Four to Doomsday [Doctor Who, Story 117]

Four to Doomsday by Terence Dudley
18 - 26 January 1982

​It's difficult, really, to summon up enough strong feelings about Four to Doomsday a few months post-viewing to actually write up a particularly meaty review of it. It is noteworthy for being the first outing of this particular TARDIS team post-Castrovalva, and thus should stand as a nice, clear look at what this particular period in the show will look like. What we get is an episode with a slightly confused plot, some overcrowding, and clumsy stabs at interpersonal drama. So... a nice, clear look then?

I was, however, a bit surprised to not dislike this serial as much as I was expecting to going in. While the plot is nothing special, and some of the earthlings who are being held on the Urbankan ship seem a bit caricatured for lack of a better term, there was nothing I really found outright execrable and it was fun enough in the moment.

I don't think the Doctor got many chances to prove himself in this one, although, as usual, I am keeping a weather eye on the companions. I don't recall much of what Nyssa did, except randomly fainting at the end, but Tegan got to show off her many talents by revealing her impressive illustrating skills and somehow being fluent in an Australian Aboriginal language. Our boy genius got to practice what I'm now terming "the Adric special" by pretending(?) to side with the bad guys. This time it really seemed like he was serious, however. But perhaps something on the performance side just got lost in translation. (Wouldn't shock me...)

There are some interesting effects in this one, including the android reveal at the end of Part Three, and the Doctor's spacewalk later on. The Urbankans themselves don't look great; two of them have the fortune of wearing human faces for most of the story, but their leader isn't so lucky. Definitely not one of the memorable monster designs.

All in all, an okay story, though one I was happy to leave behind so that I could explore what else Season 19 had to offer. You know what they say: sometimes one must let Bigons be Bigons.

Kinda is next.

 (Modified from the original posted at Gallifrey Base on 22 June 2022.)