‘THE VISITATION’
Please feel free to comment on my review.
Terileptils and the Great Fire of London
Now we come to the stage where I believe Season 19 to be at its best! We’re now on one of my favourite stories from the Peter Davison era of ‘Doctor Who’! It was the second to be made in production order but the fourth to be shown on TV in the season. It’s ‘The Visitation’ by Eric Saward!
I found this a lovely story with lots of things happening to feature my favourite TARDIS team in ‘Doctor Who’. I was happy from watching this TV adventure, especially with Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor, Janet Fielding as Tegan, Sarah Sutton as Nyssa and Matthew Waterhouse as Adric in it.
This story was originally released on DVD in January 2004. It was eventually repackaged and re-released as a 2-disc Special Edition DVD in May 2013 with the story on Disc 1 and the special features on Disc 2. It’s now a part of the ‘Doctor Who – The Collection – Season 19’ Blu-ray box set.
I must have seen this story plenty of times especially when going through all of its DVD special features like I did with viewing most of the Season 19 stories of ‘Doctor Who’ in 2008. I don’t know what it is about this tale, but there is a certain charm about that always wants me to come back to it.
In the story, the Doctor and his friends visit the planet Earth. The Doctor is still trying to get Tegan back to Heathrow Airport in 1981. But the TARDIS ends up three hundred years too early somewhere in England, 1666. Tegan isn’t particularly happy about it as she wants to get back home.
But the Doctor and his friends have more things to worry about. The TARDIS foursome has arrived during the midst of the Great Plague and there are angry villagers who want to kill the Doctor and his friends. Our heroes soon gain help from the local highwayman and thespian called Richard Mace.
After managing to escape, the Doctor, Nyssa, Tegan, Adric and Richard Mace soon discover that the planet is in terrible danger. The lizard-like Terileptils have come to Earth and they want to cause havoc by spreading a deadly version of the plague. Can our main heroes stop the Terileptils in time?
This four-part story by Eric Saward was his first contribution to the ‘Doctor Who’ series. Eric would later go on to be the script editor for the Peter Davison era as well as for the Colin Baker era. Here he delivers an exciting, intriguing tale about aliens that invade this particular period of Earth history.
It’s interesting that this story was originally going to be called ‘Invasion of the Plague-Men’. Thank goodness that title got changed to ‘The Visitation’. Apparently, this ‘Doctor Who’ story’s title can mean a number of things whether it’d be the Terileptils visiting or the Doctor and his friends visiting.
I did like how this story utilised the historical backdrop of the Great Plague and how it affected society with the Doctor and his friends in danger from the villagers trying to kill them. Soon, the story leads to the Great Fire of London. It becomes a significant event in history as well as in the tale.
‘The Visitation’ is also directed by Peter Moffatt, who makes the story look so lavish with some splendid location work in it as well as fine pace and charisma. Beforehand, Peter Moffatt had directed ‘State of Decay’ with Tom Baker. He would direct more ‘Doctor Who’ TV tales after this one.
I like the ‘Doctor Who’ stories directed by Peter Moffatt and ‘The Visitation’ is one of his finest. Behind-the-scenes, Peter Moffatt was a hit with the cast and crew who enjoyed working with him. Even though Peter’s not a fast-paced sci-fi director, he makes up for it with well-paced action scenes.
Peter Moffatt had also worked with Peter Davison before since he directed episodes of ‘All Creatures Great and Small’ beforehand. So therefore Peter Davison knew what Peter Moffatt was like and the two got on well with each other. It’s ironic they’ve similar surnames spelt differently. 😀
I’ve had the original DVD cover of ‘The Visitation’ signed by Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Sarah Sutton and Matthew Waterhouse at the ‘Project Motor Mouth 2’ convention in Slough, August 2013. I’ve also had the DVD cover signed by Michael Melia, who plays the Terileptil leader in the story, at the ‘Valiant 2015’ convention in Sheffield, March 2015. Having my DVD cover signed by these people makes me glad. 🙂
I’ve also had a lovely photo of Nyssa with some Terileptils from ‘The Visitation’ signed by Sarah Sutton for my birthday at the ‘Stars of Time Film and Comic Con’ in Weston-super-Mare, May 2016. It was nice to have that signed for my birthday by Sarah. We’ve become good friends over the years.
I’m very happy to have met all four actors who were the original Season 19 TARDIS team of ‘Doctor Who’ at conventions over the years, especially at the ‘Project Motor Mouth 2’ convention. I’m extremely pleased to have had a group photo with Matthew, Janet, Sarah and me at the convention.
My first meeting with Peter Davison was in Slough and he was a delight to meet! It was a brief meeting as he was making ‘The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot’ at the time. But I’m glad I met him and told him how much I liked ‘The Visitation’. He liked it when I told him Nyssa was my favourite companion.
I enjoyed Peter Davison’s Doctor in this! He delivers so much energy and enthusiasm as the Doctor, showing concern for his companions when in trouble. He clearly likes Nyssa and it was funny when the Doctor tolerates Tegan’s bossiness in the TARDIS, as he does not understand why she overreacts.
