‘THE CAVES OF ANDROZANI’
Please feel free to comment on my review.
The Best of the Doctor with Sharaz Jek
This is rated as one of the best ‘Doctor Who’ stories by the fans!
‘The Caves of Androzani’ is the final adventure with Peter Davison as the Doctor. It’s a gripping; tale about the Doctor in a situation to save his friend’s life. It ends the Fifth Doctor era on a heroic high.
This is a four-part story by Robert Holmes, who returns triumphantly to ‘Doctor Who’ after five years. Robert Holmes is one of ‘Doctor Who’ greatest writers as he has penned many classic stories.
The story is also directed by Graeme Harper, who would go on to direct many ‘Doctor Who’ episodes with David Tennant. This is Graeme’s first ‘Doctor Who’ story and he directs it with such enthusiasm.
This story was originally released on DVD in 2001. Now it has been re-released on a 2-disc special edition DVD in the ‘Revisitations’ DVD box set (as well as ‘The Talons of Weng-Chiang’ and ‘The TV Movie’). This is a 2-disc DVD set and has the story on Disc 1 and special features on Discs 2.
I’ve had the original DVD cover of ‘The Caves of Androzani’ signed by seven people at conventions. These include Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor at ‘H-Con’ in Eastleigh, Hampshire in July 2015, and director Graeme Harper, Martin Cochrane as Chellak, Roy Holder as Krepler, Steve Wickham as a soldier, Sarah Sutton as Nyssa, and composer Roger Limb at ‘Pandorica 2015’ in Bristol in September 2015.
By this point, the Doctor is travelling with Peri in the TARDIS. Peter Davison and Nicola Bryant had two adventures on TV, but they also had adventures on audio taking place before this with Erimem.
‘The Caves of Androzani’ is a story that’s pretty bleak. It’s set on the planet Androzani Minor where the Doctor and Peri visit. They’re on their way to the deaths the moment they set foot on the planet.
In many ‘Doctor Who’ stories, the Doctor tries to save people. Here the Doctor and Peri are un-wanted, as the story is about human greed for a very special substance called Spectrox in a petty war.
Spectrox is like a drug that is the fountain of youth. It is produced on Androzani Minor to sell to the growing population of its twin planet, Androzani Major. It’s no surprise many are willing to kill for it.
But with a drug, there is always a downside. For if someone touches raw Spectrox, they get infected with a deadly disease called Spectrox Toxemia. That is what happens to the Doctor and Peri in this.
There is a cure though and the Doctor must a find a way to get this cure in order to save his and Peri’s life. But with gun-runners and army soldiers in his way and becoming obstacles, it isn’t so easy.
Peter Davison excels in his last story as the Doctor in this one. This happens to be Peter’s favourite ‘Doctor Who’ story. This is ironic as his last story happens to be his favourite before he regenerates.
I like the way Robert Holmes writes for Peter’s Doctor, making him more confident and giving him one-liners. The Doctor truly shows his heroism, including holding off his regeneration to save Peri.
Nicola Bryant is also equally good as Peri. I wish Nicola and Peri had more TV stories together in ‘Doctor Who’ as they seem to work well in the audios. I’ve met Nicola and she’s so nice and friendly.
Peri has a rough time, as she gets infected with Spectrox Toxemia. I like that scene with Peri and the Doctor in the cell, before they’re executed. She gets fancied by Sharaz Jek who she finds repulsive.
Christopher Gable guest stars as Sharaz Jek, a wanted man who builds androids and makes Spectrox. He wears a Zulu-like mask to cover his disfigured face. He’s pretty mad and he seems to fancy Peri.
John Normington guest stars as Morgus. He’s a rich man, who is powerful; ruthless; selfish. He wants the Spectrox from Sharaz Jek; has no compassion for anyone and is responsible for Jek’s condition.
Maurice Roëves guest stars as Stotz, the leader of some gun-runners. Stotz works for Morgus and tries Spectrox off from Sharaz Jek. Stotzy is ruthless; cruel and violent and even mistreats his gang.
Martin Cochrane guest stars as General Chellak, who leads the human forces to fight against Sharaz Jek and his androids. He’s focused on his mission and he shows no leniency to the Doctor and Peri.
