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

"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...

[poolandrews · 7/10 · 21 December 2007]

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.

"Golden Rendezvous"-- in SPAAAAACE!!!!!

[profh-1 · 8/10 · 30 March 2010]

The 3rd part of "The Trial of a Time Lord"-- also known as "Terror of the Vervoids"-- introduced one of my top 5 favorite WHO girls-- Bonnie Langford as Mel. I still remember hearing about how Nicola Bryant was announced as being bounced off the show, in response to certain supposed complaints about "sexual exploitation". Producer John Nathan Turner denied this, but what can be said when you have the girl on the show with the biggest knockers who always seems to be wearing very tight or very revealing outfits? I liked Peri, but half the time she got bad writing, and a strong-willed girl became whining, complaining and often unpleasant. (Of course, the same could said about Colin Baker's Doctor. He & Peri should never have spent an entire season seemingly at each other's throats.)

When I first saw a photo of Langford in Doctor Who Magazine, I thought, "Oh, look! It's the Vanessa Williams syndrome all over again." By that, I meant, in light of a sex scandal, the next Miss America had the plainest face in 25 years. With that schnozz, and a particularly unflattering photo, I thought, "I hope she's got talent." Then I saw her in person at a convention in New Brunswick... and I just about fell in love with her when she performed onstage! I couldn't wait to see her on TV. She's far from the best-looking girl they ever had on the show, but I adore her anyway. I just love her personality, her high energy level, her voice... and those tight pants.

Everyone who comments on "Terror of the Vervoids"-- including writers Pip & Jane Baker-- always refers to it as an Agatha Christie-type story. But that's only partly true. Of the 4 stories I've seen by the Bakers (3 WHOs and CAPTAIN NEMO AND THE UNDERWATER CITY), "Vervoids" is by a mile my favorite. But while they set up a very complex murder mystery, play fair with the clues, and have a nice resolution at the end, this story is actually far too complex to be JUST an "Agatha Christie". On board the aptly-named "Hyperion 3" there are no less than 3 mysteries going on simultaneously! You've got a murder mystery; you've got an attempted hijacking with hostages being taken; and you've got a race of plant-monsters bent on the destruction of all animal life!

Over the years, some of the best DOCTOR WHO stories have been blatant tributes to previously-existing stories. Examples would include "The Dalek Invasion of Earth" (WAR OF THE WORLDS); "The Gunfighters" (GUNFIGHT AT THE O.K. CORRAL); "Planet Of Evil" (FORBIDDEN PLANET); "Pyramids Of Mars" (THE MUMMY); "The Android Invasion" (INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS); "The Brain of Morbius" (FRANKENSTEIN); "The Seeds Of Doom" (THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD and DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS); and more recently, "Revelation of the Daleks" (THE LOVED ONE). What no one I have ever run across has pointed out is that "Vervoids" is not just a generic Agatha Christie tribute. It is, in fact, a very specific Alistair MacLean tribute-- GOLDEN RENDEZVOUS!

I saw the film about 20 years ago, and could not believe what I was seeing. Having watched "Vervoids" at least 3 times by then (maybe more, it's one of the few WHO stories I used to like to pull out and watch all by itself, because of Bonnie's presence in it), I could not help but recognize how virtually the entire film had been referenced in the WHO story. There's the ship full of passengers, the mysterious occupant of the "isolation ward", and in the 2nd half, a boatload of invading terrorists who hold everyone hostage while the film's hero (Richard Harris) goes into solo action. After watching the MacLean flick, I came to the conclusion that the reason Pip & Jane Baker kept referring to their having supposedly done a Christie tribute may have been that they were trying to divert attention from what they'd really done-- and possibly avoid a plagiarism lawsuit!

I think I might have enjoyed "Vervoids" even more had it not been part of the "Trial" storyline. The best scene related to the "Trial" is when we see the ship's communication room smashed, destroyed, and standing there, axe in hand, smiling triumphantly, is Colin Baker's Doctor. In the courtroom, he quickly objects, "That's wasn't me!", to which the prosecutor responds, "Of course it was. We all saw you. One could hardly mistake you in that outfit." Just an example of how the Matrix evidence had actually been tampered with. When it was revealed that Peri's death had also been faked, I had no problem with it. Story editor Eric Saward (who had resigned by that point) had been responsible for throwing away far too many characters with potential for no reason other than to satisfy his "bloodlust" (as The Doctor refers to The Valyard as having).

Sadly, this would prove to be Langford's BEST story during her short run on the show. Absurdly, "Mel" never got a proper introduction (any chance she might have was aborted when the show's star, Colin Baker, was FIRED between seasons). And a year later, she left without a sensible farewell either! In the long run, she proved to be mostly "stunt casting". A shame. Her replacement, who I initially didn't like AT ALL, had much better luck in the writing department. Somewhere around here, I've got Langford's music CD of show tunes. I recommend anyone who's seen her to get ahold of a copy. It's terrific!

A wonderful start, with a first class cliffhanger at the end.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 9/10 · 27 December 2019]

The Doctor and new companion Mel land aboard Hyperion III, answering a distress call, and end up having to solve a murder.

It's been a while since we've had a space whodunnit, the last probably Robots of Death. Overall I'm not a huge fan of Terror of The Vervoids, but this first episode I have always loved. It has a murder mystery feel, it's a real change in direction, it works so well early on here. Even Colin's had a slightly toned down waistcoat, all the better for it.

