| BATTLEFIELD by Ben Aaronovitch |
| Story 155 Synopsis: The TARDIS lands in England, where UNIT are transporting a warhead. Whilst Ace makes friends with a girl her age, Shou Yuing, the Doctor seems more interested in the nearby archaeological dig with its Arthurian flavour. Meanwhile, the Briagdier is plucked from retirement, and runs into Morgaine, Battle Queen, who is looking for her son Mordred, and to ensure King Arthur is dead. The Doctor works with current UNIT Brigadier Bambera and Ancelyn, a warrior knight fighting Mordred. Ace and the Doctor enter Arthur's tomb, and find Arthur is dead, and the signal that brought Morgaine here is still working. The Doctor set the signal, but then again, Ancelyn calls him Merlin. Ace gets to be Lady Of The Lake. Morgaine threatens Ace and Shou Yuing, but the Doctor has got them to draw a chalk circle, and Morgaine cannot break through. She summons a demon called The Destroyer to get them, but the Brigadier arrives and blasts it to blazes. Running out of ideas, Morgaine hijacks the warhead, but the Doctor talks her out of firing it, through respect and her care for Mordred. |
| Review:- Having wowed the known cosmos with Remembrance of the Daleks, Ben Aaronovitch was swiftly brought back for a new story. Originally in 3 parts, script editor Andrew Cartmel asked Ben to make it into 4 parts. This, Ben says, is what's wrong with it. Well, the first episode has a special place in Dr Who statistical history, as it was only seen by 3.1 million viewers, the lowest total for a first-run episode ever. Plus, the previous screened episode, part 4 of The Greatest Show In The Galaxy scored 6.6 million. Quite a plummet. But what of the story? Well, it's heart is in the right place, and there is much to commend it. However, when it's bad, it's really, really... terrible. The Doctor doesn't correct everyone who calls him Merlin. He uses magic in a practical way, which apparently contradicts The Daemons, when he refutes magic. He acts second fiddle to the Brigadier, of all people. He continually puts Ace in mortal danger. Hmmm. Ace gets to have a laugh with someone for once. Which is nice. She doesn't contribute an awful lot to this story. The Brigadier makes a useful turn, shorn of his usual UNIT workers, he can be a free agent, and yet undisputably on side. In many ways, it is his story, as he knocks the Destroyer for 6. Bambera, Ancelyn, Mordred and Morgaine are pretty 2D, and the rest of the cast 1D. So, to those problems. The Doctor = Merlin. Ace = Lady Of The Lake. So, why didn't we get the obvious conclusion:- Arthur = The Brigadier. Or would that have been too serious? Then we have a story which has build-up and terror, but boils down to a climax, where the Doctor talks Morgaine out of her battleplan. If only this reflected reality, i.e.- President Bush: Look, Saddam, you don't really want to explode that bomb, and kill your family, do you? Saddam Hussein: No, now I come to think about it, I don't. Hmmm.... Episode 1 really is just a runaround, before the story kicks in in part 2. Maybe this is the "extra episode" problem. I do like Battlefield, but I wouldn't put it on a pedestal. |
| Disclaimer: I have seen the video, and read the book. |