Robert Glenister guest stars as Salateen, who worked with Peter Davison in ‘Sink or Swim’. There are two versions of Salateen. One is an android spy for Sharaz Jek and the other is the real human Salateen.
The story’s music is composed by Roger Limb, whose music for ‘The Caves of Androzani’ is superb. It’s creepy, atmospheric and haunting. I’ve chatted to Graeme Harper about Roger’s music for this.
By the end, the Doctor finds the bats’ milk to save Peri as he carries her back to the TARDIS. He gives her the antidote, but it’s only enough for her. The Doctor lies on the floor dying, as he says goodbye.
As the Doctor dies, he sees visions of his companions telling him not to die. It was great to see Janet Fielding as Tegan, Mark Strickson as Turlough, Sarah Sutton as Nyssa, Matthew Waterhouse as Adric, and…Kamelion(?!), voiced by Gerald Flood, make cameos in this story.
But Anthony Ainley as the Master then shows up and he cruelly laughs at the Doctor, telling him that he must die. This was pretty frightening and horrible and it seems like it’s the final end of the Doctor.
But the Doctor soon sits up and transforms into…Colin Baker. Peri is speechless as she can’t understand what’s happened. But it’s all “Change, my dear. And it seems not a moment too soon.”
The original DVD special features are as follows. There is a ‘Behind the Scenes: The Regeneration’ featurette with a commentary option; an ‘Original Opening Scene’ and an ‘Extended Scene’ with a commentary option. There is also a ‘Creating Sharaz Jek’ audio interview with Christopher Gable. There is a BBC1 Trailer; a commentary with Peter Davison; Nicola Bryant and Graeme Harper; isolated music option; three news items; an ‘info text’ commentary option to enjoy and a photo gallery of the story.
On the 2-disc Special Edition DVD, the original special features are on Disc 1. Also on Disc 1, there are also two new extended scenes; an updated ‘info-text’ commentary option to enjoy; a ‘Radio Times Listing’ PDF of the story and a ‘coming soon’ trailer for ‘The Seeds of Doom’ with Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen. There is also an ‘Easter Egg’. On Disc 2, there’s the ‘Chain Reaction’ making-of documentary with cast and crew interviews; the ‘Directing Who: Then and Now’ interview with director Graeme Harper and ‘The Russell Harty Show’ interview with Peter Davison and Colin Baker. There is also an updated photo gallery on this disc.
‘The Caves of Androzani’ is a classic story that is the finale to Peter Davison’s era of ‘Doctor Who’. It’s well-written by Robert Holmes and brilliantly directed by Graeme Harper. Peter Davison excels as the Doctor, ending his era on a high and it is a little surprise that it’s a highly-rated story by the fans.
Find out what happened to the Fifth Doctor during his regeneration in ‘Circular Time: Winter’.
‘The Caves of Androzani’ rating – 10/10
‘TOMORROW’S TIMES – THE FIFTH DOCTOR’
Please feel free to comment on my review.
‘Tomorrow’s Times – The Fifth Doctor’ is currently available on the ‘Resurrection of the Daleks’ Special Edition DVD.
‘Tomorrow’s Times – The Fifth Doctor’ is presented by Frazer Hines, who played Jamie McCrimmon in ‘Doctor Who’ with Patrick Troughton. It was great to see Frazer Hines as the presenter for this edition of ‘Tomorrow’s Times’. He’s clearly enjoying being the presenter as his enthusiasm shines throughout.
Sadly, I found the ‘Tomorrow’s Times’ edition for the Fifth Doctor era underwhelming. As a fan of the Fifth Doctor era, I felt emphasis was placed on things that weren’t significant as they were reviewed by the press of the time. To start off, there was debate about ‘Doctor Who’ being shown on weekdays instead of Saturdays.
There was a focus on Adric’s demise from the TV series in ‘Earthshock’, but there wasn’t much talked about regarding Tegan, Nyssa and even Turlough as companions. The only thing to stand out for the female companions is how they began to wear revealing outfits which I felt was quite demeaning here.
Colin Baker’s appointment as the new Doctor gets glossed over pretty early during the 20th anniversary celebrations of the show as well as Nicola Bryant as the new companion Peri. Peter Davison also gets interviewed about leaving ‘Doctor Who’ in saying that three years is enough for him.
