| TIME - FLIGHT by Peter Grimwade |
| Story 122 Synopsis: At Heathrow, there is a problem. A Concorde flight has gone missing. The Doctor decides to help Nyssa and Tegan grieve by taking them to the Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace, but they are caught in time turbulence, and are forced to materialise at Heathrow. The Doctor uses a connection with UNIT to waive security concerns. He thinks the missing Concorde is connected to the time turbulence. He is allowed to take another Concorde on the same route, with the TARDIS in the hold. It too vanishes, although the flight crew think they have landed at Heathrow. Nyssa sees through the illusion, and soon so do the others. They have travelled back 140 million years to the Jurassic era. The Doctor is attacked by Plasmaton creatures, but is soon free. They all go to this temple, where a man named Kalid is using the hijacked crew of the other Concorde as slave labour to force their way through some wall. Kalid is soon revealed as the Master, who needs equipment from the Doctor's TARDIS. The Master is trying to make contact with a creature called the Xeraphin, which he wants to use as a power source for his TARDIS. The Doctor enters the Sanctum and communicates with the Xeraphin, which has two sides, and the Master has persuaded the 'bad' side to take control. The Doctor thinks he has lost, but the Xeraphin is able to transport the TARDIS into the Sanctum, where the Doctor can escape. He bargains with the Master for the return of the Concorde's passengers, in return for a part stolen from the TARDIS. The Doctor gets the Concorde crew to prepare for take-off, which they achieve. En route, the TARDIS dematerialises, knocking the Concorde back through the time contour, and into the present. The Doctor then thwarts the Master, sending him to Xeriphas. In the rush to settle the question of the loss of a Concorde, the Doctor takes off with Nyssa, but Tegan is left behind. |
| Review:- Few stories are as reviled as this one. Following the emotional jolt of Earthshock, the TARDIS flies into trouble (sorry), in a big end-of-season finale, taking in the shock return of an old enemy, the involvement of Concorde, and a shock ending. Sadly, Time-Flight gets it in the neck for various reasons, none of which are totally fair. Starting with the design, and many complain that the prehistoric heath looks ridiculous, and the Plasmatons are a bit rubbish. This I find arguable. As with the so-called crap jungle in Kinda, the heath is quite good, as for a large area works pretty well. The Plasmatons... well, it's a bit of a shame that they seem only important for the first cliffhanger. Also, the wish to make them different seems to run to them not having arms or heads. This is imaginative, but unfortunate, as they look like rocks with legs, which would be daft done by any series. So what else is there to complain about? The Concordes crashing in the past is often condemned. In fact, this whole idea works pretty well (just about), although the need for all the passengers rather hampers any attempts at tension. I think the main factor that helps the Concorde storyline is that Stapley, Bilton and Scobie are possibly the best guest characters ever put in to Doctor Who. Their swift acceptance and loyalty to the Doctor hasn't really been seen since Ben Jackson met the Doctor in a nightclub. All three are resourceful and dashing, and seemingly wasted as airline crew. That Michael Cashman went on to a major role in Eastenders before becoming a successful political activist is one of Doctor Who's lesser-mentioned success stories. No, it's not that Doctor Who gave him his success, but he along with Owen Teale and Sean Blowers are notable now for not being given star status. So that leaves us with the Master's role as Kalid. This is a tough one, I admit. Until the end of part 2, Kalid is seemingly a clever yet opaque man who has somehow pulled a Concorde down a time corridor. Then, all of a sudden, he's the Master, trying to enslave the evil side of the Xeraphin. But the question is - why is he dolled up as Kalid at all? This is very hard to explain. It seems to be some form of deep cover - but is it just to appeal to the Xeraphin? Why does it fall off with such snotty finality near the end of part 2? Why does it then not matter that he was Kalid at all? Questions I cannot fathom. I cannot criticise this story for thinking big. An edited version could pass as a film quite easily. As a thinly-disguised plug for Concorde, it works both ways, giving Doctor Who some cred in return. The acting performances range from the sublime (see above) to the ridiculous (Angela Clifford has hopefully gone back to being a tree; the so-called guest star, Nigel Stock as Professor Hayter, is aptly named - I hated almost his entire performance). Nyssa gets a little character development, but is hamstrung by the fact that she cannot name the Master before he appears (come on, the Melkur! ring any bells?). Tegan is sadly as wooden as ever, and frankly should have stayed off the TARDIS for good after this (although she can't even act as a stewardess!). The Doctor is weakened by some pretty rotten plotting (cf. The Faceless Ones - how handy that Doctor might have found it to just name-drop his way out of trouble!) and occasional lapses of judgement. The legendary "I'll explain later" comes into full force here, and he has to say one of the worst cliffhangers of all time at the end of part 3 (no, I can't repeat it). Just too many points that show failure as a character actor. The Master, by turn, is also pretty rotten, although at least his plans are something different. I think this story would have been helped by starting Season 20. Then the cliffhanger of Earthshock would have been given even greater power, instead of "so what, let's have another adventure". The Concorde aspect would have kicked off the season to great publicity effect, instead of weighing down a season which has had its finale plugged for ages. Also, it would allow for the Master to seem like a villain for the start of seasons, not the end (witness The Kings' Demons and Planet of Fire), whilst filling the bill of the "old enemies" plot. Time-Flight struggles because it has too much to do in its spot, and succeeds to no effect. |
| Disclaimer: I've seen the video. |