I also first met Janet Fielding in Slough since she organised the ‘Project Motor Mouth 2’ event. I was delighted to meet her. She said “Hiya Tim” to me when we first met. 😀 It was a lovely first meeting and I told Janet how much I enjoyed her in the Big Finish audios of ‘Doctor Who’, to which she liked.
Janet Fielding as Tegan has such vibe and fiery energy. She does moan at a lot I’m afraid, since she’s annoyed and angry with the Doctor for failing to return her to Heathrow Airport. She’s soon in trouble and has a bad time with getting imprisoned and mind-controlled by the Terileptils in the tale.
I’ve seen Sarah Sutton at many conventions. It was lovely to see her at the Slough event in August 2013 and she was happy to see me. I like it when we share friendly banter with each other at conventions. Sarah was glad I liked ‘The Visitation’, especially since she prefers the historical stories.
Sarah Sutton is tremendous as Nyssa. I enjoyed her scenes with the Doctor and when she was building the sonic booster in the TARDIS. She gets to destroy the Terileptil android. I liked it when Nyssa felt sad about destroying the android as this demonstrates her own empathy and compassion.
I’ve also seen Matthew Waterhouse at conventions and it was nice to see him at the Slough event in August 2013 too. Back then, I’d finished reading his insightful memoirs about being in ‘Doctor Who’ called ‘Blue Box Boy’. It’s especially nice to talk to him on his insight in ‘Doctor Who’ at conventions.
I did find Matthew Waterhouse as Adric annoying and underused at times here. He gets scolded by the Doctor, but has an interesting bond with Richard Mace. Adric does feel useless when he can’t help Nyssa in the TARDIS. But at least he gets to fly the TARDIS to save the Doctor, Tegan and Mace.
I was pleased when I discovered Michael Robbins was in this as Richard Mace. Michael Robbins is well known for playing Arthur in the TV sitcom series, ‘On the Buses’ – “What a lot of rot you talk!” Michael Robbins is brilliant, giving a fruity performance that was sometimes hard to take seriously. 🙂
Richard Mace is a roughened, charming highwayman and a ‘once noted thespian’. It was great to see Michael Robbins as Mace have scenes with the Doctor. Mace helps the Doctor and his friends with stopping the Terileptils. Michael Robbins balances the comedy and drama well in Richard Mace here.
The monsters are the lizard-like Terileptils. There are three of them for this story and they range from different colours including red, blue and green. I liked the Terileptils as reptilian monsters. Lizards can often be scary in ‘Doctor Who’. It’s such a shame the Terileptils appeared in one TV story.
Michael Melia (well-known for playing Eddie Royle in ‘EastEnders’) guest stars as the Terileptil Leader. The Terileptil Leader looks amazing in his mask and costume and Michael Melia delivers an astounding performance. I enjoyed chatting to Michael at the ‘Valiant 2015’ convention in Sheffield.
The Terileptils are a race of reptiles that have this obsessive love of art, beauty and war. They are advanced in their technology, keep snazzy-looking androids and breathe a hot atmosphere of soliton gas. They crash-landed on Earth 1666 before taking over a country mansion as a base of operations.
The three Terileptils in this are on the run from the prison planet of Raaga. They want to colonise the Earth by destroying the human race with a deadlier version of the plague, using rats to enhance the infection. The Doctor is appalled by their viciousness, but the Terileptils justify themselves so easily.
I like the Terileptils a lot. The costumes were of the time in the 1980s and they could have looked more agile since they seemed so rigid on screen. I hope the Terileptils will return to ‘Doctor Who’ someday on TV or audio. They have had mentions in the new TV series of ‘Doctor Who’, so why not?
The Terileptil Leader keeps a snazzy-looking android that works for him at the mansion. The android is meant to be a thing of beauty, but it didn’t quite turn out to be what writer Eric Saward had envisaged. It looks too ‘discotheque’, having plenty of diamonds and crystals all over the body work.
The android should have been more human in appearance, as it looks more like a robot instead of an android. But appearances aside, the android does a good job in scaring the villagers when it dresses up as the Grim Reaper. It gives the Terileptils the advantage in getting what they want on the Earth.
The sonic screwdriver gets destroyed in this story. I was shocked as much as the Doctor was. The producer John Nathan-Turner didn’t like the sonic screwdriver and neither did Eric Saward. For this TV adventure, it decided to get rid of the sonic screwdriver. It would not return until ‘The TV Movie’!
I felt for the Doctor when he was helpless and he had to drop his sonic screwdriver to the floor when the Terileptil Leader saw him. The Terileptil Leader destroys the sonic screwdriver and it bursts into flames. I couldn’t believe it! They can’t destroy the sonic screwdriver! I felt they ‘killed an old friend’. 😀
In the end, it turns out it was the Doctor who had caused the Great Fire of London when he and his friends tried to stop the Terileptils’ diabolical plans. This was something that appealed to Peter Davison when he read the script, since he enjoyed the Doctor meddling with history unintentionally.
