Two Episodes (45mins each)
Aired between 19th January 1985 and 26th January 1985
Written by: Phillip Martin
Produced by: John Nathan-Turner
Directed by: Ron Jones
Synopsis
On a planet called Varos in the constellation of Cetus, a pair of citizens called Etta and Arrak watch the condemnation and execution of a rebel leader called Jondar live on TV.
It's a form of reality television that the citizens are obviously used to the brutality as Arrak complains at the lack of anything new to watch. Just like reality TV, there are also live public votes, but these are mandatory.
Meanwhile, on the TARDIS, the Doctor is still tinkering and maybe as a direct result, the ship stops in deep space and shuts down, refusing to move due to a lack of a vital element, a quantity of ore known as Zeiton-7. The ore only comes from one place - Varos.
Back on Varos, prices on the ore are being negotiated with Sil, a reptillian representative of the Galtron Mining Corporation.
The governor of Varos is playing hard ball, even though he has no appreciation of the fact that the corporation are already getting the ore woefully cheap. The difficulty is that because of this, his planet has little money and people are having to ration food. As part of the ruling process, the Governor is forced to submit to a public vote for the will of the people. He asks them if he should hold out for a better price on Zeiton ore, but the vote goes against him and he is hit by a human cell disintegration beam.
The beam severely weakens him and gives him one last chance to turn things around. The Governor's guard, Bax, recommends that he kill Jondar to gain popularity with the citizens.
The Doctor, after a lot of sulking and proclaiming they're doomed to die in deep space alone, manages to repair the TARDIS just long enough to get it to Varos.
He arrives in the area of Jondar's execution. The guard stationed there thinks they're hallucinations when they turn up as there's an odd technology that causes them in the area. The Doctor deals with the guard and frees Jondar. They're forced to run away as more guards show up and are ultimately rescued by a defecting guard and Areta, Jondar's partner. They go through the punishment dome, being televised all the way to Sil's pleasure. They pass through hallucinations, but are ultimately captured again and the Doctor is caught in a deadly vision of a desert which makes his body believe he's dying of thirst and heat exhaustion.
Perri is taken to the Governor and questioned. Elsewhere, the Doctor is believed dead and taken to an acid pool where bodies are dumped. He recovers (being a time lord and not a mere human) and accidentally startles the guards who fall into the acid.
He takes his leave and goes to find Perri. It's not long before he's captured again and taken to the Governor.
Once together, it's decided that Jondar and the Doctor will be hung, and Perri and Areta will be mutated by a machine that takes your thoughts and turns them into horrifying twisted reality. These fates are carried out, but just before the hangman releases the trapdoor, the Doctor figures out that Sil is manipulating and undercutting the price of Zeiton and explains to the Governor.
The trapdoor opens and they fall through, the ends of the ropes not being attached. Perri and Areta however are not so lucky and are changed into a bird and a reptile respectively.
As it happens though, the Doctor steals a gun from a guard and shoots the control panel, reversing their effects in the nick of time.
Once more, Perri is captured but the Governor takes pity on her. Unfortunately, he is out of time and hasn't managed to get a good deal from Sil and the underhanded Chief. He submits to the public vote and Etta and Arrak watch as he is bombarded by the disintegrator again, likely for the last time.
The guard with them defects however and stops the machine, allowing the Governor to live. Together, they all escape and meet up with the Doctor again.
They find some sentient, poisonous plant life in the end of the punishment dome and hide in it. The Chief officer and other corrupt members of the regime head into the tendrils to capture and kill the Doctor and co and are killed by the poisonous plant.
Sil's plan is thwarted, as there is suddenly another source of Zeiton 7 ore found and the Galtron Mining Corporation orders him to make a deal at any price. The Governor is in a position to re-negotiate for the better and promises to end the brutality of the Reality TV Governorship.
The Doctor is gifted some Zeiton 7 ore and he and Perri go off into the sunset.
Trivia
- As you'll know if you've watched this story, there's nothing in it about vengeance. The title was chosen for the alliteration that matched the double V logo of the regime
- The original concept of Sil was for him to be in the fish tank, but it was too complicated and difficult to achieve at the time.
- Actor Nabil Shaban who played Sil came up with his trademark laugh after handling his friends pet snake (easy, I mean a real snake). He watched its tongue flicking in and out and incorporated it into his persona, and voila.
- The "Marsh Minnows" he eats are peaches dyed green. He ate so many of them that they made him ill in a way that he needed the toilet, unfortunately, the costume he was in was very difficult for him to actually use one!
- There was complaints received on this story about how violent it was. In fact, one Radio Times reader wrote in that it "exceeded the horrors of the holocaust!" The writer took pride in the bad review and had it blown up and placed on his toilet wall
The Reveiw
Over the course of twenty two seasons, we've become accustomed to a few Doctor Who stories that are essentially good, but either make no sense, or have humongous plot holes in them. Vengeance on Varos is one of these stories.
What makes it good is more about the ambience and tone of the story than anything that happens. It is shot darker than much of the classic stories, the regime is as brutal and ruthless as the Kaleds and it does a very good job of showing the price of rebelling against a dictatorship and the consequence of corruption in the higher ranks.
It cannot also be ignored that Sil is the last, truly good villain of original origin. His look is perfect, his mannerisms and quirks are great and Nabil is just a good actor so sells it very well.
Conversely, the things that let this story down are more about the plot itself and the logic of it. For example, if Varos was the only place to get Zeiton 7, how come they're selling it so low price to Galtron? It cannot possibly be the case that they're the only company that has come to use it. Also, why is the Chief backstabbing the Governor by driving down the price of the ore, when he has to live on that planet too? Wouldn't he starve with the rest? Well, it's implied that Sil will see him alright, but it would be a very obvious move and one that would get the Chief killed when others see how much he has.
Finally, the two and fro of the Doctor and Perri getting captured and escaping grows a little tiresome by the end, it was obviously filler to draw out the episode times to 45 mins.
The story is on point or perhaps even ahead of its time, like 1984, predicting the harshness of the government and the problems of reality TV, but to really enjoy it, there is some suspension of disbelief needed.
Rating
7 out of 10
Re-Watchability Factor
7 out of 10
Watch this if you liked...
- 1984
- Mindwarp (Trial of a Timelord Episodes 5-8)
- The Happiness Patrol
- Bad Wolf (Doctor Who, Series 1)
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