TV Review: Doctor Who: Full Circle (1980)

Doctor Who: Full Circle (1980) written by Andrew Smith and directed by Peter Grimwade

The Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker), Romana (Lalla Ward), and K-9 are called back to Gallifrey. As often happens, the TARDIS goes off course and lands on Alzarious. The planet has a stranded colonist ship on it. The crew has been trying to repair their ship for forty generations. Every fifty years, they face the threat of the Mistfall, when creatures rise out of the local swamp and attack them. They usually retreat to the ship to wait out the danger, but some of the younger, rebellious ones stay out this time. Naturally, the Doctor shows up right before Mistfall and gets to participate in the highjinks.

The rubber-suited baddies aren't particularly menacing but that's okay since the colonists aren't particularly competent or resourceful. Their leaders are called the Deciders, a name which is strikingly ironic given how slow they are to make decisions. They like to gather a lot of information before acting, which is good in principle but not when swamp creatures are infesting your supposedly impregnable colony ship. The intentional mediocrity of the colonists is mirrored in the swamp creatures who have barely mastered the art of using sticks as clubs. The colonist have no particularly effective counter to this move--they basically run away. You'd think with fifty years' time and advanced technology, they could do better at protecting themselves.

The show has some interesting comments on procrastination and on treating other sentient beings with respect, especially when information about those creatures is scant. The mediocrity of the locals is, in a way, thematic to the story. Baker gives a good performance as usual. Ward is also good and her character is just as intelligent and gutsy as the Doctor.

Recommended, with allowances for the rubber suits and the tinny 1980s synth score.