I did like how this story ended with the Doctor and his friends in the TARDIS. Tegan, Nyssa and Adric are concerned but the Doctor believes the fire to run its course. We then see Pudding Lane getting caught up in flames and we then have that familiar ‘Doctor Who’ theme music echoing at the end. 😀
The original DVD special features were as follows. There were film trims of the story and the ‘Directing Who – Peter Moffatt’ interview where he looks back on the ‘Doctor Who’ stories that he directed in the series. There was also the ‘Writing A Final Visitation’ interview with writer Eric Saward and the ‘Scoring The Visitation’ interview with composer Paddy Kingsland, conducted by Mark Ayres. There was a photo gallery of the story and an info-text commentary option to enjoy. There was also a mono sound audio mix option for the story; a DVD audio commentary with Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Sarah Sutton, Matthew Waterhouse and director Peter Moffatt as well as an isolated music option by Paddy Kingsland. There was also an Easter Egg that contained BBC trailers and continuity announcements for ‘The Visitation’.
There was the making-of documentary, ‘Grim Tales’, with cast and crew interviews; ‘The Television Centre of the Universe – Part 1’ documentary and the ‘Doctor Forever!’ documentary called ‘The Apocalypse Element’ that looks into the ‘Doctor Who’ audio adventures including BBC and Big Finish. There were also PDF materials including a ‘Radio Times Listings’ PDF of the story and a ‘BBC Enterprises Sales Sheet’. There was also a ‘coming soon’ DVD trailer for the 2-disc Special Edition DVD of ‘Inferno’ with Jon Pertwee, Caroline John and Nicholas Courtney.
On Disc 4 of the ‘Doctor Who – The Collection – Season 19’ Blu-ray, the ‘Directing Who – Peter Moffatt’ interview; the ‘Writing A Final Visitation’ interview; the ‘Scoring The Visitation’ interview; the mono sound audio mix option for the story; the DVD audio commentary; the isolated music option; the ‘Grim Tales’ making-of documentary and the ‘Radio Times Listings’ PDF can be found on there. The film trims (with studio footage); the info-text commentary option; the photo gallery and the BBC trailers and continuity announcements for ‘The Visitation’ have been updated for 2018 on the Blu-ray.
The new special features on Blu-ray include the ‘Behind the Sofa’ feature on ‘The Visitation’ with Peter Davison (the Fifth Doctor); Sarah Sutton (Nyssa); Janet Fielding (Tegan) and Matthew Waterhouse (Adric) as well as Mark Strickson (Turlough) and Sophie Aldred (Ace). There’s also the ‘coming soon’ DVD trailer for ‘Black Orchid’ with Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Sarah Sutton and Matthew Waterhouse.
On the PDF front, as well as the ‘Radio Times Listings’ of the story, there are also production documents and scripts for the story. You need a special Blu-ray computer drive for that. The ‘BBC Enterprises Sales Sheet’ PDF isn’t included. ‘The Television Centre of the Universe – Part 1’ documentary and the ‘Doctor Forever!’ documentary ‘The Apocalypse Element’ aren’t included on ‘The Visitation’ Blu-ray disc for the Season 19 Blu-ray box set either.
‘The Visitation’ is a fabulous ‘Doctor Who’ story from the Peter Davison era. It’s one of my favourites as it contains a comedic feel in a historical period setting. I also like the Fifth Doctor, Nyssa, Tegan and Adric and I’m glad that I’ve met all four actors who played their TARDIS characters in this series.
I also enjoyed the Terileptils and found them an interesting race of ‘Doctor Who’ monsters. Michael Robbins also delivers a splendid performance as Richard Mace in this adventure! I was looking forward to seeing more of the Season 19 TARDIS team of ‘Doctor Who’ after seeing ‘The Visitation’!
‘The Visitation’ rating – 9/10
GRIM TALES
I’ve been lucky over the years to attend ‘Doctor Who’ conventions and see my favourite stars from the TV series, including Sarah Sutton, Peter Davison, Janet Fielding and Mark Strickson. So I got a tingle of excitement and nervousness watching the 45-minute ‘Grim Tales’ making-of documentary on DVD.
This was of course included on the 2-disc Special Edition DVD of ‘The Visitation’ released in 2013 during the 50th anniversary of ‘Doctor Who’. I know that purchasing ‘The Visitation’ Special Edition DVD just for that making-of documentary sounds ridiculous, but with Sarah Sutton appearing in it, I’d buy it. 😀 Of course it’s available to watch on the ‘Doctor Who – The Collection – Season 19’ Blu-ray!
‘Grim Tales’ is unique as a making-of documentary. It has Mark Strickson (who plays Turlough in ‘Doctor Who’) guiding Peter Davison, Sarah Sutton and Janet Fielding as they look back on the making of this story. They do this by revisiting the filming locations used in ‘The Visitation’, which was so exciting.
They revisited Black Park in Buckinghamshire and ended up at the manor house in Tithe Barn in Berkshire where they had a celebratory ‘Visitation’ cake. Sadly Matthew Waterhouse wasn’t able to attend for this making-of documentary, but still Peter, Sarah and Janet ‘amusingly’ remembered him.
It was exciting to hear Peter, Sarah and Janet recount their memories on making ‘The Visitation’, including Michael Melia as the Terileptil and Michael Robbins as Richard Mace. There were moments of humourous quips between the group as well as fond, happy memories of working with each other.
