"Doctor Who" Enlightenment: Part 1 (1983)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Fiona Cumming

Writer:

Barbara Clegg (writer)

TV Series:

"Doctor Who" (1963)

Original Air Date:

1 March 1983 (Season 20, Episode 17)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

Plot:

The Doctor is in a race with the clairvoyant Eternals for the prize. When the Black Guardian appears, though, the Doctor is suddenly in a race for his life!

Plot Keywords:

Australian | Time Lord | Alien | Renegade | Companion

Cast

Peter Davison	...	The Doctor
Janet Fielding	...	Tegan Jovanka
Mark Strickson	...	Turlough
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Keith Barron	...	Captain Striker
Christopher Brown	...	Marriner
Tony Caunter	...	Jackson
Valentine Dyall	...	Black Guardian
Clive Kneller	...	Collier
Cyril Luckham	...	The White Guardian
James McClure	...	First Officer

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Trivia:

David Rhule was cast as Mansell and attended the first day of rehearsal, however a strike at the BBC changed the recording dates, and he had to withdraw his services.

Quotes:

The White Guardian: [Speaking of the Black Guardian.] Be vigilant, Doctor. Once you denied him the Key to Time, now you have thwarted him again. He will be waiting for the third encounter, and his power does not diminish.... While I exist, he exists also... until we are no longer needed.

For me far & away the best of the 'Guardian Trilogy'.

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Doctor Who: Enlightenment: Part One starts aboard the TARDIS with Turlough (Mark Strickson) & Tegan (Janet Fielding) playing chess while the Doctor (Peter Davison) is busily trying to discover what is responsible for a power drain. Soon it turns out that the White Guardian (Cyril Luckham) has been using power from the TARDIS to project himself & send the Doctor a message, soon after the White Guardian fades away & disappears as the TARDIS materialises aboard what the Doctor first thinks is an Edwardian racing yacht. However while exploring with Turlough several things make no sense like the crew men who have no knowledge of boarding the ship & all the futuristic electronics in the wheel room...

Episode 17 from season 20 this originally aired here in the UK during March 1983 & is the start of the third & final part of the Guardian Trilogy following the equally terrible stories Mawdryn Undead (1983) & Terminus (1983), the fifth story from Peter Davison's second season playing the Doctor I have to say straight away that Part One of Enlightenment is a huge improvement on the previous stories from the Guardian Trilogy. The script by Barbara Clegg was originally called The Enlighteners before script editor Eric Saward decided to use it as the third & concluding part of the Guardian Trilogy & as such included the Back & White Guardians & completed the subplot with Turlough & as such retitled it to Enlightenment. I have to say I really rather enjoyed this one, I liked the traditional Edwardian ship setting which sets up an effective cliffhanger ending when all of the viewers expectations are turned on their head (you see not every cliffhanger needs to have the Doctor in mortal jeopardy although these do tend to be the more memorable ones...). The character's are alright if a little mysterious at the moment which is good since I am intrigued to watch Part Two & see where the story is going & at only twenty five minutes in length it doesn't outstay it's welcome.

This episode sees the return of the Black Guardian (he returns here in Enlightenment after his return in Terminus after his return in Mawdryn Undead after his initial appearance in The Armageddon Factor (1979) from season sixteen) & indeed the White Guardian after his last appearance in The Ribos Operation (1978) also from season sixteen & his first in the Guardian Trilogy. The one question that I keep asking myself is why do they both wear dead birds on their head?! Like most period BBC productions the wooden panelled Edwardian yacht interior looks very nice, there is some reasonable model work at the end of the episode but not much else in the way of special effects as the episode is fairly exposition heavy as it sets the scene & the story quite effectively in my opinion. This story is notorious for it's factual error when every time the ship rocks from side to side any liquid stays completely static & still which it obviously wouldn't. Here while the Doctor & Tegan enjoy some dinner the ship shakes violently yet the wine in their glasses remains perfectly still...

Enlightenment: Part One is a good start to the final story of the Guardian Trilogy, as far as I am concerned it's a huge improvement on the previous two stories which I consider amongst the worst during the Davison era.