I did like the tribute given to John Scott Martin who played a Zarbi in ‘The Web Planet’ before playing the Dalek in ‘The Five Doctors’. I was disappointed with how the feature ended with not focusing on Peter Davison’s departure in ‘The Caves of Androzani’. It sort of stops with ‘Resurrection of the Daleks’.
‘Tomorrow’s Times – The Fifth Doctor’ rating – 8/10
‘DOCTOR WHO – THE CAVES OF ANDROZANI’
Please feel free to comment on my review.
Sharaz Jek Comes To The Light
It’s a Terrance Dicks novelization and Peter Davison as the audiobook’s narrator!
I enjoyed reading and listening to the Target novelization/audiobook of ‘The Caves of Androzani’ by Terrance Dicks, based on the final TV story of ‘Doctor Who’ from the Peter Davison era. I found this to be a very faithful novelization of the original TV scripts by Robert Holmes. This I should have expected.
Terrance Dicks of course has delivered plenty of ‘Doctor Who’ Target novelizations over the years. This is not just on his own stories. He also novelized many ‘Doctor Who’ stories based on scripts that were not originally by him, including ‘The Claws of Axos’, ‘The Horns of Nimon’, ‘The Keeper of Traken’, etc.
‘The Caves of Androzani’ novelization is quite a unique case as it’s based on a ‘Doctor Who’ story by a writer Terrance knew pretty well. Terrance of course hired Robert Holmes to write for ‘Doctor Who’ when he submitted his TV scripts for ‘The Krotons’ with Patrick Troughton. A lot has happened since then.
Robert Holmes of course became a prolific writer and the script editor on the TV show, delivering stories like ‘Spearhead From Space’, ‘Terror of the Autons’, ‘Carnival of Monsters’, ‘The Ark In Space’, ‘The Talons of Weng-Chaing’, etc. It’s Robert Holmes’ work in ‘Doctor Who’ that gets high praise by the fans.
Yet for some reason, Robert Holmes never novelized his ‘Doctor Who’ stories for the Target novelization range. At least, not until he novelized ‘The Two Doctors’ in 1985. Holmes did try to novelize ‘The Time Warrior’ for the Target novelization range but he ended just penning the prologue.
It was Terrance Dicks who novelized the rest of ‘The Time Warrior’ novelization as well as lot of Robert Holmes’ work in ‘Doctor Who’ for the Target range. The aforementioned stories ‘Spearhead From Space’, ‘Terror of the Autons’; ‘Carnival of Monsters’ and ‘The Talons of Weng-Chiang’ were in the list.
Terrance also novelized ‘The Sun Makers’ and ‘The Mysterious Planet’ from ‘The Trial of a Time Lord’. Other Robert Holmes ‘Doctor Who’ stories like ‘The Ark In Space’ and ‘The Ribos Operation’ were novelized by Ian Marter who played Harry Sullivan in the TV series. But Terrance Dicks is a special case.
Terrance knew how Robert Holmes’ mindset as a writer worked from the inside-out, having worked with him closely as a colleague and as a friend both as script-editor and fellow writer. So, when it came to novelizing ‘The Caves of Androzani’ for the Target range, Terrance knew what to do in tackling this.
Terrance understood what Robert Holmes wanted to say in his story. He knew how the supporting characters behaved and talked from Holmes’ point of view. Thus, when it came to describing the characters’ corrupt motivations, Terrance knew exactly how to write it down in a prose form for book.
There’s not really much to say in terms of many changes in the transfer from the TV version to the novelization for ‘The Caves of Androzani’. Simply because, Terrance novelized it exactly as it was on TV in providing minor alterations to dialogue and clarifying the Doctor’s journey getting the bats’ milk.
So I won’t be sharing too much in what I found similar and different from the TV version to the novelization form of the story. I’ll be sharing what I enjoyed from reading/listening to the Target novelization/audiobook, especially in how Terrance Dick novelized this and how Peter Davison read it.
The book was published in March 1985. This was about a year after the TV story was transmitted in March 1984. At the time of publication, Colin Baker’s first season of ‘Doctor Who’ was currently underway on TV. It is fascinating to think fans were reading this book whilst Colin’s Doctor was on TV.
