Visitation

Viewing recommendation: fun fact. I've never managed to watch any Peter Davison episode on a first viewing anything but all at once. Planet of Fire is the single exception, and I got through that in 48 hours.


The Visitation has been sitting at the bottom of my Fifth Doctor episode list for some time, ever since I saw it - and that was maybe the second fifth Doctor story I ever saw. Thought admittedly excellent in several departments, I always remembered it as an hour and a half of running around in forests. Great sets, but very weak in the plot department, relying on characters missing each other or being shunted off to the TARDIS/miller's barn/locked up somewhere - and relying on the Doctor to secretly know, somehow, that Adric and Tegan are safe and cannot be rescued from the Tereleptils at present because they are doing important plot things - and it is therefore alright to abandon them for some goose chase involving a robot, or a horse, or something and not think about them for three episodes.

The Doctor still does some weird abandony things, which I'm still not quite comfortable with. But I'm convinced the structure problems aren't as bad as I remembered them. The location, and the sense of place is just so strong - the Fifth Doctor always works with greenery. The peasants are used well in the same way the levellers are in Mark of the Rani. It's all so atmospheric, visually, that you don't even notice the frankly awful android design. Mace is ace. He makes the world seem real, while adding some comic relief and pinching many of the best lines.

The Tereleptils are just incredible - the costumes are flawless, and motivation wonderfully imagined. They remind me a little of the Slitheen. Tinclavic! On Raga! Having seen it in The Awakening, boy it must be an irritating substance to mine. They are also quite, quite evil. I'd remembered the dialogue was good, but the Doctor confronting the villain is always the standout scene. But it's really, really, really good. Particularly "what's your excuse?".

I love season 19's complicated TARDIS, and without forgetting that the four of them are all bad tempered and argumentative, this episode highlights their little relationships better than anywhere else. The Doctor just beams like the sun has come out when Nyssa talks to him. It's awesomely cute, and you get such a sense of the surrogate father-daughter thing going on. Nyssa has settled in - like Adric, at this point she is a companion, a permenant fixture in the TARDIS. Adric is starting to resent the crowd more - "What would the Doctor do" - "Get angry, probably" - or griping at some length, quite correctly, that he is useless and can't help - "I try so hard!". "Whining" is a criticism aplied to Adric a lot, but I find it very very endearing. He doesn't like these two girls showing up and stealing his job as "companion". Even here, you get to see him launch himself at the android and attempt to fight it - you can't fault the boy's crazy heroics. "Why isn't he here, why is he never around when you want him!" is another standout Adric moment.

Not to mention things getting a lot cuter in the Tegan camp - "Tegan, I know you never listen to a word I say..." is the aw moment of the episode. Season 19 Tegan tends to irritate me somewhat, despite the fact she later matures into a favourite companion - but not here. And for goodness sakes : "Now, don't jump to conclusions, Adric. Sometimes we... humanoids try to disguise our... our true feelings." Because obviously, he's talking purely about Adric and Tegan.

As for the Doc, he's still a bit scattershot - impatient and grumpy, occasionally outright viciousness. In later episodes the temper would be moulded into the Fifth Doctor's trademark killer sarcasm. Having now seen most of 19, it's tempting to think to think that Earthshock is the defining moment he becomes sombre and (ugh) "bland". In Four to Doomsday, I put it down to maybe not being over the regeneration yet, but there are elements of it still here in Visitation. I also love, love, love the way he never fails to look utterly horrified by supervillains explaining their plans - it's always like the first time he's ever realised things are that dark, that he feels genuinely let down by the universe on every occurance. The ultimate death of the Tereleptils is messy, cruel and it's interesting to watch the Doctor's very brief look back at them. He doesn't go back to rescue them, but he doesn't enjoy it - as if this is a turning point. If I was going to be uber about this, I'd say it was deliberate mirroring with Planet of Fire, but it's probably accidental.

While we're talking about Earthshock, I suddenly realised why Tegan gets abandoned at the end of Time Flight - of course, the Doctor is trying to do what 10 is doing now. He's trying to go solo, because his life is too dangerous with them. It's just Nyssa doesn't actually have anywhere to go.

I also enjoy his pained reaction to Adric's attempted TARDIS landing. In fact, including the dialogue in the console room ("I said empathise, not be silly!"), this is just one of this episode's many standout scenes. Some other terrific dialogue gems:

"You are a very stupid woman!"
"That isn't a very original observation"

"Not again!"

And many, many more I've forgotten. I also like the "final visitation" quote, in line with the Fifth Doctor thang of taking the spooky title from a randomly plucked piece of dialogue.

In any case, I thought I was safe to just watch one episode before bed and ended up having to watch the lot, and I may just have to go and rewatch it this morning. I feel I have a much stronger grasp on the character development (such as it is) across this season now, and love that I am able to be so insanely positive about any episode :)