Doctor Who (TV Series) The Trial of a Time Lord: Part Thirteen (1986) User Reviews

The Ultimate Foe

[A_Kind_Of_CineMagic · 8/10 · 24 September 2019]

This is the final chapter of the season long story arc The Trial of a Timelord. This 2 part story spanning parts 13 and 14 of the season are known as The Ultimate Foe. It is also the end of the era of Colin Baker as the 6th Doctor on screen.

It is very sad that the great Doctor Who writer Robert Holmes was extremely ill when writing his contributions to this season and even sadder that he then died. He was a huge loss, not just to those who knew him but to the Doctor Who show. The timing of his sad illness and death also meant he was not at his best in what he wrote and he died before writing the final episode to this saga which he was supposed to. This ending is therefore not executed nearly as well as it surely would have been if Robert Holmes had been alive and well at the helm. His contribution to this story and the season as a whole is by far the best aspect of it. You can see the quality and intelligent ideas in his first constribution in this season The Mysterious Planet despite it being diluted by various issues and certainly the first part of The Ultimate Foe again shows those qualities of Holmes skill and intelligence.

The first part of this story is very good in many ways. Colin Baker is thankfully portraying the Doctor as the compassionate, heroic and likable character he should be instead of the unpleasant arrogance and harshness that at times the 6th Doctor was portrayed with. Baker is able to shine in his final story and acts really well. The first episode has tension, drama and some extremely intriguing and interesting ideas. The story is a bit muddled but in the first part holds together well and is very entertaining.

As the interference with the Matrix is revealed the Doctor is forced to enter the confusing realm to take on the Valeyard. The acting of Michael Jayston as The Valyard is great too and the appearance of another 'ultimate foe' of the Doctor's The Master gives Anthony Ainley one of his best performances. Lynda Bellingham continues to give excellent support and Bonnie Langford is perfectly fine as Mel. Probably her best appearance.

The second part had to be written after the death of original writer Holmes and replacing him with Pip and Jane Baker was a very inadequate replacement. They do their best but between them and script editor Eric Saward they are unable to bring the story to the clever, logical conclusion it required. There are still some good things continuing with the performances and the interesting situation but this becomes very muddled and comes to a rather flat end. Holmes wanted a dramatic, dark ending but producer John Nathan Turner was scared it would have given BBC bosses a chance to end the show altogether so got the new writers to put a happy ending which sadly does not really work very well. The biggest issue is that the Doctor basically confirms he committed genocide in Terror of the Vervoids and this is just glossed over. This needed to have been shown to either be a false addition to the Matrix or something more forced onto him or accidental. It is unsatisfactory the way it is done.

Another unsatisfactory aspect is that we are told Peri has inexplicably and suddenly settled down as the wife of King Yrcanos! It would have been FAR better to have left her as being killed. The idea of her becoming Yrcanos' wife is pretty silly and the Doctor reacting to this with unsurprised happiness adds to that silliness.

However, the remaining good aspects of this story put in place by Robert Holmes keep the final part from falling too low and the first part stands as at least equal best episode for Colin Baker's era.

My ratings: Part 1 - 8/10, Part 2 - 6/10. Overall 7/10.

Season 23 average 6.29/10.

This season was disappointing, mostly because of Terror of the Vervoids and the loss of Robert Holmes during production. The tasteless sets and costumes, some weak writing from Pip and Jane Baker and some muddled storytelling were unhelpful as was an unwise use of a villainous Doctor in the middle of Mindwarp. It was a big step up from Season 22 but still well below the usual standards for Doctor Who up until then.

The Colin Baker era overall was damaged by the tasteless production values, some silly writing and direction and the poor characterisation of The Doctor in Season 22. It sadly let this era fall to the bottom of the pile for me. Such a pity that Colin is left as my least favourite characterisation of the Doctor on screen and his 2 seasons as 2 of my bottom 3 seasons. The potential was there for so much better with better leadership and support. However, there were still some great moments, some good episodes and in Season 23 a mostly redeemed Doctor which allowed Colin Baker to stand in my eyes as a worthy Doctor that I was able to grow to like by the end. His love for the show also makes Baker very popular with fans. Season 24 would turn out to be far worse even than Season 22 in my opinion so it would have been interesting to see if a third season with Baker would have been much better. He deserved another season I feel. Thankfully his Doctor has been given new life and redemption in Big Finish audios in which his characterisation is great.

Interesting, but not Terribly Entertaining

[Robinson2511 · 7/10 · 23 December 2014]

After 12 weeks of build-up, Who is the Valeyard?, What is happening to the Matrix? What's the deal with those secrets on Ravalox? Our questions are finally answered, in Episode 13 of the Trial of a Time Lord. It turns out the Valeyard is an amalgamation of the Doctor's dark side, ironic that the Valeyard plays barely any part in this episode. The truth that Gallifrey destroyed the Earth to protect the secrets from the Matrix, is very interesting, even if it does go against the entirety of the Doctor Who canon, especially future episode like The End of the World and New Earth, but considering these are 2 of the worst stories in recent Doctor Who history, I don't see how badly this can affect those stories, but it's still a gripping twist. Sabalom Glitz is back after his last appearance in Episodes 1-4 of the Trial of a Time Lord, and he makes for a very amusing presence, Mel probably less so, the Inquisitor makes as much of an impact as ever, just being there to ramble on about court proceedings, and the Valeyard, does nothing in this episode, despite it having just been revealed that his is actually the Doctor. The setting of the Matrix has a very Dickensian feel about it, and the result feels very cheap, almost as if they'd run out of money, there are only two extra supporting cast members here, that being the Keeper of the Matrix, who again does absolutely nothing, and Mr. Popplewick, who has barely a 5-minute screen presence despite there being 2 versions of the same character. The cliffhanger is slow and drawn out, certainly not to the standard of the Deadly Assassin's cliffhangers, but I suppose it can in some way be considered, "creepy".