The story was divided into 12 chapters as most Terrance Dicks novelizations of ‘Doctor Who’ tend to be. The first three chapters comprise the first episode of the story; the second three comprise the second episode; the third three comprise the third and the fourth three comprise the fourth and final.
I purchased the audiobook for ‘The Caves of Androzani’ novelization as a download from Audible. This is different compared to previous experiences of ‘Doctor Who’ Target audiobooks read by Peter Davison as I have those as 4-disc CDs. ‘The Caves of Androzani’ audiobook was released as a 3-disc CD.
I say that because the audiobook is about 3 hours in length, which is similar to the audiobook length of the ‘Four to Doomsday’ novelization. The previous occasions where I’ve read and listened to ‘Doctor Who’ Target novelization/audiobooks read by Peter Davison were in-depth and pretty chunky.
The novelization for ‘The Caves of Androzani’ is slimmer. This is because Terrance tends to be straight to the point and not as verbose as other writers who novelize ‘Doctor Who’ stories for the Target range. But that’s not a major issue as Terrance’s novelization for this story remains really faithful here.
And yes! Peter Davison, who plays the Fifth Doctor in ‘Doctor Who’ is reading the Target novelization of ‘The Caves of Androzani’. And rightly so! I’m pleased Peter Davison read this story, especially as it’s the final one he did in ‘Doctor Who’; is one of his favourites and is considered one of the best in the TV series.
‘The Caves of Androzani’ is a highly-rated ‘Doctor Who’ story, especially as it won the award for best story ever in the poll rated by the fans for ‘Doctor Who Magazine’ once in 2009. Whilst ‘Black Orchid’ will always be my favourite Fifth Doctor story, I do see why fans rate ‘The Caves of Androzani’ so highly.
It’s also ironic that this is Peter Davison’s favourite ‘Doctor Who’ story as it happens to be his last one. Peter has stated that this was where he felt confident in playing the Doctor and where he found the writing by Robert Holmes to be at its best, especially as he found previous story-writing pretty lacking.
As I said, I’ve heard other ‘Doctor Who’ novelization/audiobooks read by Peter Davison in the past. These include the audiobooks for the ‘Castrovalva’ and ‘Earthshock’ novelizations. I’ve enjoyed Peter’s audiobook readings of those novelizations. I’ve had the CD covers of the audiobooks signed by him. 🙂
Peter is clearly into reading the audiobook for the Target novelization of ‘The Caves of Androzani’, in being his favourite story. He does well voicing for the characters featured in the story as well as reading the descriptions for those scene set-ups, written remarkably well by Terrance Dicks in the novelization.
The voices Peter provides for the characters are interesting. Whilst his voice for the Doctor is fine as well as for characters like Morgus and Stotz, I did find his voice for Peri rather hard to discern. I wonder if Peter struggled to do an American accent for Peri when saying her dialogue during the novelization.
I did like the voice Peter gives for Sharaz Jek in the audiobook, as it sounds scratchy and hissy at times. It’s not a match on Christopher Gable’s interpretation of the character, but it sounded convincing in terms of an almost villainous interpretation. It helps in understanding Sharaz Jek’s motivations in this.
The voice for Morgus by Peter sounds convincingly monotone as John Normington did it in the TV version. You can feel that Morgus isn’t a character that depends on a lot of emotion, as he’s cold-mannered and calculating. He’s not an over-the-top villain as you’d expect in other ‘Doctor Who’ tales.
As you read the novelization/hear the audiobook, you do take an immediate dislike to the supporting characters who are corrupt; greedy and have no sense of moral value. This is especially in the case for General Chellak’s campaign to defeat Sharaz Jek as well as Morgus’ obsession for power and authority.
When the Doctor and Peri are with the real Salateen, you’d think that he would trust and believe the two when they claim innocence and aren’t working for Sharaz Jek. But Salateen takes Peri and abandons the Doctor, as he and Chellak are determined to bring Jek down and gain Sharaz Jek’s spectrox supply.
