Terminus

So, things are getting dicey here on Doctor Who, faithful viewer. We’ve now got a companion in the TARDIS who is conspiring to kill the Doctor on the orders of the Black Guardian. Tensions on the TARDIS haven’t been this high since Ian, Barbara, and Susan all thought they were going to kill each other in “The Edge of Destruction.” It seems almost incredible that we’re still going to have an adventure with that being the state of things, and yet here we are, duking it out with alien civilizations once again. This show doesn’t do things by halves, does it?

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While our new companion Turlough pokes around the TARDIS, The Doctor lands on what appears to be an abandoned spaceship. Of course, since this is Doctor Who, it’s actually not abandoned; in fact, it’s full of people suffering from Lazars disease (think leprosy times a zillion), and it’s on its way to a place called Terminus. Allegedly, a cure for Lazars disease exists there, but no one has ever come back from Terminus alive. With the unlikely help of two pirates, the Doctor has to save his companions from the deadly disease, stop the corruption in Terminus Inc. that is killing so many people…oh yeah, and also stop the ship from blowing up the Universe.

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It’s very rare that we deal with drug addiction on this show, faithful viewer. Incest, murder, and torture, yes, but drugs are far too icky. The last drugs-based story we had was “Nightmare of Eden,” with Tom Baker in the TARDIS. The main difference between this story and “Nightmare” is that “Nightmare” dealt more with black-market trade of drugs, while this one seems more interested in the corruption that can lie in big pharmaceutical companies. Unfortunately, this one doesn’t handle the concept quite as maturely (or present it quite as compellingly) as “Nightmare.” The trouble is that there’s so much stuff going on in this one: incurable disease, running from lepers, squabbling pirates, weird dog-headed aliens, traitorous companions…A slightly narrower focus would’ve really set this story straight, I think.

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In fact, this whole story seemed pretty sloppy in general. The Lazars didn’t look nearly yucky enough to justify the fear and disgust the other characters showed them. The Garm, a dog-headed alien that showed up to help toward the end, looked frankly stupid (and was pretty much unintelligible when it spoke). I will say, however, that the sets looked awesome. Very grungy and industrial, but with a bit of futuristic creepiness that really brought the whole thing together.

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Far more interesting that the presented plot was the dynamics between the companions. This was Turlough’s first adventure in the TARDIS, and I have to say he’s a pretty tricky customer. His motives are lousy (killing the Doctor is about as low as you can get on this show), and he behaves like a gaslighting slime to Nyssa and especially Tegan. I just can’t work out why he’s signed a contract with the Black Guardian in the first place. What’s in it for him, besides allowing the Black Guardian to come back in time for the twentieth anniversary special? And if he’s all about killing the Doctor, why does he help the Doctor, Nyssa, and Tegan when they find themselves in mortal peril? It just doesn’t make sense…at least, not yet.

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Speaking of Nyssa, it looks like Adric’s old friend has decided to leave the TARDIS at last. You could see it about to happen, faithful viewer: she was invested in Terminus’ problems from the get-go in this serial. After the Doctor sorted out everything that was wrong with Terminus, Nyssa developed a cure for the Lazars and stayed behind to nurse them all back to health. It’s rare that Nyssa is given a time to shine on this show–curing a deadly disease is definitely up her street–and it’s too bad that it came at the end of her time on the show.

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As kind as the plot was to Nyssa in this story, however, I feel duty-bound to talk about the lameness that befell her this time as well. On the one hand, she was given a crusade and actual things to actually do, which is rare. On the other hand, she did a lot of unnecessary screaming and kept taking her clothes off for no readily apparent reason. I’m more than a little disappointed in Mary Ridge (director) for thinking that was a good idea, I must say.

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But now Nyssa has departed for greater adventures, and the Doctor is left traveling with Tegan…and a young man who plans to kill him. How, faithful viewer, is this going to pan out?

Stay tuned ’til next time, faithful viewer, when we journey outside of time to the greatest regatta in the galaxy…