There were inserts of interviews with other cast and crew members who worked on ‘The Visitation’ during the Peter, Sarah, Janet and Mark bits. These include Michael Melia; Peter Van Dissel who played the Android; writer Eric Saward; designer Ken Starkey; costume designer Odile Dick-Mireaux; etc.
Revisiting ‘The Visitation’ in ‘Grim Tales’ with Peter Davison, Sarah Sutton and Janet Fielding, moderated by Mark Strickson, was a joy for me to see. It’s surreal for me to have met these actors in real-life and watch them share their memories of making this story whilst revisiting the filming locations.
The ‘Grim Tales’ making-of documentary of course became popular on ‘The Visitation’ DVD and the approach to have Mark Strickson as a host with the cast members was re-used again for the Season 19 Blu-ray box set. It was used for the ‘Time Trap’ making-of documentary for ‘Castrovalva’ and the ‘Double Trouble’ making-of documentary for ‘Black Orchid’ where Mark Strickson guides Peter Davison, Sarah Sutton, Janet Fielding and Matthew Waterhouse to recount making these stories. 😀
‘DOCTOR WHO AND THE VISITATION’
Please feel free to comment on my review.
How Terileptils Work In A Book
I enjoyed the Target novelization/audiobook of ‘Doctor Who and the Visitation’ by Eric Saward!
It was fun to read the Target novelization with the audiobook narrated by Matthew Waterhouse in the background. Saying that, I feel that this isn’t one of the best ‘Doctor Who’ novelizations/audiobooks I’ve read/heard. I was hoping to discover more about this amazing story!
Surprisingly, the ‘Doctor Who and the Visitation’ audiobook is a 3-disc set. This is rather unusual as ‘Doctor Who’ audiobooks are normally 4 or 5 discs on CD. This is because Eric’s novelization is slim and isn’t expansive as the novelizations/audiobooks of ‘Logopolis’; ‘Castrovalva’ and ‘Earthshock’.
The book is based on the original TV story, ‘The Visitation’, with Peter Davison’s Doctor, Nyssa, Tegan and Adric. It’s one of my favourite TV stories featuring the Terileptils and the Great Fire of London. I wanted to explore more of this story and I hoped the Target novelization/audiobook would provide that.
I purchased the Target novelization of ‘The Visitation’ at the ‘Stars of Time’ event in Weston-super-Mare, July 2012. I didn’t read the book until I purchased the audiobook. It was a treat to read the book and listen to the audio at the same time and note the differences between the TV story and the novel.
The novelization is divided into 11 chapters and was published in 1982 after the TV story was transmitted. This is unusual as ‘Doctor Who’ novelizations by Terrance Dicks are divided into 12 chapters with 3 chapters for each of the four episodes. Eric Saward didn’t do that for this novelization.
Eric Saward novelized ‘The Visitation’ with a few changes. He more or less sticks to what was in the original TV story, though he compressed scenes to a minimum in each chapter. He’s removed all of the cliff-hangers and it’s probably why the novelization is shorter to make it for a 3-disc set rather than a 4-disc set.
But Eric manages to add some additional descriptions for certain scenes. This includes having the beginning of the story from a fox’s perspective for the Terileptil ship crash-landing to Earth. He also removes the ‘Kinda’ links at the beginning since he didn’t like including them when writing the story for TV.
The four TARDIS regulars are well-written by Eric Saward in the book. The Doctor, Nyssa, Tegan and Adric are as they were in the TV story, although Eric has improved some of their dialogue when the characters interact with each other. The action scenes are also balanced with the characters in them.
I liked the change that Eric makes in the novelization with Nyssa and Adric’s exchange in the TARDIS. Instead of having Adric abruptly leave Nyssa to go out and search for Tegan and the Doctor, Nyssa gives Adric a homing device before going out. I wish that was shown in the original TV story.
Matthew Waterhouse (who played Adric in the TV series and who I’ve met at conventions) is a very good narrator. Matthew is no stranger to audio, since he’s done Big Finish audios for the ‘Dark Shadows’ series. He has also returned to ‘Doctor Who’ playing Adric first in ‘The Fifth Doctor Box Set’.
Here, Matthew brings the story and the characters of ‘The Visitation’ to life on audio. As Matthew knows Peter, Sarah and Janet very well, he’s able to articulate their voices for their characters. He manages to keep the reader/listener engaged throughout, especially for this 3-disc set of a slim novelisation.
I liked how Richard Mace is handled in the novelization. Eric didn’t like how Richard Mace was portrayed by Michael Robbins in the TV story. Over the years, Eric has changed his mind about the performance and for me I couldn’t help but think of Michael Robbins as Mace when reading the book.
I liked how Matthew Waterhouse does the voice for Mace in the audiobook. I’ve discovered that Matthew read the book without having Michael Robbins’ performance in mind. This rather shocked me as I initially thought Matthew was doing a Michael Robbins version of Mace in the audiobook.
I was hoping to explore more of the Terileptils and their background in the novelization. Sadly this wasn’t provided and it’s a shame as Eric Saward could have given more details about them, including having names for them. Matthew does well with the voices for the Terileptils by giving them hissing tones.
There is one change from TV to book and that is that the mansion’s cellar being illuminated with vintravic crystals. This wasn’t in the TV story as the cellar was gloomy on TV compared to the Terileptils’ control room. I wondered why that was the case since it makes the scene visually different.
