Customer Rating:  
Summary: Hung Jury for Doctor Who
Comment: Having owned Trial of a Time Lord on VHS for over a decade, plus having watched it when it debuted on U.S. Public Television, I feel qualified to comment on this epic, but ultimately disappointing season of Doctor Who.
Doctor Who, as many "traditional" fans have known, was placed on hiatus after Colin Baker's creditable first season in the role. The Doctor and Peri Brown had begun to mellow as a time-travelling duo, and despite some complaints of "graphic violence," the Sixth Doctor did not really become the "Sith" Doctor, or "Dirty Harry," or the "Psychotic Doc." Colin Baker later argued that his three year plan had been to make the "alien" role more likeable as time went on. But early in 1985, BBC President Michael Grade decided to stop producing the show -- primarily out of personal dislike for the show -- which is well-documented in the press.
Fan outcry from around the world, and favorable British press, forced the BBC to reconsider their choice. But the damage had been done. Serious science fiction went out the window, to be replaced by the "camp humor" characterized by Tom Baker's 17th Season. BBC heads insisted on these changes based upon TV watchdogs like Mary Whitehouse. Season 23 would set the stage for the last four years of Doctor Who, making it difficult for Colin Baker's immediate successor to rise above the formula.
As for Trial of a Time Lord, it began on a somewhat high note, with fine model effects and a sense of foreboding. But "Mysterious Planet" was not really a complete story, only the seeds of one. The trial format kept any potential plot twists from developing. Sabalom Glitz (Tony Selby) is one of Doctor Who's more interesting anti-heroes, but Glitz was the only highlight from a routine post-holocaust story. Since this show had been written just as Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome was released, it's not very surprising. There were also too many Monty Python touches for my liking.
Mindwarp represented the nadir of Doctor Who at this point -- although I might take pot-shots at some of Russell T. Davies' scripts for the new series. Although it was nice to see Nabil Shaban reprise Sil from the previous season ("Vengeance on Varos"), he is overshadowed by the silly plot convention of switching Kiv's mind into Peri's body. This concept had been exhausted by series like "The Avengers" and "The Prisoner."
Moreover, Colin Baker and Brian Blessed should have been restrained, as their acting broke the OTT meter. I also got tired of belaboring the point of whether Peri survived the process, or whether she was killed. The final outcome, with her marriage to Yrcanos, was hard to swallow.
Finally, we come to "Terror of the Vervoids," which felt more like a story -- even if it mirrors "Robots of Death." Honor Blackman was an inspired choice for Professor Laskey. Excellent creature effects and startling revelations abound. But the regular cast is somewhat let down by Bonnie Langford, who is quite a good stage actress for light comedy, but not for drama -- which Doctor Who, incidentally, falls under in the BBC. Mel Bush makes the last six episodes rather hard to watch.
The last two episodes feel like a pastiche of two previous Gallifrey stories, "Deadly Assassin" and "Invasion of Time," with very little new ground broken. Although Michael Jayson's Valeyard is compelling, I agree that Anthony Ainley's role as the Master was under-employed in this last segment. I never liked the idea of the Valeyard, to begin with. Even with his surprise revelation in the Matrix, the Master feels as though he were added at the last minute. Since this is the last scene we have of the Time Lords, before the new series exterminated them, it is not a very flattering view of the Doctor's people. They deserved a better story.
As for Colin Baker, he also deserved much better treatment by the BBC, although it's all over but the crying. He's gone on to greater things, and Sylvester McCoy, despite the odds, did a memorable turn on his own.
But "Trial of a Time Lord" is a poor transition between two Doctors.
Customer Rating:
Summary: 14 part final epic adventure of the 6th Doctor...as he is trialed for his PAST, PRESENT and FUTURE!!! Flawed, but classic!
Comment: You may or may not have of heard of or seen "TRIAL OF A TIME LORD" the 23rd season story which encompassed the entire season....but, before beginning let me take a moment to note the talent of genre writer & major Doctor Who contributor the late great Robert Holmes...the man responsible for most of the greatest "Classic" Doctor Who episodes ever written and also responsible for the TRIAL OF A TIME LORD 14 part story/concept.
Holmes either wrote or co-wrote the following Dr. Who classic stories, none of them forgettable, leastways not in concept: The Krotons, The Space Pirates, Spearhead from Space (which intros the 3rd Doctor), Terror of the Autons (which intros the Master!), Carnival of Monsters, The Time Warrior (which intros the Sontarans), Ark in Space, The Brain of Morbius (w/Terrance Dicks), Pyramids of Mars (w/L.Greifer), Deadly Assassin, Talons of Weng-Chiang (a fav of RTD), The Sun Makers, The Ribos Operation (intros Romana), The Power of Kroll, The Two Doctors and Caves of Androzani (the 5th Doctor's final appearance and considered to be the best story of the show's long history, certainly a fav of mine.)
TRIAL OF A TIME LORD's greatest strength, becomes it's greatest weakness...Robert Holmes was to write 8 parts of the 14 part story, the first and the last. His poor health, then death prevented him from completing the final 2 parts...completed by Pip & Jan Baker the story/season finale suffers for this loss! Following an already postponed season, this compounded the problem which ended the 6th Doctor's tenure without a proper regeneration story (unless you count the bewigged figure in "Time and the Rani").
