Refers to all four episodes . Suggestive spoilers
Falling in to E-Space the Tardis crew find they may not be able to escape . Their problems are compounded when they land on the Planet Alzaruis and come across a crashed space liner . The humans aboard the liner say they're descended from the original survivors on board and during a period called Mistfall the inhabitants of the planet dubbed Marsh men emerge from the swamps to stalk the humans . As it turns out Mistfall is not only due but now taking place
This was written by a 19 year old fan from Edinburgh but as you may expect it doesn't contain any type of fan continuity and works because it doesn't contain any anally retentive fan continuity . Instead Andrew Smith has written a very intelligent and tightly scripted tale that remains in the camp of hard SF ideas , especially ones involving biology and evolution . That said it does owe something to the Gothic era of DOCTOR WHO and the episode one cliffhanger is amongst the very best the show has given us and I do remember watching this in 1980 thinking the show was getting back at what the show did best - sending children to hide behind the sofa
All the cliffhangers are very well developed and much of the credit should go to director Peter Grimwade for bringing a moody atmospheric story to screen and shows the audience how simple it is to bring an alien planet to life by borrowing a BBC smoke machine from the TOP OF THE POPS studio and shooting a scene beside a large pond . Did someone mention that every planet from the show is filmed in a quarry in Surrey ? Watch this story and it'll hopefully change your mind . Where the director falls down slightly is in the Marsh Spiders which look like exactly what they are - robotic model work though to be fair big hairy tarantulas weren't allowed to be produced since that'd be too scary for a family friendly show . Dare I say for some of us being absolutely terrified is the reason we watch the show ? That said it's flippant to complain about a lack of horror when we have a cerebral story that is replete with atmosphere especially compared to the preceeding years under Graham Williams . Perhaps the fact it is so intelligent damages the story somewhat and instead of low brow thrills we get a massive plot twist which while admirable does leave one thinking the narrative might have done with a few more thrills
The cast are slightly uneven . Once again we see a big name appearing in the show in the shape of George Baker amongst actors who are just starting out in the trade . This was another production quirk of JNT and was rather hit and miss . One of the problems of this is having a band of outsiders composed of juvenile delinquents who are very much these RADA trained juvenile delinquents who never come across as being anything other than young middle class thespians . I'm guessing Ray Winstone and Phil Daniels weren't available ? Somewhat typically the worst actor in the production just happens to be the character joining the TARDIS crew on a permanent basis
In summary Full Circle is a good story that mixes old fashioned traditional chills with very intelligent plotting and makes for a very enjoyable story that would have appealed to casual viewers . The only problem was that when it was broadcast all the casual viewers were watching Buck Rogers on ITV
Falling in to E-Space the Tardis crew find they may not be able to escape . Their problems are compounded when they land on the Planet Alzaruis and come across a crashed space liner . The humans aboard the liner say they're descended from the original survivors on board and during a period called Mistfall the inhabitants of the planet dubbed Marsh men emerge from the swamps to stalk the humans . As it turns out Mistfall is not only due but now taking place
This was written by a 19 year old fan from Edinburgh but as you may expect it doesn't contain any type of fan continuity and works because it doesn't contain any anally retentive fan continuity . Instead Andrew Smith has written a very intelligent and tightly scripted tale that remains in the camp of hard SF ideas , especially ones involving biology and evolution . That said it does owe something to the Gothic era of DOCTOR WHO and the episode one cliffhanger is amongst the very best the show has given us and I do remember watching this in 1980 thinking the show was getting back at what the show did best - sending children to hide behind the sofa
All the cliffhangers are very well developed and much of the credit should go to director Peter Grimwade for bringing a moody atmospheric story to screen and shows the audience how simple it is to bring an alien planet to life by borrowing a BBC smoke machine from the TOP OF THE POPS studio and shooting a scene beside a large pond . Did someone mention that every planet from the show is filmed in a quarry in Surrey ? Watch this story and it'll hopefully change your mind . Where the director falls down slightly is in the Marsh Spiders which look like exactly what they are - robotic model work though to be fair big hairy tarantulas weren't allowed to be produced since that'd be too scary for a family friendly show . Dare I say for some of us being absolutely terrified is the reason we watch the show ? That said it's flippant to complain about a lack of horror when we have a cerebral story that is replete with atmosphere especially compared to the preceeding years under Graham Williams . Perhaps the fact it is so intelligent damages the story somewhat and instead of low brow thrills we get a massive plot twist which while admirable does leave one thinking the narrative might have done with a few more thrills
The cast are slightly uneven . Once again we see a big name appearing in the show in the shape of George Baker amongst actors who are just starting out in the trade . This was another production quirk of JNT and was rather hit and miss . One of the problems of this is having a band of outsiders composed of juvenile delinquents who are very much these RADA trained juvenile delinquents who never come across as being anything other than young middle class thespians . I'm guessing Ray Winstone and Phil Daniels weren't available ? Somewhat typically the worst actor in the production just happens to be the character joining the TARDIS crew on a permanent basis
In summary Full Circle is a good story that mixes old fashioned traditional chills with very intelligent plotting and makes for a very enjoyable story that would have appealed to casual viewers . The only problem was that when it was broadcast all the casual viewers were watching Buck Rogers on ITV