This change shifts the dialogue that the Doctor had about vintravic crystals to Mace. The dialogue is put into the cellar scene instead of the escape pod scene that occurs later with the Doctor, Nyssa and Mace. I’m unsure which is more effective to have the vintravic crystals dialogue in the cellar or in the escape pod.
Eric Saward’s love for history is well-demonstrated in the book with the opening scenes and the details of the Great Plague. The descriptions of the villagers’ hostility towards strangers are very well-written. The urgency of threat from the plague is well-emphasised, especially when the Terileptils enhance the infection.
The build-up and the reveal of the Great Fire of London is well-handled. Eric doesn’t reveal the location of Pudding Lane until the very end. This provides readers the hint that this was where the Great Fire started. The climax between the Doctor and his friends against the Terileptils is well-written.
I did enjoy reading and listening to ‘Doctor Who and the Visitation’. It’s a nice if slim novelisation of the TV story. I wish that more could’ve been delved into with the Terileptils, but Eric Saward writes well and is straight to the point. I also enjoyed Matthew Waterhouse’s narration of the story in the audiobook.
If you want more of the Fifth Doctor, Nyssa, Tegan and Adric in a novelisation/audiobook with character development, check out ‘Doctor Who – Black Orchid’. That’s a brilliant audiobook to check out and enjoy! 🙂
‘Doctor Who and the Visitation’ rating – 6/10
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Bradley's Basement 
Brilliant review of one of my favourite Fifth Doctor stories, i remember watching this at my nans like it was yesterday eating sausage & chips with a glass of cola.
I like how you added the novelization & the minor changes the novels includes but as you say there’s very little differences here compared to other Target novelizations.
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Hello Timelord Simon.
Very pleased you enjoyed my review on ‘The Visitation’. Glad it’s one of your favourite Fifth Doctor stories and that you have fond memories of watching it with your nan back when it was on TV. Hmm. Sausages; chips and coke is a delicious meal to have when watching ‘Doctor Who’, isn’t it? 😀
I’m glad you like my review on the Target novelization/audiobook of ‘The Visitation’. I wished that Eric Saward had delved deeper into his story when novelizing his first ‘Doctor Who’ story into prose. But then I suppose with the hard work he got being script editor on the series, he didn’t have the chance to fully explore the story that he could have done. I would have liked more development on the Terileptils in the book. He does very well in exploring the historical aspects of the story which are his strong-point in writing I think.
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but in my photo gallery, I’ve added a new photo of Nyssa in ‘The Visitation’ signed by Sarah Sutton. I had this from Sarah when I saw her recently at the ‘Stars of Time’ convention last weekend on Saturday. She signed it with ‘Happy Birthday’ to me on it! That was very nice of her to do that for me, hey?
Thanks again for your comments, Simon. Glad you enjoyed my review on ‘The Visitation’, both on the TV story and the novelization/audiobook.
Tim. 🙂
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I understood that “Terileptil” is supposed to be a contraction of “territorial reptile”. This was a trait common for most reptile beings in Dr. Who like the Silurians, Sea Devils and Ice Warriors, and in other SF like the Gorns in Star Trek and the Dracs in Enemy Mine.
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Hi scifimike,
I think reptile/lizard monsters are very popular in sci-fi. I’ve certainly done my own lizard/reptile monsters in the Vegrons, who I introduced in my first ‘Doctor Who’ story ‘The Railway of Time’ and in one of my Short Trip stories ‘Brain and Heart’. I’ve had them be enemies of the Terileptils too, since the Vegrons have similarities in terms of owning braclet technology like the Terileptils. 😀
Thanks,
Tim 🙂
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When I wrote a Dr. Who fan fiction story called Continuum City, which was led by a regenerated Susan and a male companion in her own TARDIS adventures, I had my own version of the Terrible Zodin as a cybernetic reptilian. As a villain, my version of her was pretty much a caricature and it was before learning who the actual Zodin was from book reviews.
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Hi scifimike,
Ah, that’s interesting. ‘Continuum City’ sounds fascinating with Susan having her own TARDIS and male companion as well as fighting off the Terrible Zodin. Have you shared that story online anywhere for people to check it out?
Many thanks,
Tim 🙂
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It’s on The View From The Junkyard.
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Hi scifimike,
Ah, thanks for letting me know.
Tim 🙂
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Great blu ray review, I’m loving this nostalgia trip back to 1982, I wish you could have experienced this series on original transmission for me this season stands out because of it being shown Monday/Tuesdays when I’d be at my nans, eating either sauage & chips or burger and chips with a drink of limeade Corona pop in one litre bottles from the pop man, I’d be there eating my tea engrossed on the stories I was on my own in nans lounge in dark terrified watching it on a Black & White tv while everyone else in kitchen, it was a fun kinda scary.
Arh those were the days Tim.
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Hi Simon.
Very pleased you enjoyed my updated Blu-ray review on ‘The Visitation’.
