Release CalendarTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersEmmysSTARmeter AwardsSan Diego Comic-ConNew York Comic-ConSundance Film FestivalToronto Int'l Film FestivalAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Doctor Who
S21.E21
All episodes
All
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

The Twin Dilemma: Part One

  • Episode aired Mar 22, 1984
  • 25m
IMDb RATING
5.4/10
412
YOUR RATING
Kevin McNally in Doctor Who (1963)
AdventureDramaFamily
The Doctor's moods are wide and in a jumble as he settles into his new regeneration. Elsewhere a set of genius twins are kidnapped, whose mathematical computations can manipulate features of... Read allThe Doctor's moods are wide and in a jumble as he settles into his new regeneration. Elsewhere a set of genius twins are kidnapped, whose mathematical computations can manipulate features of the universe. They're immediately put to work by aliens for an as yet unknown end.The Doctor's moods are wide and in a jumble as he settles into his new regeneration. Elsewhere a set of genius twins are kidnapped, whose mathematical computations can manipulate features of the universe. They're immediately put to work by aliens for an as yet unknown end.
IMDb RATING
5.4/10
412
YOUR RATING
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Director
      • Peter Moffatt
    • Writers
      • Anthony Steven(by)
      • Sydney Newman(uncredited)
    • Stars
      • Colin Baker
      • Nicola Bryant
      • Maurice Denham
    Top credits
    • Director
      • Peter Moffatt
    • Writers
      • Anthony Steven(by)
      • Sydney Newman(uncredited)
    • Stars
      • Colin Baker
      • Nicola Bryant
      • Maurice Denham
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 7User reviews
    • 4Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • Photos

    Colin Baker, Maurice Denham, Gavin Conrad, and Andrew Conrad in Doctor Who (1963)
    Add photo

    Top cast

    Edit
    Colin Baker
    Colin Baker
    • The Doctor
    Nicola Bryant
    Nicola Bryant
    • Peri
    Maurice Denham
    Maurice Denham
    • Edgeworth…
    Kevin McNally
    Kevin McNally
    • Hugo Lang
    Edwin Richfield
    Edwin Richfield
    • Mestor
    Dennis Chinnery
    • Sylvest
    Barry Stanton
    Barry Stanton
    • Noma
    Oliver Smith
    Oliver Smith
    • Drak
    Helen Blatch
    • Fabian
    Dione Inman
    • Elena
    Gavin Conrad
    • Romulus
    Andrew Conrad
    • Remus
    Sarah Best
    • Ops Room Technician
    • (uncredited)
    John Clamp
    • Ops Room Technician
    • (uncredited)
    Graham Cole
    • Jacondan
    • (uncredited)
    Les Conrad
    • Mestor's Guard
    • (uncredited)
    Mike Mungarvan
    Mike Mungarvan
    • Jacondan
    • (uncredited)
    Keith Norrish
    • Ops Room Technician
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Peter Moffatt
    • Writers
      • Anthony Steven(by)
      • Sydney Newman(uncredited)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant had a frosty start to their relationship. Bryant had been nervous about suddenly becoming the senior member of the regular cast, and Baker had mistaken this for aloofness on her part.
    • Goofs
      Mestor refers to Azmael as "Edgeworth"; while Azmael was going under that name to keep his real identity secret from the twins, there was no reason for Mestor to use the phony name. Even if necessary to keep his identity secret from the viewer, Mestor could have simply called him "Professor" or something similar.
    • Quotes

      The Doctor: I am a living peril to the universe!

    • Connections
      Featured in The Chronic Rift: Doctor Who (1990)

    User reviews7

    Review
    Top review
    1/10
    " Assassin " . Yes Indeed And He's The Show's Producer
    On a future Earth two twins are abducted by the mysterious Professor Edgeworth . Meanwhile a newly regenerated Doctor is shown signs of being dangerously erratic , a fact underlined when he tries to strangle Peri

    If you don't think DOCTOR WHO is the greatest show television has ever given us let me point out the beauty of the show . One week you're watching an episode that is an out and out horror story then the next week you're watching a post modernist black comedy . Despite my criticism of NuWho the one thing it does very well is that it's a show of contrasts . The classic show also did this and the tail end of Season 21 is a great example . One story earns the accolade of being an all time classic and is followed by an atrocity of television

    It's strange how perceptions change . I thoroughly enjoyed The Caves Of Androzani in 1984 but looked forward to seeing Colin Baker in the role . You have to be slightly forgiving in that the debut story sees an atypical performance by the title character in the role . One scene featured the new Doctor cowardly hide behind Peri and bleat " It's her you're looking for " which caused my Mum to say she didn't like this new Doctor . I defended the new Doctor on the grounds that it's a regeneration story and not indicative where the show is going . Another scene saw the Doctor scream " Assassin " then try to strangle Prof Edgeworth which caused my dad to tut unfavourably then after the episode finished gave his opinion on the sixth Doctor " Being a load of ( expletive ) " After rewatching this show I'm surprised I defended it at the time and I'm perplexed how I never managed the notice the embarrassing faults at the time of broadcast

    What makes it worse is that it contains a very good cast . Maurice Denham is a veteran actor and has appeared in countless films and television plays as well as being a highly regarded stage actor . In 1984 he must have been one of Britain's highest regarded actors and yet is nothing more than merely average here . That said he's Oscar worthy compared to everyone else . Kevin McNally did go on to become a prolific character actor and has appeared in Hollywood blockbusters like PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN but seems to think he's appearing on kids TV show and he's not helped by his silvery multi-coloured costume . In the fact whole colour scheme of the serial is vomit inducing and shows that director Peter Moffat should only have been allowed to film pseudo-historical stories for the programme which was something he always excelled at

    The main flaw to the story is unfortunately the lead actor who feels the need to shout and bluster and over act at every opportunity . It's amazing to think how much praise Matt Smith got in the role when his loud zany performance isn't a million miles away from Colin Baker . That said towards the end of his era fandom did become cool towards Smith while some fans who initially enjoyed him started to get vocal in their criticism . Smith might have been helped by the cinematic nature of NuWho which does tend to disguise performance short comings . Shot on studio videotape and broadcast on 625 line television a loud unconvincing pantomimesque performance as seen by Baker here is magnified

    One wonders what sort of comments could be read online if the internet existed away back in 1984 but one could make a very educated guess . The Twin Dilemma received instant and universal criticism on its broadcast and every time it's mentioned it's along the lines of the worst DOCTOR WHO story ever . JNT always seemed to have a problem finishing a season with a strong story but here he really outdid himself . I wouldn't go as far as saying it's the worst DOCTOR WHO story because there's another couple of stories produced in the mid to late 1980s that are worse but The Twin Dilemma might very well be the worst story to the show had come up with at this point
    helpful•9
    6
    • Theo Robertson
    • Feb 1, 2014

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • March 22, 1984 (United Kingdom)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Official site
      • BBC (United Kingdom)
    • Language
      • English
    • Production company
      • British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      25 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.33 : 1

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    • IMDb Answers: Help fill gaps in our data
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    View list
    List
    The Best Movies and Shows to Watch in August
    See the full list
    View list
    List
    Fall TV Guide: The Best Shows Coming This Year
    See the full list
    View image
    Photos
    Double Take: Celebrity Twins
    See the full list

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Back to top
    Get the IMDb App
    Sign in for more access
    Sign in for more access
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Interest-Based Ads
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2022 by IMDb.com, Inc.