Doctor Who (TV Series) Mawdryn Undead: Part Three (1983) User Reviews

And the Plot All Comes Together

[godzilla77 · 8/10 · 17 December 2015]

The two Brigadiers, the mutants trying to become Time Lords, the problem of the Black Guardian manipulating Turlough -- it all comes together and portends disaster for the Doctor.

Mawdryn's tragic fate ties to a faustian bargain he and his comrades made just as poor Turlough looks to be in for it with his agreement with the Black Guardian/Satan. The twists all fall into place and we do see David Collings (Mawdryn) once more a very dramatic guest star on Who (previously in Revenge of the Cybermen and Robots of Death), all tragic, all damaged. His voice and his bearing is never anything but classical heroics. He's the kind of actor born to play Hamlet in his 30s and Lear in his 60s.

"A metamorphic symbiosis regenerator" -- tragic Mawdryn was a cunning bloke to steal something from Gallifrey.

I love the ease in this story that the Doctor, newly more youthful and a fair way more innocent than he used to be, as portrayed by Tom Baker, has with Turlough. Davison always seems to allow the Fifth Doctor a charm of knowing far more than he's willing to say, a bit like the Troughton did as the Second Doctor. But in this story his ease with Turlough, right from the beginning, never seems actually too blithe. It's like he actually does know what's going on.

Some nice visuals.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 7/10 · 28 October 2019]

Tegan is suspicious as to whether the injured being is The Doctor, she has more sense then Nyssa and The Brigadier.

Very good once again, perhaps a bit of a dip from the previous two episodes, which were particularly good, this one feels a bit more static, with some quite long scenes. David Collings is excellent as Mawdryn I'll give him that, his appearance is incredible, but the standout for me here is Janet Fielding, the ever grumpy Tegan is on fine form here, and especially grumpy.

I have found the writing very impressive, I love Mawdryn's back story, and the details about the special equipment he stole from Galifrey.

Great music and gorgeous sets once again, it has a very art deco appearance. There's a nice special effects, The Black Guardian appearing as a statue. Favourite scene, where Mawdryn's fellow immortals glide into the control room, very visual.

Good part 3

[ianweech · 8/10 · 24 January 2021]

It's getting a bit confusing, but it's still a great episode. Well, this is the second best episode of the 5th doctors era. Good.

Brigadier Undimmed

[A_Kind_Of_CineMagic · 10/10 · 13 November 2019]

Review of all 4 parts:

This brilliant story sees the return of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, one of the most important friends in the Doctor's whole history and he returns in a full, very involved role not just a cameo. The story involves a complex plot with time travel/time loops which in modern day Whoniverse would be referred to as 'Timey Wimey'. It is brilliant.

The TARDIS arrives aboard an alien spaceship and The Doctor travels via a Transmat to Earth in 1983 but his companions following him in the TARDIS end up in the same place but in 1977. This brings about great, clever and interesting time related ideas with them meeting the Brigadier in both time periods and trying to reunite without the Brigadier meeting himself. There is only one flaw in the whole story which is that the 1977 period seems to clash with our understanding of the Brigadier's work with UNIT. It would have been better if they had used the Royal Wedding of 1981 rather than the Silver Jubilee of 1977 and maybe had a near future 1986 instead of 1983. Anyway it is insignificant compared to all the strengths of this adventure.

As well as the time travel to two Earth years with the Brigadier in both and the complexities that introduces we also get two other strong plot aspects. First is the Black Guardian arc which begins with the mysterious villain influencing a young man Turlough to try to kill the Doctor. This is given further depth by the mystery surrounding Turlough himself. It is extremely intriguing and well done. Turlough is a great character and the Black Guardian is a suitably menacing figure.

The other plot aspect is the alien travellers aboard the spaceship lead by Mawdryn. It brings further intriguing, exciting and sometimes macabre elements which further strengthen an already superb serial. Mawdryn himself is excellent and the events of all 3 plot threads move along fantastically well and come together cleverly.

The added effects in a later re-release add wonderful sheen to the already high production standards but most importantly the storyline, dialogue and acting is of the highest quality. There are intelligent ideas, thrilling scenes, absorbing drama, strong characters and great camaraderie. The return of the Brigadier is a master-stroke with Nicholas Courtney as wonderful as ever.

In addition to the Brigadier and new companion Turlough we get a top level performance from Peter Davison as The Doctor. Tegan and Nyssa are OK and are used well.

Overall this is a 10/10 classic across all 4 episodes.

Not really getting any better.

[poolandrews · 5/10 · 8 June 2008]

Doctor Who: Mawdryn Undead: Part Three starts in 1977 as Mawdryn (David Collins) convinces Tegan (Janet Fielding) & Nyssa (Sarah Sutton) to take him back to his ship using the TARDIS, the Brifadier (Nicholas Courtney) goes along for the ride too. Back in 1983 the Brigadier tells the Doctor (Peter Davison) that Tegan gave him a TARDIS homing device which the Doctor uses in the transmat pod to get back to the orbiting ship with the Brigadier & Turlough (Mark Strickson) at the time the TARDIS from 1977 is there, there the Doctor meets up with Tegan & Nyssa. They also meet up with the alien race who built the ship & learn that eight were exiled on it after stealing Timelord technology to perpetually regenerate themselves, but something went wrong & they constantly mutate...

Episode 11 from season 20 this Doctor Who adventure originally aired here in the UK during February 1983, after two rather forgettable & lacklustre episodes things don't really improve with Part Three. The script had introduced the two time-line gimmick in Part Two & I had hoped something clever & original with the idea might have been done but it only turned out to be a basic ploy to separate the Doctor & his companions, here in this episode they all meet back up again & the two distinct stories developing in two different time-lines has been abandoned & it's business as usual. This episode is nearly all exposition, the nonsense about using the transmat pod to get back to the ship & Mawdryn explaining who he is & what he wants. Part Three is nothing more than character's wandering around in corridors & lots of sci-fi exposition which you may find interesting but on the other hand may find utterly tedious & doesn't make a blind bit of sense, it will largely depend on your disposition & if you like silly sci-fi in general I suppose. Having said that I did quite like the idea of Mawdryn & his fellow aliens just wanting to die after endless mutating regenerations, while it's not particularly scary or threatening or exciting it's something a bit different to the usual standard alien that wants to take over Earth &/or the Universe Doctor Who plot. That doesn't automatically make it good but it is different if nothing else & the evil companion angle in Turlough also adds a different aspect.

This episode sees Mawdryn & his people exposed in more ways than one, it seems someone has taken the tops of their skulls off & their pulsating brains are seen. I know that sounds gruesome but the make-up job isn't great & at first I just thought it was a silly looking hat! It's quite a ghoulish idea but doesn't come across as disgusting or scary. Surprisingly there hasn't been a single rubber monster in Mawdryn Undead, as usual the alien race is completely humanoid save for some ridiculous outfits & hair styles. There hasn't really been a lot of optical effects either, it's odd that we don't even get to see the exterior of the spaceship to set the scene. The interior of the ship reminds me a lot of the sets from Arc of Infinity (1983) the first story of the twentieth season.

Mawdryn Undead: Part Three is an episode that you will like if you enjoy silly sci-fi exposition that doesn't make a whole lot of sense, if your looking for a bit of fun & entertainment then you can skip this one.