It does make you wonder why the people of Androzani Major and Minor behave this way in being corrupt and greedy. It doesn’t get handled to get a greater in-depth extent by Terrance, but at least he does well in clarifying the motivations and the thinking behind some of the characters in this story.
This is especially when Morgus gets surprised by the Doctor being alive when he was assumed executed. He becomes convinced it’s part of a conspiracy by the President. This could’ve easily been done in an over-the-top manner in the novelization, but it matches well to the TV version of the scene.
I found the scene where Salateen laughs and reveals to the Doctor and Peri that they’re dying from spectrox toxaemia written differently in novelization form by Terrance Dicks as well as read differently in audiobook form by Peter Davison. It is mainly minor alterations in the presentation of the dialogue.
When the Doctor demands Salateen to tell him what a spectrox nest is, Salateen laughs before the Doctor shakes him to attention in the TV version. Salateen also gives the Doctor a look. This wasn’t featured in the novelization when I read it as well as hearing from Peter as he read it in the audiobook.
Terrance has Salateen getting right into explaining what a spectrox nest is without laughing or giving a look to the Doctor. He also doesn’t have Salateen eating either the Doctor or Peri’s bowl of…gruel, which Terrance has described as very unpleasant in the novelization. I’m sure it was unpleasant to eat.
It’s made clear that Krepler knows who Morgus is after watching him on the telecasts. So it was interesting how Krepler states he doesn’t recognise who Morgus is when on Stotz’s ship. I liked how Terrance clarifies that in the novelization since it was hinted at but not confirmed in the tale’s TV version.
I also like how Peter’s Doctor gets determined to save Peri’s life whilst everyone else is obsessed with getting spectrox for themselves and killing Sharaz Jek. It’s amazing how the supporting characters don’t seem to have any moral values and are pretty greedy for power as well as lasting life from the spectrox.
Like I said, I noticed how different Peter’s journey in getting the bats’ milk for Peri was handled in the novelization compared to the TV version. Terrance details how Peter gains the milk when trying not to wake the queen bat deep inside the caves, which was not very clear when seeing it in the TV version.
The atmosphere for the caves as described in the novelization feels grimy and airless as it should be. I also like how Sharaz Jek does his best to keep the temperature down for Peri to save her life. The tension increases when cooling Peri down with cool air fans and cold wet cloths doesn’t seem to work.
There’s more tension when Sharaz Jek’s attention to Peri gets easily distracted once Morgus enters the room. It seems that Jek’s devotion and infatuation with Peri isn’t enough for him to forget what Morgus did to him as he bitterly has his revenge on him. Just as well as Jek didn’t have Peri in the end.
The regeneration scene at the story’s conclusion is pretty well-handled in the novelization. We get to see through the Doctor’s mind when he’s in limbo, seeing his various companions. He also becomes concerned when he sees Adric’s face who he had assumed was dead and he wonders if he is dead too.
According to the novelization, it seems that it was the Master who prompted the Fifth Doctor to not die and regenerate into the Sixth Doctor. I’m certain there’s more to how the Doctor got prompted to never die, especially when he gained contact with Nyssa via a dream he had in ‘Circular Time: Winter’.
The voice that Peter gives to Colin Baker’s Doctor in the closing moments was interesting. According to the novelization, the new Doctor’s voice sounds clipped. From working and knowing him, Peter provides an interesting take on how Colin sounds when saying the Sixth Doctor’s closing line about ‘change’.
‘The Caves of Androzani’ novelization/audiobook is very good in being well-written by Terrance Dicks and well-read by Peter Davison. There’s not much to say in terms of differences between TV story and novelization, since this is once again a pretty faithful novelization by Terrance on Robert Holmes’ story.
Terrance only enhances the storytelling in the novelization by writing well for the characters faithfully to their TV counterparts as well as writing descriptions for set-ups pretty well. Peter Davison’s reading in the audiobook also provides the very good flavour to make the novelization/audiobook worthwhile.
At the time of this review, I saw Peter Davison recently at the ‘Science of the Time Lords’ event in Leicester, January 2019 before reading and hearing the novelization/audiobook in February 2019. I look forward to when I chat to Peter about doing ‘The Caves of Androzani’ audiobook next time I meet him.
