Writing a story arc into
Doctor Who that would last an entire season seemed like a revolutionary concept
back in 1978 when the Key to Time arc began production. While now it’s something that happens every
season but before then there had really only been one season with a central
theme connecting the stories, which was Season 8 with the Master appearing in
every story as the villain. Graham
Williams had an enormous task on his shoulders getting a writer to open the arc
and do so in a manner that would keep the audience coming back for more. So he got Robert Holmes in with one of his
more underrated efforts to open the season with The Ribos Operation. The
opening ten minutes of the story are dedicated to the setting up of the arc
with the TARDIS being dragged off course by the White Guardian who has a task
for the Doctor. The forces that run the
universe have decided that it is time for just a moment the universe must stop
and have a reset. So this can happen the
Doctor must travel the six segments of the Key to Time, a perfect cube, which
are hidden across time and space. He is given
a young Time Lady, Romana, as an assistant and sent off to find the first segment,
which is hidden on the planet Ribos.
Ribos as a planet is
interesting as it goes through two seasons after several years, one that is
warm and one that is cold. Now most of
the story really just has the Doctor and Romana being interested in their
mission to collect the first segment of the Key to Time while political drama
is playing out around them. The plot I
said was one of Robert Holmes’s more underrated scripts as its simplicity and
easy to see goals along with a script brimming with a good mix of comedy and
drama that allows the four episodes of the story to fly by without much
notice. There really are only two big
problems with the story, and they are still pretty small in comparison to the
rest of the story. First of all the
opening scenes introducing Romana to the Doctor are a bit poorly directed. One moment Romana is standing, the next kneeling
down, and the next standing again. It’s
the editing that really makes the scene’s pace feel very much off from the rest
of the episode and jars from shot to shot with some of the jokes landing and
others missing the mark. Second the
effects for the Shrivenzale or however you spell it just reeks of Doctor Who
needs monsters so let’s just stuff in a monster for good measure. That’s really the big problem as the costume’s
talons and claws look like they’re ready to fall off.
Tom Baker as the Doctor
and Mary Tamm as Romana are really the ones having the time of their lives as
the search for the first segment of the Key to Time is the main plot of the
episode. They’re the ones investigating
Ribos and looking for it, while the con artistry goes on around them. Part One has the Doctor and Romana really go
off at each other as they don’t want to admit they’re just as smart as one
another. It’s this great dynamic that
allows the characters to grow into the standard Doctor/companion relationship without
really having any of the traditional trappings of those types of stories. The Doctor also interacts with the rest of the
cast extremely well just by using his manic eyes. The Doctor also gets to have the last word
when it comes to the end of the story which is extremely interesting as he has
to actively kill the villain which is taken very lightly and defiantly. Mary Tamm’s first impression as Romana is
also great as she comes across as extremely pompous. That was the point of the production and she
has her ego deflated over the course of the story which really does make her feel
like a deep character, even if the best of her is yet to come. John Leeson voicing K9 doesn’t have too much
to do in this story which works pretty well considering this is an icy cold
planet so there isn’t any reason to bring him out too much. The White Guardian played by Cyril Luckham
also gets to have his one scene that is genuinely good. The costume design by June Hudson must be
applauded as the Guardian has this otherworldly atmosphere which is down to the
odd costuming decisions.
The plot on Ribos
involves Garron and Unstoffe, two con artists, conning the Graff Vynda-K, an
alien prince disinherited from a galactic war, into thinking Ribos is great in
Jethrik, the most valuable mineral in the universe. The con artist plot is again very simple and
easy to follow, but is filled with brilliant characters that allow for a good
story. Garron and Unstoffe, played by
Iain Cuthbertson and Nigel Plaskitt respectively, are one of Holmes’s famous
double acts that stick in your minds. They’re
con artists, yet they almost think they’ve got this heart of gold and are
really just pulling the wool over the eyes of the extremely gullible. They don’t mean any harm and end the story
very much alive, but without anything to their name. Unstoffe also gets to
interact with this minor character, Binro, who is an example of how backwards
Ribos is, that just gets this emotional scene that is excellent. The villain of the story is the Graff Vynda-K
who is extremely shouty and a hammy delight.
He’s a spoiled brat who slowly becomes unhinged over the course of the
story into a complete madman which is just fun to watch.
To summarize, The Ribos Operation is a classic story
that is often overlooked by a lot of people and opens the Key to Time with
brilliance. There are some minor flaws,
but quite a lot of things really do make up for a lot of the lackluster stuff
in the story. The acting is great, the
story is simple and effective, Dudley Simpson’s score is actually pretty good
for a late Tom Baker score, and the characters will make you wish to come back
for more. If only some of the effects
were better and the first episode had the magic of computer editing. 92/100.
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