Doctor Who (TV Series) Silver Nemesis: Part One (1988) User Reviews

Every Nemesis Has A Silver Lining

[timdalton007 · 6/10 · 13 May 2009]

(Note: A review of all three episodes)

For all intents and purposes, Silver Nemesis was the twenty-fifth anniversary story of Doctor Who. After all it began on the anniversary of the first broadcast of An Unearthly Child and it reunited the Doctor with with the Cybermen for their final appearance in the original TV series. Yet in the cold light of day Silver Nemesis is far from the greatest Doctor Who story ever.

Though that is not the fault of the TARDIS crew though. If anything makes this story worth seeing it is Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred as the seventh Doctor and Ace. Both give this story fine performances and this is especially evident in scenes where it is just the two of them. See the end of part three for a really good example of this. Yet while McCoy and Aldred give good performances they can;'t make up for the other faults with them.

The supporting cast is a really mixed bunch. While both Fiona Walker as Lady Peinforte and Anthon Diffring as De Flores are fine actors, in this story their performances in this story are hampered by a tendency to be over the top, especially in Falker's exit from the story. That said both have some nice moments: Diffring at the start of part one and Walker at the end of part three (right before her over the top exit). Gerard Murphy proves to be the best of the supporting cast as Lady Peinforte's servant Richard who gets some of the story's best lines. The story is also memorable for its three cameos the first two (and best) from jazz musician Courtney Pine and actor Leslie French 9who was considered for the role of the first Doctor incidentally) and a cringe worthy one from actress Dolores Gray. As I said it's a mixed bunch.

This story features the final appearance from the Cybermen in the original TV series. This is not the silver giants finest hour by any means. First off the redesigned Cybermen costumes are far too reflective for their own good. Even worse the Cybermen's vulnerability to gold is taken to extremes thanks to the almost ludicrous beginning of part two. While the Cybermen get some good usage (especially in part two's battle) one knows the story is in trouble when the Cybermen's best moments are their hilarious reactions to jazz music. As I said not the silver giants finest hour.

That said the story does have pluses. Being shot entirely on location the story makes good use of its locations with place's like Peinforte's Estates and the disused factory buildings. The special effects hold up pretty well, especially the Nemesis in space. That said things like the Cybermen's ship in part two don't hold up as well. The score by Keff McCulloch is one of his better scores and stands up as one of the better scores of the McCoy era. Of course there's the script.

Kevin Clarke's script is as much a mixed bag as the supporting cast. While the script has a good idea at the heart if it there's the problem that the idea had been previously used in Remembrance of the Daleks earlier in the season. Even worse, while Remembrance served as a sequel to both An Unearthly Child and the Dalek stories of the 1980's, Silver Nemesis makes the same mistake that Timelash did: it's a sequel to an unseen story. One feels as though they should all ready know what's going on and feels bad when they don't. The script has other problems like why considering the Doctor worked for UNIT in fighting alien invasions he goes seeking the help of the Queen of England in getting the help of the armed forces amongst other inexcusable plot holes. The story does have good moments like the last five minutes of part three and how Clarke builds up tension (even if it never really pays off). It isn't a great script but it'll do as the saying goes.

Silver Nemesis is a mixed bag. It faults from a mixed supporting cast, the Cybermen's not so finest hour and script issues. But with fine performances from Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred and Gerard Murphy to nice production values and special effects Silver Nemesis is thankfully not quite a disaster. In truth it falls into the category for stories that should have been better especially as this was an anniversary story. Then again every cloud has a silver lining...

The Game begins.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 7/10 · 9 March 2020]

Lady Painfort from Windsor has travelled from 1638 to get her hands on a statue made of validium, Nemesis, but another force is after it.

I suppose I've never been the biggest fan of this three part story, but credit where it's due, this first episode is rather good. It's full of intrigue, it asks a load of question, who's tried to kill The Doctor and Ace, how powerful is Nemesis, and just what does Lady Painfort know about The Doctor? Do subsequent episodes answer the questions? I'll leave that to you.

It has lots of atmosphere, it looks terrific, particularly the scenes in Lady Painfort's dwelling, the costumes also are great. I appreciate the scene with the Chess board, a nice reference to Fenric.

Sadly it's downhill from this point on. 7/10

Silver needs polishing!

[A_Kind_Of_CineMagic · 6/10 · 25 November 2019]

This was the show's 25th Anniversary story and there are references to the date as well as to the show's history throughout the story. The first part also presents some very interesting aspects in that it has different strands of story from different periods of time, plenty of mystery and hints of a darkness plus a suitable cliffhanger with the arrival of an old enemy. Sadly there are some flaws in this opening part and after that the subsequent parts are more flawed and less impressive.