‘Doctor Who – The Caves of Androzani’ rating – 9/10
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Bradley's Basement 
This is simply an outstanding effort, love the pictures & your review & synopsis about the story & characters is wonderfully written & such a enjoyable read.
Loved it.
Nice one Tim.
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Thanks Simon. Very pleased you enjoyed my review on ‘The Caves of Androzani’. Glad you like the pictures and how I describe the story and talk about the characters.
Hope to post some more ‘Doctor Who’ DVD reviews on my blog soon.
Thanks. Tim. 🙂
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One of my top 5 all time favourite Doctor Who’s this story, excellent review on the Target Audiobook Tim, there obviously didn’t need a lot of additional content as the story is strong, Peter’s narration sounds good & obviously he’s enthusiastic in his reading because the story is a DW classic.
Great points you made about the story & love that you’ve referenced Circular Time: Winter it allows people who are unfamiliar with Big Finish to seek out that fantastic audio drama.
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Hi Simon.
Very pleased you enjoyed my review on ‘The Caves of Androzani’ novelization/audiobook.
Yeah not much new was added to the book by Terrance Dicks as he mostly sticks to what’s in the script. But that doesn’t matter as I enjoyed reading/listening to it, especially with Peter Davison narrating in the background. Yeah, clearly Peter’s enthusiastic since this is one of his top favourite ‘Doctor Who’ stories that he did.
I’m pleased you loved my reference to the ‘Circular Time: Winter’ audio drama. I had to include that reference especially as I was thinking about it whilst reading/listening to the novelization/audiobook.
Thanks for your comments, Simon.
Tim. 🙂
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Afternoon Tim.
I have decided to share my thoughts on story here. I have just finished listening to the Target audiobook having already watched the tv version on Britbox earlier this year with the previous two stories. I like the story although I personally feel as though it’s overrated. I found the story to be rather confusing on first viewing although since listening to the audiobook and thinking the story through a bit more, I am able to understand it better. I found it weird that only the female characters survived (unless you count the Sixth Doctor, Adric, Turlough, Kamelion and the Master). However, I think the action sequences were pretty epic and Sharaz Jek’s costume is very well-designed.
Salateen’s performance (apart from the main cast and Jek) stood out for me. I would like to purchase ‘Sink or Swim’ on DVD eventually.
I’d put this story in my favourite top 10 classic series stories with a score of 8/10. This might change if/when I rewatch the story.
I think our discussion of ‘The Keeper of Traken’ is going well so far. I think we should do ‘Black Orchid’ next. I hope we don’t start it before I watch the serial which will probably be in October.
P.s. are you watching the Olympics?
Take care, WF92.
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Hi WF92,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on ‘The Caves of Androzani’. Glad you enjoyed the TV story and its Target audiobook. That’s fair enough. I appreciate you find the story over-rated. I will admit, it’s been a while since I reviewed ‘The Caves of Androzani’ and hopefully by the time the Season 21 Blu-ray box set of ‘Doctor Who’ comes out, I’ll have a chance to update my thoughts and re-evaluate whether I was justified in my rating for it or not. I wonder what the Blu-ray box set will be like with a blend of Peter Davison and Colin Baker’s Doctors on the box set cover. 😀
I hope you’ll get to see ‘Sink or Swim’ with Peter Davison and Robert Glenister. I’ve reviewed it on my blog already based on its DVD release and thoroughly enjoyed it. I’m glad you’re enjoying ‘The Keeper of Traken’ discussion so far. I would like to do something different when it comes to another one of our discussions. Maybe a superhero film next time. But I would like us to discuss ‘Black Orchid’ as that would be fun.
I’m not really into the Olympics, but I have checked the BBC News headlines from time to time to see how it’s going. Hope you’re enjoying them.
Tim. 🙂
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Great review Tim.
It was great to check out ‘The Caves of Androzani’ again, but I still don’t think the story lives up to it’s reputation. Christopher Gable as Sharaz Jek was alright and I was intrigued by his backstory, but his performance could be over-the-top at times I felt. I also struggled to wrap my head around the plot sometimes, but more so the state of affairs surrounding Androzani.
