Meglos - (1980)
The Doctor & Romana phase 2 are summoned by Zastor, the leader of the Tigellan race in the Prion Sytem. Tigella has a fragile alliance involving two casts. The scientific Savants & the religious Deons. In the centre of their society is the dodecahedron which powers their civilization. on a very nearby planet of Zolfa-Thura, Meglos, last of his kind intends to steal the dodecahedron, first by possessing a captured Terran's body & then posing as the Doctor. Will the Doctor be framed for a theft he didn't commit & be executed for dooming the Tigellan society or can he stop the real perpetrate, a cactus, Meglos!
Maybe the Churchill's of this World invite, The 11th Doctor round to tea. But Zastor has, like the Brigadier, sent a message to The Doctor for help, respective of which time he's in or regeneration(?) Yes, that's Barbara Wright herself, being priestess Lexa, Jacqueline Hill! This is her first appearance as anyone on Doctor Who since 1965's The Chase, no Five Doctor cameo! The Tigellans are forced to live within a colony inside their former spaceship, no thanks to the hostile, Triffid-like plants. But a talking cactus-like entity has its sights on them. If things weren't bad enough, Lexa is a bit of the religiously, fanatically, inquisition type, & proves to be a bit of a hindrance to the scientific savants & our hero, The Doc!
Meglos has hired a marauding bunch of space pirates called the Gaztaks to kidnap an Earthling. yes, a "mere Earthling", on his way to work. Little did he know that his last train to London might really be his last! Meanwhile, Meglos has also trapped The Doctor & Romana in a TARDIS time-loop! I mean, is this not awesome or what?! The Tigellans fashion trend are going with an Annie Lennox meets the wigs from UFO, albeit white, with a hint of Blake's 7 to match.
I saw this as an excited brat. THAT..Earthling, the nameless Earthling! Literally taken, & abducted by space pirates, wearing his business suit, on his way to work! So ordinary & yet so random. This amazed me seeing from this child's silly point of view. Silly as this sounds now, I thought "ordinary Earthlings, were not in this", how naive my brat-self was! It brought it so home!
My Father used to invite fellow military from other countries. I remember (& don't quote me!) two Japanese guys? French, & a lot of US GI Joe's from a nearby air force base. But I think this guy, that weekend, was of West German origin, (I don't think he was an Eastern spy?). I was hoping he enjoyed, or at least humoured this as a guest of Brit tele. On the following Sunday, as we returned him, at the train station on his way home, he gave us each a 50 pence piece, a lot of cash back then. Maybe he loved this? LOL!!
Of course, kudos to Jacqueline Hill! From playing school teacher turned kidnapped herself, then assistant, Barbara Wright, to a religiously fanatic bad girl as Lexa. Of course, there was Sarah-Jane Smith with her trusty K9 & Co for this brats BBC Winter crush. But, Jacqueline as Barbara Wright, on repeats was equally as beautiful on our entrance, Unearthly Child (1963) & beyond. I had no idea who she was when this aired, though. Besides, my too young comprehension would not have figured it out. As far as I was concerned this was another exciting "space adventure" with my childhood hero, who doesn't regenerate into a Cricket-playing, wet vet..
I truly got to see who Jacqueline Hill was via the PBS channel showings of Classic Who on PBS in America, every Saturday night at 9 pm. Yes, I was an as an air force brat. Still, I guess I couldn't recognise her on Meglos until years later, maybe it was the hat? My younger so-called-brain, definitely remembers Sarah-Jane Smith, & still holds a special place in its heart from those definite story memories, self-defence mode off!
I love the recurring scene theme of Romana the 2nd & The 4th Doctor trapped in a literal padding/time-loop! How they get out of Meglos' amber-like trap is interesting, seeing as they're both experts in noticing a time fissure. (Refer to Guinan on Star Trek TNG episode Yesterdays Enterprise!) & yes, we're in the mist of the mini-droid-hate era. With R2, Twiki, & Boxey on the witch hunt list. & poor K9 was at the height of the abuse on the show at this point, someone call a robot cruelty charity! He needs to recharge himself! Still, better than getting the crap kicked out of yourself in Warriors Gate (1981).
Meglos as the green-skinned, spiky, doppelganger of our hero is so well realised, as is the scenery of the two planets & Meglos' futuristic space tomb. Meglos is familiar with our hero as a foe & powerful enough to put he & Romana in that "padding amber", within his TARDIS, looking at you, Master! It seems Meglos needs to possess the Earthling in order to assume The Doctors form.
The Gaztaks have the nerve to criticise why he would want a mere Earthling. & are yet. themselves stupid enough to attempt to steal some of Meglos' BBC-prop, trinkets. If that weren't bad enough they try to decept Meglos after capturing The Doctor! Boy, for space faring pirates, they sure are dumb! They continue to get out-witted!
Romana tricks them, as she did those tinpot-obsessed bandits on Creature From The Pit (1979), with her "But, of course Tigella rotates counter clock-wise!", so her ship would be on the opposite side of the planet? LOL! You have to admire her ability to outwit & confuse baddie idiots! The Triffid-wannabes almost get a snack, courtesy of Romana. The Gazteks need a ram to get into the Tigellan fort, so they barely survived the plants(?)
Our beloved Jacqueline, Lexa, get's a chance to prove that she's not such a bad egg by saving the latest design in assistant, Romana. Sacrificing her life from a survived Gaztak pirate, after the laser battle. Surely writer, Andrew McCulloch, accidentally did this on purpose (?) Either way, this religion vs science deal (?) Everyone's entitled to their beliefs, in this humble geeks opinion. It's what they do with it that truly matters, right? Meanwhile, the silly Gazteks fate remain in an Indiana Jones-type tomb, worthy of Chariots Of The Gods!
Even though this isn't the first 80's Doctor who that I've blogged about, it's of the first year of a doomed era in Classic Who. This era begins with a newly synthesised theme, courtesy of Peter Howell. Yes, When I first saw that intro for The Leisure Hive (1980), with its spell-binding star field, I was blown away! A friend, (not a fellow Sci-Fi fan, but loves his synthesizers!) thinks this version sounds like Progressive-Rock band, Yes! Alright, I can't get into a competition here, on which is the best. The famous diamond logo of the 70's, or the Delia Derbyshire, so ahead of it's time, original?! Okay, the 70's diamond one!
This is a piece of underrated, childhood, nostalgic viewing. Watch-out for the hilarious ending for our Earthling our hero saved, & now get's to return, 20-minutes early? The wife won't miss him!
Time is relative?
Stay Safe,
Borgduck,
Stewart,