I’m glad you’re enjoying the nostalgia trip I’m giving you back to 1982. I too would’ve liked to have experienced Season 19 of ‘Doctor Who’ on TV back in the day as I’m sure I would’ve been excited enjoying the adventures of the Fifth Doctor, Nyssa, Tegan and Adric week in and week out on Mondays and Tuesdays. Those meals of sausages, burgers and chips sound delicious. 😀 I’ve had my own experience of enjoying Series 11 of ‘Doctor Who’ by watching the episodes on BBC iPlayer with meals of Dominio’s Pizza to accompany the experience. Yummy!
Many thanks for sharing your memories of watching Season 19 of ‘Doctor Who’ back on TV in 1982, Simon.
Tim. 🙂
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Great review Tim.
I enjoyed this story. It was quite tense, more so than any other ‘Doctor Who’ story I’ve seen. The opening scene was quite horrific and the Terileptils are quite a menacing race of villains. I’ve seen ‘On the Buses’ as well and Michael Robbins put in a great performance as Richard Mace. The destruction of the sonic screwdriver was shocking to see as was the reveal of Pudding Lane.
I must say that I have to disagree with some of your points. I didn’t find Tegan to be fiery and after her little outburst she did at the beginning, she apologised to the Doctor, even if she did complain afterwards. Also if you noticed, Nyssa often stood up for Tegan in this story such as after her outburst and when the Doctor said “You’re starting to sound like Tegan,” to which Nyssa replied “I’m beginning to understand how she feels.” That kinda goes against your view of the Doctor liking Nyssa. The Doctor was also a bit ungrateful when Adric and Nyssa managed to land the Tardis as the Squire’s house.
You might know a bit more about Tegan’s backstory than I do, but I’ve been thinking. Maybe there’s a reason Tegan acts the way she does. Maybe she had a bad childhood. If we ever do a ‘Strange Love’ discussion on ‘Logopolis’ and Season 19, you, me, Timelord007 and Wolfie could discuss that in more detail.
The story was great nonetheless and I also enjoyed reading ‘The Dark River’. Did this story inspire you to write ‘The Stockbridge Terror’? I can see a few similarities between the two stories.
Take care, WF92. 😃
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Hi WF92,
Glad you enjoyed my review on ‘The Visitation’. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the story. The Terileptils are a great set of ‘Doctor Who’ monsters. I wish they would come back to appear in the TV series and/or the Big Finish audios. Michael Robbins is great as Richard Mace. The destruction of the sonic screwdriver was shocking to see and it was great to see the reveal of the Great Fire of London happening in Pudding Lane.
Sorry to hear you disagree with some of my points in the review. Maybe I’m seeing Tegan differently compared to how you see her and yes she does have her good moments in the story such as apologising to the Doctor after her outburst in the TARDIS. I just feel she’s handled well in the Big Finish audios compared to the TV series, since the character progression for her can be inconsistent at times in the TV series (as is often the case with certain ‘Doctor Who’ companions of the 1980s). At least Tegan is nicer and friendlier by the time we get to ‘Black Orchid’, which I would have liked to have seen more in the TV series. I also sympathise more with how Peter Davison’s Doctor views companions as he prefers Nyssa over Tegan considering Nyssa is more supportive, loyal and friendly compared to Tegan.
Yeah, there might be more to Tegan’s backstory and how she grew up before she met the Doctor. I think it has been touched upon in ‘The Gathering’ (I might be wrong there). We can certainly discuss it when it comes to looking at ‘Logopolis’ for a future ‘Bradley’s Basement Strange Love’ discussion. We’ll have to see what happens.
I actually wrote ‘The Stockbridge Terror’ before reading ‘The Dark River’. Really? I can’t see any similarities between ‘The Stockbridge Terror’ and ‘The Dark River’. Mind you, I haven’t the story in a while, though Matthew Waterhouse is a good writer and writes well for Nyssa and Adric.
Many thanks for your comments.
Tim. 🙂
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Hi Tim.
When is said did this story inspire you, I meant ‘The Visitation’ not ‘The Dark River’. Sorry, I should have been clearer.
I’ll be listening to ‘Warzone’ tomorrow and share my thoughts on it. I’ll also explain more in terms of my fanfics and Michael as a character and what I have planned for him.
Take care, WF92. 😃
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Hi WF92,
Ah I see! Yes, I suppose ‘The Visitation’ did inspire me in a way when writing ‘The Stockbridge Terror’. I’m sure I watched it along with hearing ‘Circular Time’, ‘Castle of Fear’, ‘The Eternal Summer’ and ‘Plague of the Daleks’ as well as reading the comic stories ‘The Tides of Time’, ‘Stars Fell on Stockbridge’ and ‘The Stockbridge Horror’ whilst writing the story.
Hope you enjoy ‘Warzone’ tomorrow. Look forward to hearing your thoughts on it as well as what you have in mind for your stories and Michael as a character.
Many thanks,
Tim 🙂
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Dr. Who finally returning to period pieces after so long starting with The Visitation was off to a good start. I like the simplicities of the story as a contrast that it refreshingly was in that sense after Four To Doomsday and Kinda. And I had much appreciation for how the Terileptils had been made reasonably sympathetic as villains which was a fitting departure from most other Dr. Who monsters. Even though I didn’t buy it, I’m glad that The Visitation had a special DVD edition for Dr. Who’s 50th Anniversary. Thank you, Tim, for your review.
