| THE CAVES OF ANDROZANI by Robert Holmes |
| Story 135 Synopsis: The TARDIS materialises on the surface of Androzani Minor. Following tracks in the sand, the Doctor and Peri walk into some caves (strictly speaking, blow-holes). They encounter a raw spectrox nest, and are soon captured by the local militia. General Chellak is hunting outlaw Sharaz Jek, who controls a large supply of refined spectrox, a highly prized commodity. Chellak is under orders from Morgus, Jek's old partner, who abandoned Jek to a fate worse than death. The Doctor and Peri are sentenced to be shot, but Jek has replaced them with androids, because he finds Peri attractive. Chellak is being undermined as his deputy, Salateen, is another android reporting to Jek. The real Salateen informs the Doctor and Peri that their encounter with the raw spectrox has given them spectrox toxaemia, and with little hope of survival. Escaping Jek's quarters, Salateen takes Peri to Chellak, explaining about his android duplicate. The Doctor survives an encounter with a Magma Beast, and is captured by gun-runners, Stotz and Krelper, who are lackeys for Jek, but with their own agenda, for Morgus. The Doctor forces Stotz' craft to crashland back on the planet, as he is now driven by the need to save Peri. There is an antidote, the milk of a bat, but the journey is perilous. Whilst doing this, Morgus arrives to face off with Jek. Cheelak leads an assault, with Salateen, but Jek's androids kill them, and a mud burst kills the rest. Jek throttles Morgus, and Stotz shoots Jek. The android Salateen shoots Stotz. The Doctor returns, absconds with Peri, then returns to the TARDIS, whilst the mud burst puts paid to the spectrox. Spilling some of the antidote, the Doctor gives the rest to Peri, then regenerates. |
| Review:- This was arguably the greatest achievement of Doctor Who in the 1980's, and for many, it is Peter Davison's finest effort as the Doctor. It is very entertaining, mixing elements of tragedy, quest, doomed romance and revenge to concoct a tale of greed being a bad thing, where almost all the power-hungry get their comeuppance (except maybe Timmin). The spectrox element brings all the stories together, as Jek is using it to cripple his associates who rely on him as the sole supplier, and at the other end of the scale, it is deadly enough to be slowly killing the Doctor and Peri. Each level of corruption and incompetency is struggling to survive in relation to the others. Chellak thinks he is a match for Jek, despite being duped by the android under his nose. His final attempt at face-saving glory turns to disaster, and he falls victim to the mud, a bystander to the main power-play. Salateen is loyal, but stupid. He delights that Peri's illness will rob Jek of his triumph, and abuses the Doctor's trust during their escape, leaving him for dead. His enthusiasm blinds Chellak to the downside of his assault plan, and dies a fitting, ignorant death. Krelper is loyal to Stotz, which gets him shot in the back. Stotz tries to keep Morgus and Jek reliant on him, whilst also on the look out for the spectrox. He has no qualms about treating Morgus as another pawn, and shoots Jek without compunction. That he is subsequently killed in the same cold-blooded way by the android Salateen is another fitting end. Morgus is ruthless in despatching his President, but foolish to believe that Timmin will cede to him. Stotz, too, soon treats him as an equal rather than a superior. His downfall, leading to his strangulation by Jek, at least allows him a degree of closure denied to those who are killed at a moment's notice. Sharaz Jek pursues an even more vindictive agenda than Morgus. Whereas he is willing to save Peri, it is clear that it is the whim of a madman. He is drawn by one motivation only - revenge on Morgus. This he gets, but at the price of a brutal death by Stotz. His efforts to help the Doctor get the antidote are not borne out of friendship, but the continuing desire for Peri's beauty. The Doctor bumbles into trouble, a victim of his own curiosity, on a journey with no pauses, headlong, pell-mell towards his final defeat. He doesn't solve the issue at hand - the planet does that. His inexperience puts Peri and himself into danger, and his clumsiness nearly gets them both killed, instead of dramatically saved. He puts Peri ahead of himself, and deserves his salvation. Peri gets pushed from pillar to post, imperilled, infected, rescued by a madman, used as a human shield by Salateen, and barely saved at the climax. Indeed, it is amusing that the only people to survive the story intact are Peri and Timmin. A jolly tale, with much to admire, and much to enjoy. |
| Disclaimer: I've seen the video, and read the book. |