The enemy arriving at the end of the first part in a dramatic cliffhanger are the Cybermen and their appearance is an exciting cliffhanger. Unfortunately in the second and third parts of the story the Cybermen are shown to not be at their best. As is too often the case in Cybermen stories their dark menace and power is undermined by showing too much weakness, having too many human-like behaviours and not sounding very impressive. Their plot to acquire the Silver Nemesis makes sense but is far too close to the Dalek's trying to acquire the Hand of Omega earlier in this same season. This story is very derivative of Remembrance of the Daleks with the Doctor having hidden an ancient item of power from Gallifrey and one of his great enemies seeking to get hold of it.

One story thread involves South American based Nazis travelling to Windsor, England seeking the all powerful weapon. This aspect is a good concept which starts quite well and is helped by a lead role played by Anton Diffring, veteran actor from many war films. Sadly once they start battling with the Cybermen they become too similar again to Remembrance of the Daleks where a fascistic group of humans were trying to gain possession of the weapon as a subplot to a greater alien threat. They add something to the story though.

Another story thread is based around a mysterious woman, Lady Peinforte travelling somehow from 17th Century Windsor to 1988 seeking the same weapon. This aspect of the story seems odd and illogical right from the start but in the first part you can easily believe it will all make sense in the end. Unfortunately it never really does. It is OK that she is a mysterious character who has met the Doctor before and 'knows his secrets' but we are none the wiser about her motives, her plans or how she can time travel as well as not knowing what she knows about the Doctor or what happened in her earlier confrontation with him. It feels inadequate and is not helped by the comedic treatment of her and her sidekick in the story.

The Doctor's dark secrets are intriguing and Ace is a great companion so their presence in the story is good but they are taken on all sorts of pointless tangents in Parts 2 & 3 especially. It also is highly questionable logic once the story pans out why the Doctor sent the Silver Nemesis on a trajectory which brings it to cause problems every 25 years and why he needs to set alarms for certain dates to do things when he is a time traveller!

There is plenty of entertainment and mystery but the plot makes little sense and is a carbon copy in many ways of Remembrance of the Daleks only a couple of stories earlier. A disappointing effort for a big anniversary.

My ratings: Part 1 - 6/10, Part 2 - 5/10, Part 3 - 4/10. Overall - 5/10.

Nonsense. Absolute nonsense

[ametaphysicalshark · 18 November 2008]

"Silver Nemesis" may not be the most famously bad "Doctor Who" story out there, but I've yet to find one with fewer real defenders. There's some half-hearted 'it's fun nonsense' folk out there, but they are so vastly outnumbered by people who HATE "Silver Nemesis" or just don't like it. I don't think even "The Twin Dilemma" has quite so few defenders. For me, there's one thing that keeps "Silver Nemesis" from being my least favorite story, or even my least favorite Cybermen story ("Attack of the Cybermen"): the first episode. It's far, far from greatness, but it's alright and fairly enjoyable, there's some half-decent dialogue, and we hadn't really gotten to the plot or Cybermen yet (and really, this excuse for a plot is beyond confusing and ludicrous, and is just a complete and utter mess).

For a good laugh look through the DisContinuity Guide page for this (if you're reading this and don't own the DisContinuity Guide, shame on you, go buy it right now) and look at the 'goofs' section. "Silver Nemesis" has so many blatantly obvious goofs that it's hard to believe this was written by an adult, let alone that they had a script editor going through the stories. Quite hilarious, but even sadder.

The incidental music's crap, the guest actors are crap, the Cybermen are wearing cricket gloves, the story is a mess, episode 3 is one of the worst single episodes in the history of Who (so is episode 2, but it's not quite as bad, because the action scenes are amusingly bad). Basically this is a poorly-executed Cybermen version of "Remembrance of the Daleks", only it has about as much respect for the Cybermen as "The Chase" has for Daleks, which is only really a serious problem because this is supposed to be not only a serious story but a celebration of "Doctor Who", while "The Chase" is meant to be an episodic comedy runaround (and in my humble and rather unpopular opinion succeeds tremendously in doing so).

I'm a huge fan of season 25 and season 26 (the latter is better largely because "Battlefield" is watchable in spite of its poor reputation), and "Silver Nemesis" is all the worse for coming sandwiched between "The Happiness Patrol" and "The Greatest Show in the Galaxy", two acquired tastes, but also two of the most imaginative, smartest allegorical tales in "Doctor Who". It's absolute tosh.

3/10

"As my lady knows before I entered your service I was found guilty of a large number of offences." Decent start.