The Fifth Doctor and Peri were the best part of the story and I loved their final scene together, especially all of the Fifth Doctor’s other companions appearing, including Sarah Sutton as Nyssa. I read up that Sarah had chicken pox at the time. It was surreal to see Robert Glenister as Salateen in this, especially after seeing him and Peter Davison in ‘Sink or Swim’. I also liked Maurice Roëves as Stotz. Did you know that the role of Krepler was originally offered to Michael Craze?
My full thoughts on ‘The Caves of Androzani’ will be revealed in my review of it. Later today I will reveal you and Timelord 007’s cameos for my review. Afterwards I will re-watch ‘The Twin Dilemma’ before then getting onto finally watching Season 22.
Take care, WF92.
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Hi WF92,
Thanks for sharing your latest thoughts on ‘The Caves of Androzani’. Interesting you don’t rate it highly as others who’ve rated this as possibly the best story in ‘Doctor Who’. It’s something I have to re-examine when it comes to revisiting my review for the potential Season 21 Blu-ray box set. On a side note, I’m hoping to make a start on updating my Season 22 reviews based on the latest Blu-ray box set with Colin Baker soon.
Yes, Sarah Sutton did have chicken pox when making her cameo appearance in ‘The Caves of Androzani’. Hopefully she was well enough to record her lines for the cameo. Yes, Robert Glenister did work with Peter Davison in ‘Sink or Swim’ and it was after seeing this story I saw the BBC sitcom. I didn’t know Krepler was originally offered to Michael Craze now you mention it.
Looking forward to your review on ‘The Caves of Androzani’ and the cameos you have in mind for me and Timelord007.
Tim 🙂
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The Caves Of Androzani certainly made the point of how far into the 80s the SF of classic Dr. Who was prepared to go. It was the year of The Terminator’s debut and Season 21, along with Resurrection Of The Daleks, would indeed have a lot to compete with in 1984.
I enjoyed this closure for the 5th Doctor and thought it was the best out of all the classic Doctor regenerations, until Colin Baker’s retributive regeneration for Big Finish’s The Last Adventure topped my list in that regard. Looking back on all the classic series regenerations is even more interesting when classic Doctors return in the modern series from Time Crash to The Power Of The Doctor. It’s always good to know that the stars can clearly feel a special connection to this legacy to return and certainly through Big Finish. Tom Baker and Christopher Eccleston waiting until much later on for when the timing felt right was very respectable.
Thank you, Tim, for your review.
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Hi scifimike,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on ‘The Caves of Androzani’ and glad you enjoyed my review. It’s fascinating how far 1980s ‘Doctor Who’ has come along with action-packed drama so far in this story compared to how Season 18 and 19 stories were handled. I’m glad most of the Doctor actors have returned to reprise their roles in some form or other, especially in certain TV specials and through the Big Finish audios. It’ll be interesting to see how the ‘Once and Future’ audio series turns out and whether past Doctors and companions will return for the 60th anniversary specials on TV this year.
Many thanks,
Tim 🙂
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You’re welcome. Also the newest trailer for The Timeless Doctors is on Babelcolour’s YouTube channel and it looks great if you want to check it out.
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Hi scifimike,
Just seen the trailer on YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVW7y6NkVok
Looks pretty exciting and epic.
Many thanks,
Tim 🙂
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“You’re dying.”
To mark an end, it’s best to look at the beginning. In 1980, ‘Doctor Who’ returned from a studio-bound tale of Nimons to a screaming constellation erupting into the viewer’s television screens. Brighton Beach. The Doctor in burgundy-red snoozing in a deck chair. In a matter of minutes, we’re going to be launched into the politics of the Leisure Hive. The sterile refuge of the Argolins who destroyed their world in a twenty-minute atomic war with the Foamasi. Sterility will be a common theme. Sterility and rebirth. Something the programme will grapple with up until “Logopolis”.
