Turlough is a Devil's henchman of a companion, time travel shenanigans begin, and the Brigadier turns out to be a boys' school maths teacher.
This is the beginning of a very clever and a rather creepy story. It's also briefly a hard core nostalgia-fest.
The Brigadier returns, and it's fun to see him, certainly. But his return is greatly about being a bit of a PTSD sufferer. He's terrific to watch and, along with the new dark and wonderful companion, Turlough, right at the center of the plot. In this first episode, he's not got a huge amount to do besides just show up at a school and sound wonderfully crusty.
The Black Guardian returns. And it's the great and horrifying Valentine Dyall scaring us all again with his black as midnight villainy voice. He does mean to kill the Doctor -- after embarrassing him -- might as well be the Master again. But this Guardian fellow is a huge monster of a demon, Bad Q, perhaps, to take a Star Trek reference. But Satan is basically here, tempting a young and vulnerable humanoid trapped on Earth to be his assistant and kill the Doctor for him.
Turlough's set up takes up at least half of this first episode, and it's lumbered with a few of the more embarrassing moments of 80s Who. But it's also Valentine Dyall and Mark Strickson, greatly -- both totally entertaining fellows. Strickson's Turlough weasels and menaces and cowers all over the place. And Dyall's nothing if not terrifying.
At episode's end, we're left wondering, though -- not whether the Doctor will get killed by Turlough so much -- even as that's the crux of this and the next 11 episodes -- but whether the Doctor actually knows Turlough has it in for him. And, really, the other question: how will Turlough get out of this horrible situation?
The most interesting protagonist of the show, really, is suddenly Turlough... until the end of Enlightenment.
This is the beginning of a very clever and a rather creepy story. It's also briefly a hard core nostalgia-fest.
The Brigadier returns, and it's fun to see him, certainly. But his return is greatly about being a bit of a PTSD sufferer. He's terrific to watch and, along with the new dark and wonderful companion, Turlough, right at the center of the plot. In this first episode, he's not got a huge amount to do besides just show up at a school and sound wonderfully crusty.
The Black Guardian returns. And it's the great and horrifying Valentine Dyall scaring us all again with his black as midnight villainy voice. He does mean to kill the Doctor -- after embarrassing him -- might as well be the Master again. But this Guardian fellow is a huge monster of a demon, Bad Q, perhaps, to take a Star Trek reference. But Satan is basically here, tempting a young and vulnerable humanoid trapped on Earth to be his assistant and kill the Doctor for him.
Turlough's set up takes up at least half of this first episode, and it's lumbered with a few of the more embarrassing moments of 80s Who. But it's also Valentine Dyall and Mark Strickson, greatly -- both totally entertaining fellows. Strickson's Turlough weasels and menaces and cowers all over the place. And Dyall's nothing if not terrifying.
At episode's end, we're left wondering, though -- not whether the Doctor will get killed by Turlough so much -- even as that's the crux of this and the next 11 episodes -- but whether the Doctor actually knows Turlough has it in for him. And, really, the other question: how will Turlough get out of this horrible situation?
The most interesting protagonist of the show, really, is suddenly Turlough... until the end of Enlightenment.