clearly meant as a throwaway jest. The fact silver bullets then become integral to the plot is unforgivably coincidental, especially as the Doctor has no way of knowing yet why they might be needed.

The Doctor decides to leave Ace in charge of Excalibur - a rather rash thing to do seeing as Morgaine and her entire army are after it - and leaves her and Shou Yuing alone at the Gore Crow. He also leaves Ace with a piece of chalk from the pub dartboard, and tells her to draw a circle with it, and stay inside, the moment anything strange happens. I've always loved this aspect of the story, but when watching it with a critical eye this time, I started to ask myself what the chalk circle meant.

I always assumed it was something to do with Arthurian mythology, but that's not the case. It actually has its roots in Chinese culture, which is ironic when you consider Aaronovitch has Shou Yuing state that chalk circles are "not my mythology". The 13th century play The Chalk Circle by Li Qianfu has two women fighting over a baby boy that they have to pull free of a chalk circle to claim motherhood (interestingly, the little boy is called Shoulang in the play, very similar to Shou Yuing). The chalk circle motif is also used in Bertolt Brecht's 1944 play The Caucasian Chalk Circle, and both this and Li Qianfu's play have narrative similarities to the Biblical Judgment of Solomon.

It's all a bit confused, but there's obviously a degree of research somewhere. In his novelisation, Aaronovitch gives a hint as to where he'd got it from when Ace says: "What, like in Dennis Wheatley?", and the Doctor responds "I expect so." While I'm not convinced Ace would know who Wheatley was, or have read his work, it's obviously a reference to The Devil Rides Out.

The chalk circle keeps Ace and Shou Yuing safe, but Morgaine starts to play with their minds, trying to turn the two teenagers against each other. This scene is a little clumsily written ("I'm not a freak, I'm Ace. Are you dumb or what?") but the intent is clear, and a brave choice. The fact Ace starts using racist language against Shou Yuing (calling her 'toadface', "yellow" and "slant-eyed") makes for uneasy viewing, particularly as we know this is not how Ace would think or talk. Putting racist language into the mouth of a character who is resolutely anti-racist emphasises the power of what Morgaine is doing to Ace's mind. Shou Yuing also manages to touch a raw nerve in Ace by playing on her insecurities, something she cannot have known herself.

It's a powerful scene, which thankfully ends with the girls making up and hugging, recognising that someone is playing tricks with them. It's just one of so many strong scenes which help flesh out Ace as a companion, particularly in regard to her moral beliefs. There are similar scenes dealing with Ace's adversity to racism and oppression in Remembrance of the Daleks ('No Coloureds'), The Happiness Patrol (her support for the killjoys) and Ghost Light (her memories of Manisha).

Morgaine, who so far has been very slow on the uptake, decides that her Knight Commander just isn't up to the task of reclaiming Excalibur, so instead calls into service a creature from another dimension. At first the Destroyer - Lord of Darkness, Eater of Worlds - appears as a silhouette in Morgaine's magic sphere. "With fire I shall summon you," she says, but not using fire to summon him. "With silver I shall bind you!" She snatches the silhouette out of the sphere and flicks it against a wall as a sinister shadow.

The Destroyer's manifestation at the end of the episode is a surprise, partly because it's out of the blue (excuse the pun), but mostly because it looks so damned good. Doctor Who monsters at this time were often designed and sculpted by Sue Moore and Stephen Mansfield, who brought a professional creativity to the programme typified here by the magnificent Destroyer. We don't get to see much of him here, but what we do see is mightily impressive, even awesome. It's a strong cliffhanger to a somewhat uneven episode, and I look forward to seeing more of this monster.

Quickies:

• When Ace rises from the lake with Excalibur, Warmsley refers to her as "that wretched girl", which initially seems rather unfair until you remember that she recently blew up his archaeological dig.
• The knights' assault on the Range Rover is directed quite well, but ends really abruptly when the rear windscreen shatters, and suddenly everybody's fine and safe. It's always struck me as quite poorly edited, as is the scene where the knights attack the 2CV. Bambera shooting her rifle from the roof of the car should be impressive, but it somehow lacks energy (despite McCulloch's blanket of noise), and ends with the Knight Commander rather bewilderingly saying: "Magnificent!" Hardly...
• When the Brig went to all the trouble of taking Bessie out of mothballs, how did he know he was about to meet the Seventh Doctor, to have the registration plate changed to WHO 7?
• After going to all the trouble of entrusting Excalibur to Ace, and giving her the chalk circle, when the message comes through from the hotel that "night has fallen here", the Doctor doesn't seem bothered. "I'll deal with that later," he says dismissively. Also, who sends the Brigadier that report over the walkie-talkie? Whoever it is, it was very good of them to let him know!
• The face-off between Mordred and Ancelyn is dripping with testosterone. If this wasn't a family show I'd be expecting them to get their manhoods out to compare sizes!
• "STOP! I COMMAND IT!" hollers the Doctor, with all the authority of Merlin. "THERE. WILL. BE. NO. BATTLE HERE!" I can never decide whether Sylvester McCoy is awful or brilliant in this scene. His shouting voice makes him sound a bit dense, but there's no denying it's commanding.

As we head into part 4, I wonder whether the Doctor and Morgaine will ever actually meet.

First broadcast: September 20th, 1989

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: Morgaine giving Elizabeth back her sight.
The Bad: Keff McCulloch's unrelentingly raucous score.
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆

Ace says "Professor": 62

NEXT TIME: Part Four...

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

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.

Battlefield is available on BBC DVD. Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Battlefield-Sylvester-McCoy/dp/B001FJ5D5M