[poolandrews · 6/10 · 29 February 2008]

Doctor Who: Silver Nemesis: Part One starts in South America on 22nd November 1988 (we know it's South America because we see one parrot on a branch!) where a Nazi named De Flores (Anton Diffring) is told that the meteorite Nemesis that has been orbiting Earth for 350 years is set to crash land in London. Cut back to Windsor, England 1638 where evil Lady Pienforte (Fiona Walker) also learns the exact date & location the Nemesis is due to land on Earth & using black magic travels forward to 22nd November 1988. Meanwhile the Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) is trying to remember why he set his alarm, eventually he realises that he set it to warn him that the Earth will be destroyed on this date due to the Nemesis comet which contains a statue made of Validium, a silver coloured living metal of immense power & whoever controls it has the ability to destroy whole planets. If that wasn't enough the Cybermen also appear wanting to harness the Nemesis' destructive power...

Episode 8 from season 25 this Doctor Who adventure originally aired here in the UK during November 1988 (in fact on the 23rd of November just one day after the events depicted took place), the third story from Sylvester McCoy's second season playing the Doctor. Obviously partly made as a 25th anniversary of Doctor Who it was producer John-Nathan Turner who insisted on the Cybermen appearing in the story as a sort of silver enemy for the silver anniversary I suppose. Originally called The Harbinger & Nemesis before the Silver part was tacked on again due to the significance of the anniversary the script by Kevin Clarke starts out alright to be fair to it, all the individual sub-plots all come together for a good ending which leaves all the build up in the air for Part Two & it's nice to see the Cybermen again. There is some unfortunate humorous dialogue which isn't funny & becomes a bit embarrassing, I'm not sure why the production team decided to have a bunch of Nazi's as bad guy's who call themselves 'The Fourth Reich' & consist of one old guy & about eight soldiers! Hitler would be turning in his grave... Originally broadcast as three twenty five minute episodes Silver Nemesis was released on VHS in an extended edition with all three episodes having extra material edited back in, here in Part One there's about four or five minutes extra including Ace in Windsor Castle finding a painting of herself on the wall & the Doctor hypnotising the security guards.

The main aspect of Silver Nemesis for most classic series fans is that it sees the first & only appearance of the Cybermen in a Sylvester McCoy story, apart from looking very shiny & polished their design has not changed significantly since their last appearance during the Colin Baker story Attack of the Cybermen (1985) in season twenty two. They still look pretty cool & are probably the best Doctor Who monster although they were badly used during the later years of the show which didn't do them any favours. I mean they were only written into Silver Nemesis because they wanted a silver enemy for the 25th anniversary, not the best of motivations or reasons to bring them back. There are a few cameo's in this, from saxophonist Courtney Pine playing jazz to Nicholas Courtney who played Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart as a tourist in Windsor Castle (his first appearance on the show since The Five Doctors (1983)) & a none too convincing Queen (the one who lives in Buckingham Palace not the band...) lookalike walking around Windsor Castle with her Corgi's!

Silver Nemesis: Part One isn't too bad actually as an opening episode & it's a shame that it all falls to pieces subsequently. Fans of the series will probably like it but it's nothing special.

Silver Nemesis: Part One

[Prismark10 · 7/10 · 20 December 2022]

The story Nemesis became Silver Nemesis to celebrate Doctor Who's silver anniversary season.

A season that showed an upturn in quality with Remembrance of the Daleks. So there were high expectations from Silver Nemesis.

Part One has a lot of outside location shooting. Windsor Castle and whatever doubles for it. Jazz musician Courtney Pine makes a cameo. The doctor even puts on a fez. How very Matt Smith.

It starts off with Nazis in South America on November 1988 led by De Flores (Anton Diffring) who suddenly hops it to Britain for the crash landing of a meteorite.

They are followed by Lady Peinforte (Fiona Walker) and her assistant Maynarde who have used black magic to travel to Windsor from 1638. Also to catch the meteorite.

The Doctor and Ace arrive as he set off the meteorite 350 years ago. It contains a statue of Lady Peinforte and an arrow made from living metal that gives immense power.

It is a very good opening episode that zips along nicely. There are hints courtesy of script editor Andrew Cartmel of the more manipulative doctor, there is even an appearance of a chess board which would be referenced in the following season.

It also has a weird combination of some nice atmospheric lighting in Lady Peinforte's house to too bright lighting and this time it's not even in the BBC studios in Wood Lane.

It climaxes with the arrival of the Cybermen. This time the spaceship and model effects is not as good as the earlier Dalek story.

Disappointing swansong for the Cybermen

[Leofwine_draca · 5/10 · 2 May 2015]

Review of the Complete Story:

Sylvester McCoy's serial REMEMBRANCE OF THE DALEKS was a fine and fitting swansong for Dr Who's most famous adversary, so it was only fair to hope that SILVER NEMESIS would be an equally strong adventure to see off the Cybermen. Sadly, this turns out to be a sprawling work of nonsense, reminiscent of BATTLEFIELD in its insistence on having random characters interacting via lame dialogue and random, pointless battles in a picturesque British countryside location.