With the departure of Tom Baker, Peter Davison assumed the role of the new Doctor. With him, we saw a number of quite startling changes. The brutal death of one travelling companion, the mental attack and disillusionment of another, and even a further traveller who sought to kill the Doctor himself at an enemy’s whim. By this point in his time aboard the TARDIS, the Fifth Doctor has discovered a new fellow traveller, Peri, and sought to take her to the planet Androzani Minor. Part of a passing effort to repair a component aboard the TARDIS. Until, of course, the Doctor’s curiosity gets the better of him…
What follows is one of the best serials of 1980s ‘Doctor Who’. Well-written, well-acted, well-produced and well on its way to becoming a benchmark for storytelling over the next several decades. All the elements presented here, mixed in just the right measure, produce a catalytic reaction that changes ‘Doctor Who’ forever. Proof, if proof were ever needed, that it could do stories like “The Caves of Androzani” with all necessary gravitas. For a regeneration story, it’s fitting that it’s a tale so obsessed with the idea of immortality. Even the name of the central substance, spectrox, sounds like a homophone for “spectre”. The spectre of the end that chases the Doctor across Androzani Minor. Drowned in a mud-slick death.
Screenwriter Robert Holmes hasn’t written for the programme since “The Power of Kroll”. He’s been out of circulation for quite some time, but keeping his pen sharp with entries to series like “Into the Labyrinth”, “Blake’s 7” and “Bergerac”. It would be easy for Holmes to have lost the thread, and yet, the first element he seizes upon is one of the series’ best. The Doctor’s determination and his resolve to prevent the death of his young friend. A friend that, at the time of broadcast, he’d only met yesterday. Every measure is made to make the guest cast compelling, but Holmes never forgets that this is fundamentally a tale about the Doctor and Peri. There is never an opportunity lost for the Time Lord’s verbal rapport. Whether with friend or against foe.
Around the Doctor and Peri are the ‘Dune’-like unstable power structures perpetuated by men like Morgus, Jek, Chellak and Stotz. Each with their own vital part to play in the course of the narrative. We see Morgus’s paranoia as the head of the Sirius Conglomerate, Jek’s manic obsession with his mutilator and former colleague, General Chellak’s two-faced “honour” as a soldier, and Stotz’s more honest, but far more vicious mercenary sadism. The Doctor meets them all. In fact, he only misses out on two cast members, in total. The President and Timmin. The rest of Androzani is mapped out quite explicitly to him.
It’s a story of violent gunrunning, drug smuggling, bittersweet revenge and double-crosses, but “Androzani” never swamps itself with its own material. The template itself is so good that it will be put to excellent use the following year in “Vengeance on Varos” and “Revelation of the Daleks”. Director Graeme Harper will have the opportunity to prove his mettle yet again with the Sixth Doctor’s Dalek story, but his official debut here is certainly nothing to sniff at. It’s an astonishingly avant-garde and modern piece of television. His work on ‘Bergerac’ in 1985/87 will push the visuals of that series to its limit with vivid imagery and blocking of scenes. When Harper is at the helm, magic happens in the production.
But again, this is fundamentally, at its heart, about the Doctor. A final eulogy for Peter Davison as the Time Lord’s fifth incarnation who dies from an honest mistake. As he leaves, we’ll slip into one of the most turbulent periods of the programme. Both on and off-screen. It’s hard to deny, though, “The Caves of Androzani” is 1980s ‘Doctor Who’ at peak performance. An astonishing final product. A rough-and-tumble endurance test for the Doctor’s character and his relevance in the television landscape. He’s passed it today. With a new face and new possibilities for storytelling.
“So you see, I’m not going to let you stop me now!”
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Hi Wolfie,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on ‘The Caves of Androzani’ and why you find it to be a great ‘Doctor Who’ story. I like how this story focuses on Peter Davison’s Doctor’s determination to save Peri’s life. Nowadays, there have been Big Finish audios featuring the Fifth Doctor and Peri, along with Erimem, to showcase their relationship between ‘Planet of Fire’ and ‘The Caves of Androzani’. But as you’ve pointed out, if you take those stories out and just have the TV series in mind, it does feel like the Fifth Doctor has only known Peri for a day (and he didn’t have many scenes with her in ‘Planet of Fire’), yet he’s willing to risk his life and self-sacrifice himself for her against the odds. It illustrates how noble and compassionate the Fifth Doctor is and it harkens back to his determination to not have any of his friends killed following Adric’s death. I look forward to revisiting ‘The Caves of Androzani’ and update my review on the story when it comes to a potential Season 21 Blu-ray box set.
Many thanks for your comments.
Tim 🙂
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