It is fitting that between reviewing Mindwarp
and Terror of the Vervoids a lengthy period of time and upheaval occurred
as it mirrors the state of the Doctor Who Production Team. Originally to be split into three stories,
two linked written by David Halliwell and Jack Trevor Story respectively and a
final story by Robert Holmes. Both writers
were rejected and the episodes reallocated to two stories, a four-part story
where the Doctor provides his defense and a two-part final battle. Christopher H. Bidmead was contacted for the first
story, but dropped out and was replaced by P.J. Hammond’s Paradise Five
who made it to a final script before being rejected. Then tragedy struck: Robert Holmes passed
away on 24 May 1986 before completing Part Fourteen of The Trial of a Time
Lord, script editor Eric Saward finished from Holmes’ notes, however
arguments with producer John Nathan-Turner over the ending and nature of the
Valeyard led to Saward quitting before script editing was complete on the
entire six episode block that comprised Serial 7C on 4 June 1986. As production on 7C, the serial which became The
Ultimate Foe and the story being covered today, Terror of the Vervoids,
was set to begin in two weeks, there was no time to find a replacement so
producer John Nathan-Turner took over Saward’s duties so the production could
continue on schedule.
Terror of the Vervoids,
commissioned as a last-minute replacement for Paradise Five, comes from
the minds of Pip and Jane Baker who contributed The Mark of the Rani the
previous year and received the brief of murder mystery in space. While The Mysterious Planet and Mindwarp
made liberal use of the trial sequences, Terror of the Vervoids should
be praised for using them sparingly as the Valeyard allows the Doctor to dig
his own grave and the Doctor objects to the Matrix apparently being tampered
with. Like Mindwarp, there are scenes
here that the Doctor insist are wrong: they are different from when he viewed
them to prepare his own evidence. That
evidence is the Doctor and future companion Melanie’s interference on the
Hyperion III space liner. Responding to
a mayday they arrive as murders begin occurring. There is a man who is lying about his
identity and an agronomist transporting some plants that prove to be a danger
to the existence of the human race. The
Bakers’ script is complete pulp, taking bits from mystery writers like Agatha
Christie and scientific terms to flesh out the villains to create a script that
is in desperate need of an editor. John Nathan-Turner
does the best job he can, but the structure of the murder mystery is poor: there
are several red herrings but none of them actually add up to anything of note
and the murderer is obvious from the first scene. The fatal flaw of the script is that the
Bakers attempt to craft a mystery where you can go back and figure out who
committed the murders, but lack the subtlety of crafting clues and good misdirects.
While the murder mystery occurs in the foreground,
starting in the second episode the actual Vervoids begin working in the
background. For a story that is promoted
as Terror of the Vervoids, they actually do very little
terrorizing. Sure they kill people and
the bodies pile up, but the script and production doesn’t take the time to make
them feel like there is a real danger.
The tone of the story is inconsistent, adding more humor as per the BBC’s
request to get the show back on air. The
supporting cast essentially have one trait which is used mostly for humor with
the slight exception of Honor Blackman’s Professor Lasky. Lasky is good-natured and only brought to the
status of memorable character because of Blackman’s performance. The Vervoids themselves are struck by poor
design choices, their heads looking not like plants but a piece of female
anatomy. They bleed into the background
of generic Doctor Who villains who time will eventually forget. The killer plant storyline has been done
before and better in stories like The Seeds of Death and The Seeds of
Doom, with more inventive twists.
Their defeat is only in the last few minutes of the story, less than a
single episode after the Doctor becomes aware of their existence. While their existence is why Lasky is on
Hyperion III, their inclusion feels like an afterthought. The half-mutated lab assistant reveal at the end
of the second episode would have served much better, but sadly is relegated to
the women in refrigerators trope. She
gets a name, Ruth, but that’s about it.
Terror of the Vervoids
introduces Bonnie Langford as Melanie Bush, the companion to replace Peri. While promotional material would give her
full name and backstory as a computer programmer from 1986, the actual episodes
just have her there, fully intending to show her first meeting with the Doctor
at some point in the future. While the
script could have integrated this into the episode subtly, at the very least
mentioning she’s a computer programmer, it leaves Langford to endear herself to
the audience. Bonnie Langford has good
chemistry with Colin Baker, however, Mel as a character presented here is
fairly weak. Two of the episodes end
with her screams, tuned to the key of F as a talent Langford does. Langford acts the part well and Chris Clough’s
direction attempts to make the audience like her, but the script is too
weak. Overall, however, Terror of the
Vervoids can be summed up as bland.
It’s a murder mystery that is fairly boring and really held up by
performances from Colin Baker, Honor Blackman, and Bonnie Langford. The script was clearly rushed and little
editing was done creating an experience that is subpar, and a downward turn for
a season that was doing so well. 3/10.
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