Two deadly foes.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 9/10 · 28 December 2019]

Facing a charge of genocide, The Doctor stands accused, but a deadly foe explains the true sequence of events.

I loved it, this really did feel like a game changer, the appearance of The Master comes as a big surprise, but it's more true identity of The Valeyard, and the possibilities there surrounding. At the time the concept of a Doctor so far in the future must have felt a lifetime away, whereas now it's a reality.

I know it's right at the end for him, but I've always considered this to be Colin's definitive performance, he is outstanding here, and his speech in the court, his finest moment.

The stuff surrounding The Matrix and The Sleepers was excellent, great storytelling.

Loved it. 9/10

"The Matrix can be physically penetrated!" The closing trial segment.

[poolandrews · 5/10 · 24 December 2007]

Doctor Who: The Trial of a Time Lord: Part Thirteen starts as the Doctor (Colin Baker) protests his innocence to the Inquistor (Lynda Bellingham) & that he is convinced the Matrix has been tampered with, accusations the Valeyard (Michael Jayston) strongly refutes. Then suddenly an old enemy comes to the Doctor's rescue, the Master (Anthony Ainley) pops up on the Matrix screen itself to prove beyond any doubt that the Matrix is capable of being manipulated. Sebolom Glitz (Tony Selby) & Mel (Bonnie Langford) are summoned as witnesses as the truth is revealed, the trial has been set up by the Time Lord high council to cover up the destruction of Earth & the Valeyard who is a distillation of the Doctor's darker side has been promised the Doctor's remaining lives if he is convicted & sentenced to death...

Episode 13 from season 23 this Doctor Who adventure originally aired here in the UK during November 1986, the first of the two part segment that wraps The Trial of a Time Lord season up this was novelised under the title The Ultimate Foe. Directed by Chris Clough this is like an extended twist ending to conclude the trial & works well enough but I preferred the individual stories to the trial scenes which were a bit dull, originally due to be called Time Inc. & written by Robert Holmes who penned the first four episodes The Mysterious Planet story he sadly died before they were completed. Holmes had largely completed Part Thirteen but only had outlined Part Fourteen so Eric Saward was convinced to finish writing them by producer John Nathan-Turner but their eventual falling out meant Saward refused permission for his Part Fourteen to be used & as such Pip & Jane Baker were drafted in to write Part Fourteen working from an already complete Part Thirteen as inspiration & a guideline. Phew, got that? Good. Anyway, Part Thirteen reveals just about everything we already either knew or guessed like the Valeyard being corrupt, like the Matrix was tampered with & that there are other more sinister reasons behind the Doctor's trial. The fact that the Doctor is also totally exonerated of all charges & actually becomes the victim is also no surprise, neither is the revelation that Peri actually survived rather than died as first indicated. As an episode it's rather dull, not that much happens, there's too many sudden plot twists & turns which doesn't leave time for them to sink in & unless you have followed the previous twelve episodes a lot of it will pass you by, while as a story it's possible to sit down & watch either The Mysterious Planet, Minwarp or the likable Terror of the Vervoids on their own right that's not the case with The Ultimate Foe.

A lot of this episode is spent in the court room, it's a reasonable set & the Gallifreyian costumes look pretty good even if the Inquistor's headdress looks like it's made out of paper! This one has a nicely dramatic cliffhanger ending & it's one that I can vividly recall watching on TV when it was originally broadcast all those years ago. The Master also makes a reappearance in this although it's him that effectively proves the Doctor's innocence which I just found a bit out of character if you know what I mean. For some reason the Valeyard hides in the Matrix in an imaginary Victorian stone factory with a huge multi-coloured neon light on the front just so you can't miss it!

The Trial of a Time Lord: Part Thirteen is a bit of a downer when compared to The Terror of the Vervoids segment but it's alright, I found it a bit talky & how all the evidence suddenly points to the Doctor's innocence is a bit convenient & he doesn't even have to work for it.

The Trial of a Time Lord: Part Thirteen

[Prismark10 · 4/10 · 6 October 2019]

The final two parter that would wrap up The Trial of a Time Lord season.

This was the final episode written by Robert Holmes. He died before completing episode 14.

Set in the Matrix. There is a Dickensian feel to this episode with the introduction of Popplewick played by Geoffrey Hughes, a petty bureaucrat who I guess represents BBC management.

The Dickens era studio setting also frames The Trial of a Time Lord season with A Christmas Carol. Here the Doctor looked at his adventures in the past, present and future during the trial.

Holmes had two big reveals here. The Master in a sense has been directing affairs in league with the Valeyard in manipulating the Matrix. He has decided to come to the Doctor's aid instead.

The second is the Master tells the Doctor who the Valeyard really is. It is the Valeyard's true nature that has caused lasting discussion within fandom. To me the distillation of the dark side theory is just plain nonsense. For a start the Valeyard had to be around long enough to become an experienced prosecutor. The Time Lords are not going to give a nobody the chance to prosecute their former Lord President.

The episode looks cheap with its studio bound Dickens/fairground set. Holmes attempts to resolve what happened in the previous stories such as why the Time Lords destroyed the planet Earth and what really did happen to Peri.

The episode is partly surreal but not very entertaining. I can see John Nathan Turner thought it would be good to have a sly dig at the BBC management, but when you think that he was given a hiatus to come up with another vision of Doctor Who.

To see what were in my opinion a run of substandard episodes demonstrates that the creative team had certainly run out of ideas. Even the cliffhanger recalls an infamous one from The Deadly Assassin.