SILVER NEMESIS almost feels plot less, the sub-plots being connected so loosely. The Doctor and Ace are back on Earth and trying to prevent an ancient statue from being brought to life by some evil Nazis. There are a couple of 16th century time travellers thrown into the mix for no good reason, but the real interest here is in the presence of the Cybermen, who as ever are good value for money. It's just a shame they're so underutilised.

This isn't a good adventure for McCoy. His stunt double is over obvious on more than one occasion and attempts to delve into his mysterious past just feel grafted onto the story. Ace is annoying as ever, so it's left to movie star Anton Diffring to try to inject some authority into the proceedings; even he can't do much with this juvenile material, unfortunately.

All that glisters is not silver.

[JamesHitchcock · 20 February 2015]

The first episode of "Silver Nemesis" was originally broadcast on 23rd November 1988, the 25th anniversary of the very first "Doctor Who" programme on 23rd November 1963. It was specially commissioned to mark this "silver anniversary", hence the numerous references to silver and gold throughout the serial and a mention of the assassination of President Kennedy on 22nd November 1963, the day before that first broadcast. The original plot was rewritten to feature the Cybermen, their last appearance in the original run of "Doctor Who".

The action takes place in England in 1988, ostensibly in November although filming obviously took place in summer. Part of the story is set lines in and around Windsor; it was hoped to film in Windsor Castle but permission was refused so Arundel Castle was pressed into service as a substitute. (Which explains just why the countryside around "Windsor" looks so much like the South Downs). Attempts to persuade a member of the Royal Family to appear were met with a polite refusal.

The plot is a complicated one and I will not attempt to summarise it in any detail. It revolves around the "Silver Nemesis" of the title. This is a statue which appears to be silver but is actually made of a "living metal", validium. The statue has three components - a bow, an arrow and the figure itself – and if they are brought together it possesses immense destructive power. Three rival groups of villains are therefore attempting to get their hands on it. These are the Cybermen, a gang of Neo-Nazis who (like all Neo-Nazis in fiction) have been hiding out in the jungles of South America and Lady Peinforte and her servant. Lady Peinforte is an evil 17th-century aristocrat; her name derives from a mediaeval form of the death penalty, the "peine forte et dure", under which the criminal was crushed to death by heavy weights. As usual, it falls to the Doctor and Ace to save the Universe by foiling the plans of all three groups.

The serial was broadcast in three weekly parts rather than the more usual four or six, which is unfortunate as there is really too much plot to fit in to only three episodes. It might have been better if the Cybermen had been omitted; their inclusion was, apparently, a late afterthought to fit in with the "silver anniversary" theme. (Because they are silver in colour). There are a number of plot-holes, mostly involving Lady Peinforte. Exactly how she has been able to travel 350 years into the future is never really explained. It is normally taken for granted in "Doctor Who" that time travel is a Time Lord monopoly, and yet here is a human from 1638 who has managed to master the art. It is implied that she has done so by sorcery which, if true, would be contrary to the traditions of the programme. Characters in "Doctor Who" can possess superhuman powers, but not supernatural ones. Their abilities must always be the result of advanced technology, not magic. (The "Daemons" in the serial of that name, for example, are alien beings, not supernatural entities).

(Something else never explained about Peinforte is why such a grand aristocrat should live in such a modest house; she must be the only woman in history whose tomb was more magnificent than her home. The true explanation is presumably that the BBC's limited budget precluded filming at an authentic 17th century stately home so they had to make do with a timbered cottage).

It is a pity that more care was not taken with creating the character of Peinforte, as from an acting point of view Fiona Walker is by far the best thing about this serial. I particularly liked her altercation with that dreadful American tourist. There seemed to be something of a vogue for glamorous, over-the-top female villains on "Doctor Who" during the late eighties; this was also the period of Kate O'Mara's Rani and Jacqueline Pearce's Chessene in "The Two Doctors". Otherwise, however, there is not much to arouse interest. Sylvester McCoy is his normal dull self, and Anton Diffring is insufficiently menacing as the chief Nazi.

The scriptwriter Kevin Clarke has admitted that he had seen very little of Doctor Who before writing the story, and doesn't seem to have had much idea about what the series is about. That would explain a lot. At one point he appears to have come up with the idea that the Doctor is actually God, although this did not make it into the finished programme. For which we can all be thankful. It would be a black day for religion in this country if it were ever to be revealed that the Supreme Being of the Universe is really Sylvester McCoy. All we are left with is scenes in which the Doctor suggests darkly that he is something much more than a mere Time Lord, but his exact identity is never specified.

I have always felt that "Doctor Who" went into something of a decline following the enforced departure of Colin Baker and, although I never liked McCoy as his replacement, not all the blame can be laid at his door. This was also a time when there were too many over-ambitious and under-developed plots, resulting in messy, muddled serials, and unfortunately "Silver Nemesis" is one of these. A pity something so leaden was chosen to celebrate the silver anniversary. All that glisters is not silver.