Snakedance

Alright, here we are again, faithful viewer! Continuing with our twentieth anniversary spectacular, let’s see what enemy from the past graces our screens this time. Here’s hoping it’s a good one.

When we join Our Heroes on the TARDIS, we learn that Tegan’s been having bad dreams. It seems she still hasn’t recovered from her encounter with the Mara back on Deva Loka. The Doctor, trying to draw the Mara’s influence out of her, find the cave that Tegan has been dreaming about, on the planet Manussa. However, while trying to cure Tegan, he accidentally brings the spirit of the Mara to life inside her. The Mara takes over Tegan’s body, just as before, and takes off for parts unknown.

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And now for the irony. While all this is happing, the people in the capitol city on Manussa are preparing for a festival that celebrates the banishment of the Mara from the planet. The Federator’s lazy son, Lon, is supposed to be presiding over the festivities and taking part in the ritual–known as the Snakedance–that commemorates the Mara’s banishment. Instead, poor Lon gets possessed by the Mara as well, and he and Tegan become the Mara’s puppets as it tries to manifest into a corporeal form once again. The Doctor, fortunately, has had experience fighting the Mara, but he is at a severe disadvantage this time. While he knows exactly what the Mara is capable of, nobody else on Manussa is willing to help him, because none of them believe that the Mara is real.

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I’ll be honest, faithful viewer, this serial was not nearly as good as “Kinda.” “Kinda” had the benefit of being totally unprecedented, not to mention unexpected by the viewers, while this serial feels like the unsuccessful sequel to a brilliant movie. It’s the “Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey” of Doctor Who serials. A good idea, but probably unworthy of the follow-through.

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Well, perhaps that’s a bit unfair. While it wasn’t very good as a sequel, on its own it was a pretty decent story. The creep-factor was definitely raised, and that’s something you need to do when you’re dealing with the Mara–you can’t ever allow yourself to become complacent with a villain that delicious. The shots of snake skulls on the shoulders of human bodies were inspired–worthy, I think, of a Neil Gaiman story. And Janet Fielding still rocks that evil-Tegan vibe, which made this one really fun to watch.

Photo credit, stagevu.com

Prince Lon was also fairly entertaining. Martin Clunes, the young man who played him, seems to have studied at the James Spader school of acting, and plays Lon as the most indolent brat who ever wore silk robes to a country fair. Another standout was Chela, a fresh-faced scholar who seems to be the only person on the entire planet willing to entertain the notion that the Doctor’s suspicions about the Mara may just be correct. And there was an interesting little interlude about a traditional headdress worn during the Snakedance. It’s known as the Six Faces of Delusion, but it’s only got five faces carved into it–the sixth face, as the Doctor points out, is the Face of Delusion, and is also the wearer’s own face. A clever moment, for sure…but why wouldn’t the Manussans have figured that out by now? Do they not have peer-reviewed research on their planet?

Really, what lets this serial down is the sets. It was clear that the designers were trying to up the ante as far as production value was concerned, but it didn’t quite work, unfortunately. The whole look of the thing never stopped seeming a bit flat.

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And before I sign off, I’d just like to say that the whole bit with the mystic the Doctor seeks out for help against the Mara was completely random and actually kind of dodgy. The mystic won’t simply tell the Doctor what to do to defeat the Mara–he makes the Doctor get bitten by a snake whose venom acts as a hallucinogenic. Once the Doctor starts tripping his head off, then the mystic starts rattling off a series of riddles that are hopefully intended to help the Doctor save Tegan and kill the Mara.

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The Doctor on acid–honestly, not sure what to think about that.

All in all, I kind of wish this episode wasn’t about the Mara. The thing about the Mara is that it’s such a powerful enemy, it works best if you only face it once. Facing it time after time makes it seem a bit campy, honestly. Campier even that poor Michael Clunes’ Snakedance garb.

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And with that, faithful viewer, I say good-bye until next time.

Stay tuned ’til next time, faithful viewer, when we say hello to two companions, one old and one brand-new…