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Hi scifimike,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on ‘The Visitation’ and glad you enjoyed my review. I rank ‘The Visitation’ as one of my favourite ‘Doctor Who’ stories featuring the Fifth Doctor, Nyssa, Tegan and Adric. The Terileptils are one of my favourite set of ‘Doctor Who’ monsters, even though they appeared in only one story on TV and there’s like three of them with Michael Melia being the main talking one. I’ve written the Terileptils in ‘The Scavenger Station’ episode in ‘The Coins of Deno’ and I’ve yet to share a ‘Doctor Who’ story called ‘Terileptils’ Revenge’. 😀
Many thanks,
Tim 🙂
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“The Visitation” might just be my favourite of this season. In stiff competition with “Kinda”. It increased in its viewership, episode by episode, during that first broadcast and you can quickly see why.
It’s the first pseudo-historical since… Oh, wow, “Horror of Fang Rock” (1977), I think. It’s been a while since we’ve been here. Curiously, in a season that’s taking homage from the past, “The Visitation” feels like something of a tonal turning point for the Fifth Doctor. Forward.
Something has changed in the character dynamics since everything that happened on Deva Loka. We are no longer in the Christopher H. Bidmead vision of the show where high-technology and puzzle-solving are the saviours of the day. The Doctor has lost his patience with being treated like a fool. Adric is deeply anxious about how powerless he feels. Nyssa has begun to adopt a warier approach to her interactions with others. And Tegan has begun to find a new equilibrium, to coin a phrase, her still point. The occasional lapses into panic from “Castrovalva” or “Four to Doomsday” among this team are gone. And it all comes into focus when they step out of the TARDIS into Heathrow, 1666.
A note on the TARDIS sequence before that, actually… For a season that will become lauded for how bravely it chose to kill a companion, it feels odd how off-hand Tegan’s trauma from “Kinda” is treated. It’s very much a problem down to the production order. Everyone’s reactions don’t quite ring true to the events we saw on Deva Loka. Tegan was badly hurt — manipulated, tortured and assaulted by the Mara — so her breakdown reads quite easily as a result of that possession. The Doctor, in particular, comes across as rather callous (“Why does she always overreact?”).
The meat of the story itself, however, uses its elements quite effectively. Richard Mace stands out as another in the menagerie of pseudo-companions the Doctor begins to collect at this point. Mergrave, Bigon, Todd and, later, Lieutenant Scott. He wanders into “The Visitation” as though the Doctor and company were guest stars in his series and it works quite effectively. Two differing views of the Universe — one astral, the other terrestrial — clashing with one another over very fundamental concepts. Alien life, bravery, superstition, etc.
“The Visitation” may also be one of Eric Saward’s wittiest scripts. It’s filled with some excellent lines for all the characters. “So much pride in something so stupid!” snarls the Terileptil Leader. Tegan’s response to her clothes being artificially manufactured: “You’ll have to ask my tailor about that.” And the Doctor’s lament of Mace’s prideful ignorance: “Why are Earthlings so parochial?” Saward’s work on “The Twin Dilemma” contains similar unexpected gems (In response to being called unreliable, the Doctor smiles, “So is most currency, doesn’t stop people from spending money wisely.”).
In the rush to capitalise on the success of “Earthshock”, I wish more than a glance back had been spared for “The Visitation”. There were a lot of really nice lessons that could have been learnt from it.
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Hi Wolfie,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on ‘The Visitation’. I’m pleased this is your favourite story out of Season 19. It’s one of my favourites too. I prefer this over ‘Earthshock’, especially in terms of how witty it is by Eric Saward and how settled the Fifth Doctor, Nyssa, Tegan and Adric are as characters by this point. Which is quite ironic, as you rightly point out in terms of the production order of this season, with ‘Four to Doomsday’ being made first, then ‘The Visitation’, then ‘Kinda’, then ‘Castrovalva’ and the rest that followed.
I agree, it would have been nice if more focus was dealt with in terms of Tegan’s reaction to the Mara after the events of ‘Kinda’ in ‘The Visitation’. It’s improved upon briefly in ‘Mawdryn Undead’ where Tegan’s trauma after ‘Snakedance’ is touched upon, but it’s like in only one scene. Thankfully, ‘Goth Opera’ touched more on that aftermath for Tegan following ‘Snakedance’ and I hope the case will be the same when it comes to checking out the ‘Pursuit of the Nightjar’ audio later this year.
Going back to ‘The Visitation’, I enjoyed the Fifth Doctor, Nyssa, Tegan and Adric getting to team up with Michael Robbins as Richard Mace. I would like to do a Fifth Doctor, Nyssa and Billy story where the Doctor and Nyssa reunite with Mace and Billy meets him for the first time. Same with Captain Stapley, Bilton and Scobie from ‘Time-Flight’. Hopefully, when inspiration comes, I’ll get the chance to write those stories someday.
Many thanks for your comments.
Tim 🙂
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Michael Robbins as Richard Mace certainly proved how the most expressive guest characters would spice up classic Dr. Who’s final decade on TV. Any spinoff potential for Mace is imaginable depending on how the cosmic influences would choose to continue his own adventures.
