"Doctor Who" The Trial of a Time Lord: Part 9 (1986)

Director:

Chris Clough

Writers:

Jane Baker (writer)
Pip Baker (writer)

TV Series:

"Doctor Who" (1963)

Original Air Date:

1 November 1986 (Season 23, Episode 9)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

Plot:

As the trail continues; an event from the Doctor's future is presented.

Plot Keywords:

Time Lord | Alien | Companion | Renegade | Police Box

Cast

Colin Baker	...	The Doctor
Bonnie Langford	...	Melanie Bush
Michael Jayston	...	The Valeyard
Michael Craig	...	Commodore Travers
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
David Allister	...	Bruchner
Lynda Bellingham	...	The Inquisitor
Hugh Beverton	...	Guard (as Hugh Beverton)
Honor Blackman	...	Professor Lasky
Leon Davis	...	Ortezo
Denys Hawthorne	...	Rudge
Arthur Hewlett	...	Kimber
Sam Howard	...	Atza
Yolande Palfrey	...	Janet
Tony Scoggo	...	Grenville
Simon Slater	...	Edwardes
Malcolm Tierney	...	Doland

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:PG | Australia:PG

Trivia:

Kimber was at first only known as elderly passenger.

Quotes:

The Valeyard: Whether the Doctor has proved himself innocent of meddling is no longer the cardinal issue before this court. He has proved himself guilty of a far greater crime.
The Inquisitor: You refer to article seven of Gallifreyan Law?
The Doctor: No, my Lady, that can not apply! Had a single Vervoid reached earth, the human race would have been eliminated.
The Valeyard: Article seven permits no exceptions. The Doctor has destroyed a complete species. The charge must now be genocide.
[cue end credits]

"Whoever's been dumped in there has been pulverised into fragments and sent floating into space, and in my book, that's murder." The best segment begins...

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Doctor Who: The Trial of a Time Lord: Part Nine starts as the Valeyard (Michael Jayston) wraps his case for the prosecution up citing the death of Peri (Nicola Bryant) as one of the Doctor's (Colin Baker) crimes, shocked at seeing Peri die the Doctor has to compose himself & present the case for the defense. The Doctor calls on the Matrix to show events from his future that takes place on-board an intergalactic liner called the Hyperion III during a scheduled flight from the planet Mogar to Earth during the year 2986, the Doctor lands the TARDIS on the Hyperion III liner after receiving a mayday message. Together with a young girl named Melanie (Bonnie Langford) the Doctor discovers that all is not well aboard the Hyperion III with several mysterious & sinister events taking place including the apparent murder of a special investigator named Grenville (Tony Scoggo) & the secrecy around some large vegetable like pods...

Episode 9 from season 23 this Doctor Who adventure originally aired here in the UK during November 1986 & was the first part of the third & final mini four part story segment of The Trial of a Time Lord season better known on it's own as Terror of the Vervoids, directed by Chris Clough & despite the presence of the much maligned Bonnie Langford it's generally thought that Terror of the Vervoids is the best of The Trial of a Time Lord stories & it's pretty easy to see why. The script by Pip & Jane Baker continues the Charles Dickens novel A Christmas Carol theme & is set in the Doctor's future with The Mysterious Planet set in the past & Mindwarp set during the present. In my opinion it is just better than either The Mysterious Planet or Mindwarp on a few levels, firstly the court room scenes are kept to a minimum & during the whole of this episode there are only two with one at the very start & one just before the end which helps the flow of the story & stops the viewer from being dragged out of it at regular intervals, the basic plot is also much better with more mystery, more intrigue in a nice little whodunit scenario. It's not perfect that's for sure but it's entertaining & certainly grabs you a lot more than the previous two stories did. I think I spotted a pretty obvious goof here, Professor Lasky complains that her luggage isn't in her room which happens to be room 6 & Rudge says she has the key upside-down & her room is actually number 9, if that's the case & Lasky had the key for room 9 how did she enter room 6 to know her luggage wasn't there in the first place? I guess producer John Nathan-Turner taking over as script editor wasn't such a good idea...

There's more special effects during this story than the other's, the shots of the Hyperion III in space look alright actually to be fair although they obviously don't stand up that well when compared to today's CGI masterpieces. Terror of the Vervoids also sees the introduction of Mel played by Bonnie Langford who seems universally disliked (her casting was one of the reasons why script editor Eric Saward resigned), unusually Mel is already a companion when we first see her which means besides the very first companion Susan from the 60's she's the only other companion not to get an introductory story. While filming the cliffhanger ending to this episode Langford was apparently asked to scream in the key of F which would make for a seemingly perfect transition into the closing theme music! Personally I don't mind her, I don't think she's great or anything but I don't mind her & I liked her outfit too but then I'm weird so maybe that's why.

The Trial of a Time Lord: Part Nine, or Terror of the Vervoids Part One, is a decent opening to the best of The Trial of a Time Lord stories & it's as simple as that really.