4.27: The Androids of Tara

In which – an issue common to this era, this – pastiche is not enough.

Broadcast: November-December 1978

Watched: September 2020

The Androids of Tara, Part One

“If you don’t stop burning my scarf you’re going to have to kill me.”

This is giving me unpleasant Masque of Mandragora flashbacks. But once I relaxed into it, it was fun, best of the season so far perhaps.

Having Romana find the fourth segment less than 8 minutes into the first episode and then immediately having it confiscated is a nice twist. I like the way you can tell Grendel is a wrongun because he won’t put Romana down.

Same androids as Android Invasion? (Oh, that reminds me, there was an unexplained wirrn in Stones.) Lamia the surgeon-engineer is great. So is the scene where the Prince thanks the Doctor, announces he’s retiring and turns out to be an android.

The Taran woodbeast may be the single least convincing monster we’ve seen yet.

The Androids of Tara, Part Two

“But it’s a machine!” “Well, so is your prince.”

Not sure I buy Jim’s argument that Romana’s non-android double is a problem. [Quick precis: it introduces a coincidental physical double to a story that already has android ones; it’s messy.] Not sure how else you play that plot beat if Romana doesn’t have a lookalike. And the cliffhanger in which the Doctor appears to attack her is genuinely quite traumatic.

Peter Jeffrey is great. His delivery of “Tara’s most eligible spinster, shortly to become, in rapid succession, my fiancé, my bride, and then deceased” is the best line delivery in ages. Well, no, since the plank bit of Pirate.

Anyway, this is very charming, which makes it vastly better than Stones.

The Androids of Tara, Part Three

“It’s funny, they always want you to go alone when you’re walking into a trap. Have you noticed that?”

This continues to be charming and well-made but not massively exciting or ideas heavy, so not a lot to say.

Love Romana shouting, “Start! Start!” at a horse. Also weird that there’s an episode in which both the Doctor and K9 appear to murder Romana.

The last five minutes is fun – the death of Lamia, the action sequence, Grendel trying to buy the Doctor off, instantly getting denounced and then shooting his way out.

It’s objectively good, I’m just unmoved by it. Annoying.

The Androids of Tara, Part Four

Okay, here’s a question – is Grendel actually bad? I mean he’s clearly a bit of a creep, but we don’t see anything to suggest he’s evil, or that he’d make a worse king than Reynart. So it’s a bit odd how the Doctor just automatically picks a side and runs with it.

The repeated capture/rescue of Romana – three times now? – also feels like something that might have been ironed out if there were more drafts.

The sword fight is probably fun if you’re seven.

Anyway, that was frustrating because it’s clearly actually quite good but just does absolutely nothing for me.

Oh well, only seven more stories ‘til proper Doctor Who is back. [I really don’t like this era, sorry.]

Oh – the punchline of K9 floating around on a boat is a sort of joke-oid. It’s joke shaped and clearly intended to play a joke function but, crucially, is not actually funny.