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Hi scifimike,
I greatly enjoyed Michael Robbins as Richard Mace in this ‘Doctor Who’ story, especially after enjoying him as Arthur in ‘On the Buses’ and Mr Bulstrode in an episode of ‘The Good Life’ called ‘Whose Fleas Are These?’ (The episode is about fleas. Interesting coincidence. Could Bulstrode be a descendant of Richard Mace? 😀 ).
I would love it if there was a spin-off series featuring Richard Mace. I have considered writing a ‘Doctor Who’ story featuring the Fifth Doctor, Nyssa and Billy meeting up with Richard Mace. How one would go about it is another matter though. I would have to research what happened after Puddiing Lane in 1666.
Many thanks for your comments.
Tim 🙂
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Hi Tim,
I thought I’d have another read of this review. I can’t remember how good ‘The Visitation’ was from when I first watched it. I’d have to rewatch it into order to come to that decision, I don’t when that will be though.
I liked Richard Mace as a character. As for Tegan, I agree with Wolfie’s point about her outburst. And apart from that, I don’t think Tegan was as bad as your point about her in this review suggests. And actually, the Doctor did seem overly critical of her at times. I’d debate the Doctor liking Nyssa in this story because she managed to bring the Tardis to him, and he was rude and ungrateful towards her, all because he wanted a walk in the countryside.
On a side-note, I have a question to ask about ‘Madquake’. I should have been a bit clearer when asking about the conflict between Nyssa and Tegan. When you said you liked it Nyssa berated Tegan for being unreasonable, what would you have said if it was the other way around? Would you have said the same thing, or would you have said Tegan was being unfair to Nyssa?
But all of that aside, it’s nice that Season 20 is coming out on Blu-Ray tomorrow. I’m going to wait until my birthday to get it. 😀
Take care, Xavier.
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Hi Xav,
Thanks for sharing more insight into ‘The Visitation’. I still have high regard for this ‘Doctor Who’ story. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it when you watch it again. Yes, Richard Mace is a great character in the story. Again, due to the nature of the stories in Season 19 being made out of order with ‘The Visitation’ recorded before ‘Kinda’, it’s a shame that Tegan’s trauma with the Mara from ‘Kinda’ wasn’t explored enough in ‘The Visitation’. I’m glad it was touched upon and in a better way in ‘Mawdryn Undead’ when Tegan was still recovering from her ordeal with the Mara in ‘Snakedance’. Correction: it was Adric who brought the TARDIS to the Doctor, Tegan and Mace in the manor house, not Nyssa. And the Doctor seemed to be at least impressed with Nyssa’s efforts in disabling the android in the TARDIS.
Regarding ‘Madquake’, if I was in the same room as Nyssa and Tegan, maybe I would have sided with Nyssa and told Tegan she was being unreasonable, but tried to be diplomatic and referree between the two women. On reflection, it’s likely the script-writing would have been handled differently if I was in charge. I would have had the Fifth Doctor, Nyssa, Tegan and Marc story arc go in a different direction where Five didn’t drop his companions somewhere on an alien planet and left them behind. Or if I did do that, I would have had Nyssa and Tegan written better – perhaps Nyssa would be more diplomatic towards Tegan and not snap at her. She would have handled things with Marc in a calming manner and not tried to push things. At the time of listening to the story, I didn’t mind how Nyssa was written as a character. But again, different writers have different interpretations on how characters like Nyssa and Tegan should be written and Guy Adams is one of them. I enjoy how different writers interpret these characters. There are exceptions like Andrew Cartmel and Russell T. Davies (though to be fair, there was no dialogue between Nyssa and Tegan in ‘Farewell, Sarah Jane’), but it fascinates me how writers handle these ‘Doctor Who’ companions differently and it’s intriguing to reflect how my writing of them in my stories matches to other writers’ handling of them.
Looking forward to recieving my copy of Season 20 on Blu-ray too. I’ve had the dispatch e-mail from Amazon. Hopefully it’ll arrive by post tomorrow.
Many thanks for your comments.
Tim 🙂
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Hi Tim,
Thank you for your reply, as well as the correction. I still feel the Doctor was rather ungrateful, but if he complemented Nyssa on destroying the Android, that’s cool. 😀
Thanks for sharing your insight into how you would write for Nyssa and Tegan. Also, I’d didn’t know that Andrew Cartmel wrote for them once.
Hopefully I’ll have seen the special editions of ‘Enlightenment’ and ‘The Five Doctors’ before I get Season 20 on Blu-Ray. I still need to continue watching Seasons 22 and 2 on Blu-Ray as well.
Xavier
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Hi Xav,
Actually, Andrew Cartmel didn’t write for Nyssa and Tegan. He just wrote for Nyssa with the Fifth Doctor in one of the early Big Finish audios called ‘Winter For The Adept’. I’ll let you check it out to find out what it’s like.
I look forward to your thoughts on the special editions of ‘Enlightenment’ and ‘The Five Doctors’ soon.
Best wishes,
Tim 🙂
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Hi Tim,
Oh yes, I forgot about ‘Winter for the Adept’. 😄
Xavier
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Hi Xav,
No worries. Hope you find that an interesting audio experience featuring the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa.
Tim 🙂
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