As we see now a tighter continuity in the series is a preferable format...here we get a kind of CHRISTMAS CAROL format, via the Time Lord High Council we see the "Accused" a.k.a the Doctor's past/present/ & future while he defends his actions on the stand. Long time fans may question... "has the Doc already been trialed and sentenced by the Time Lord, as seen in the final moments of `The War Games' in which the 2nd Doctor is punished for his interference, forced to regenerate, exiled to the 20th cen. Earth along with UNIT?" Well, yes, he was and they did...but here we get pomp and circumstance and flashback and forward and lots of new crimes and accusations against the Doctor, even for things he has YET to do!!! (how cool is that one?) As a result the season can be packaged a 3 major stories with a common courtroom thread and 1 extended 2 part resolution : The Mysterious Planet...Mindwarp....Terror of the Vervoids...The Ultimate Foe.
The Mysterious Planet begins with one of the best openings of the shows history (a dare say better than even the 2005 series, too) as we see THE TARDIS drawn into a station where the trial is to be held. Gorgous, ever by today's standards. Soon we are drawn into flashbacks of the Doctor and Peri's last adventure, no not from last season, but an adventure new to the viewer. We watch along with the tribunal of Time Lords as the Doctor arrives on Ravalox (write it down, by episode 14 you may have lost your scorecard) 2 million years in Earth's future...(you might want to write that down, too). The Ravalox location is neat, `til we get to the old steel corridors beneath ruled by a mad robot, sorry. One thing Mysterious Planet has going for it...are characters typical of Robert Holmes' writing, like rascally fallible rogue Sabalom Glitz who plans to come into possession of the hidden secrets and advanced technology guarded by the robot, while of course falling underfoot of the Doctor's own plans. All the while important details are omitted from the story by the Time Lord prosecutor the VALEYARD, raising the Doctor's suspicions, as he cannot remember the events himself.
Then the adventure in the Doctor's present is reviewed in the story arc, which Holmes had the least to do with, called "MINDWARP." The VALEYARD continues to build a case against the Doctor showing his most recent adventure as evidence of guilt their activities on Thoros Beta immediately before the trial. We see the Doctor at first investigating arms sales; after he sees his old adversary SIL, he surmises that Thoros Beta is the home planet of Sil's race. We learn a scientist, Crozier is experimenting brain surgery on a local warrior-king, Yrcanos, played by the great Brian Blessed (fantastic!), before performing on SIL's mentor Kiv, played by the great Christopher Ryan (seen in season for as a Sontaran). The Doctor is shown as malevolent in this segment of evidence convincing him that the evidence has been tampered with, specifically his betrayal of Peri and Yrcanos. Also, his capture by the Time Lord High Council appears to have resulted in Peri's death.
In the "TERROR of the VERVOIDS" a story of the Doctor's near future is presented as evidence against him. An interesting concept, including the introduction of a "current" companion who the Doctor has yet to meet, by our perspective anyway, Melanie or Mel, played by stage entertainer Bonnie Langford, and probably the most annoying companion this side of Tegan (seriously, you will go watch Timeflight and say, "Wow, Tegan's not that bad."). The pair, break from dieting long enough to answer a distress call from the Hyperion, space-cruise ship (hmm, where have I seen that before?). The ship is sabotaged & people become plant-food for the Vervoids, plant-like humanoids genetically engineered by Professor Lasky, played by the still lovely Honor Blackman. In the end, the Doctor, Mel, and Prof. Lasky succeed in preventing the Vervoids from reaching Earth, but upon admitting that no Vervoids survived, the Valeyard now charges the Doctor with genocide, oops.
Then in the final 2 parter the ULTIMATE FOE, the truth is revealed, and a chase into the very Matrix itself ensues (as seen in Holmes' Deadly Assassin), but first Mel and Glitz called as witnesses, even the Master shows up, appearing to aide in the Doctor's defence of all things! The Ultimate Foe is revealed, and pretty cool idea it is, I won't say more, but pity it wasn't executed better, though. All is explain, if less than adequately, how the Doctor was used as a scapegoat, and the Valeyard real involvement as more than just a prosecutor. The truth about Peri's death is also revealed in a weak exit for the companion (although no worse or less believable than Leela's exit). As I said in the end the truth is revealed, but with all the twists and turns of the 14 parter the most confusing is the very final moments of the story in which the Doctor leaves with Mel, the companion "he" has yet to meet.
But, for all it's flaws...once all is said and done, the TRIAL of a TIME LORD set, is a must have set for any Doctor Who fan.
Drinking Games for The Trial of a Time Lord:
Drink whenever....
...the Doctor "objects" in the trial sequences.
...the Doctor "misaddresses" the Valeyard's title (..the Railyard, etc.).
...Bonnie Langford & Brian Blessed are "over-the-top."
...a character shows up we are supposed to know, or atleast the Doctor is supposed to know.
...anyone has a beverage of their own, especially CARROT JUICE!!!
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