The Trial itself is now beginning to get serious, the tone in the courtroom is less frivolous than in the earlier ones.

Mel is great also, a terrific start for her, and I just love Honor Blackman, hard to believe she's sixty here.

Best of all, is that great big, explosive cliffhanger, the best the show had had for many years, brilliant.

I'm a little less confident with later episodes, but Part one is hard to fault. 9/10

The Trial of a Time Lord: Part Nine

[Prismark10 · 4/10 · 11 August 2019]

It is murder in space Agatha Christie style in The Terror of the Vervoids as the Doctor conducts his defence and goes to future events on board of a space liner Hyperion III.

The story marks the first appearance of new companion Mel (Bonnie Langford.) As the Doctor just plonks out a story from his future, we have no idea how she met the Doctor. Mel is getting the Doctor to exercise and drink carrot juice. At least Bonnie Langford plays to her strength as a dancer. She was good at the aerobics type of things. When it came to acting she was soon to her default setting of scream and scream until I am sick. (Yes I am old enough to remember her from Just William.) I think it was only when she did Eastenders about 30 years later did Bonnie showed any signs of subtlety in her screen acting.

Al least Colin Baker managed to get a partial change of costume, a new waistcoat and it looks rather better on him. Oops he still has the horrendous overcoat and pants though.

As for the rest of the episode. Pip and Jane Baker introduce a whole slew of characters on the spaceship. An investigator has arrived incognito but he soon rumbled by an old man. Someone has sent a Mayday signal to the Tardis and the Doctor must respond but he thinks he might be the tethered goat for a hungry lion. At least the Doctor is more cautious here, a change in the character Colin Baker always said that he wanted his Doctor to have.

The person who may have called the Doctor has disappeared, looks like they met a grisly death. The ship also has some strange cargo. Plants laying dormant, with a lack of light there is no photosynthesis. Some seeds that have been stolen and something in the isolation room.

The cast includes Honor Blackman and Arthur Hewlett, both of them were in The Avengers. A couple of actors such as Malcolm Tierney give it an air of villainy.

Nothing much happens in this episode, it sets the scene in an introductory episode. It an interior based story, some dark corridors indicating menace but the director managed to do a few shots of the ship in space.

Terror of the Vervoids

[A_Kind_Of_CineMagic · 5/10 · 21 September 2019]

Review of Parts 9 to 12 of Trial of a Timelord:

This is the third segment of The Trial of a Timelord. This segment which spans parts 9 to 12 of the season long arc is known as Terror of the Vervoids.

The ongoing story of the trial (where The Doctor is charged with interference and causing death) flashes back and fore with the story of the Vervoids which is shown by The Doctor as evidence in his defense. Script editor Eric Saward and producer John Nathan-Turner stuck with the original idea of having segments representing past, present and future so commisioned Pip and Jane Baker to write this story involving events from the Doctor's future being used as evidence. Sadly that makes no sense at all and the Bakers are not good enough writers to carry it off.

Of all the stuff the Doctor could have presented in his defense he supposedly chooses events from his future that he has 'researched' in a break in the trial. This is presented as him trying to show he will change for the better. It is silly. He should clearly show evidence of why his interference in events he knows well in the past have been beneficial and justified. The story we get has him joined by a 'future' companion Mel as they visit a spacecraft which has a kind of health farm aspect and discovering murders and mayhem which involves humans up to no good and plant creatures 'the Vervoids' becoming a danger. This illogical use of future events is a big minus and leads to complications which culminate in the final episode as we see that using this as evidence in his defense was the dumbest idea ever, even if that evidence had not been tampered with (which it is suggested it may have been).

The story starts off with the obviously weird use of future evidence and with a silly health farm and exercise theme. Other than that the first episode is not too bad. It has some mystery and potential to be OK. It is decently acted with Honor Blackman guest starring. Colin Baker is thankfully showing his warm, caring and likable personality rather than the unfortunate 'dark side' that had been pushed in various stories. The nicer 6th Doctor and a friendly banter with Mel is a very welcome aspect and a big plus throughout the story. Bonnie Langford is fine as Mel in this story seeming quite resourceful and bright but is made to do some annoying 'personal trainer' material on occasion and scream loudly on a number of occasions which is annoying.

The second episode is the best I feel as the mystery elements and the relationship of 6 and Mel is at its peak. The trial aspects are also decent at this point. In the third episode things start to fall apart a bit as the plot gets way over complicated and messy and the silliness of the use of this future evidence becomes more apparent. The Vervoids are also not well realised with unimpressive appearance, unclear motivation and inadequate voices. These issues increase in final episode with the uncomfortable, foolish addition of the Doctor appearing to commit 'genocide' and being accused of this on top of his other supposed crimes. It is claimed evidence has been tampered with but why on Earth would any of these events act in his defence as opposed to all the heroic events in his life he could have shown?

Overall this is a weak story with garish tasteless sets, illogical plot aspects, messy action and uninspired dialogue. The positives are the characterisation of the Doctor by Colin, his relationship with Mel, the mystery elements, a few decent scenes, Lynda Bellingham and Michael Jayston in the trial and Honor Blackman's graceful guest role. The dialogue and action in the first 3 episodes are nothing special at all but not awful apart from the idea of using the future events. The 4th episodes matches some of the least appealing Doctor Who episodes as it is a mess with very unwise story choices.

My ratings: Episode 1 - 4.5/10, Episode 2 - 6/10, Episode 3 - 4.5/10, Episode 4 - 3/10. Overall - 4.5/10.