15 - 23 February 1983
I knew very little about this story
going in except that it marked Nyssa's departure from the cast.
Accordingly, I was a little surprised to recognize Steve Gallagher, who
previously wrote Season 18's Warriors' Gate, which was one of my favorite stories of the marathon so far.
The resemblances are few but relatively obvious, particularly between
the Garm and the Tharils of the earlier story, but the story that Terminus is
trying to tell is somewhat different in the broad strokes. Terminus,
Inc., and the fate of both its "patients" and the slave guards set to
watch over them, seem like a take down of the for-profit medical
industry. Right on, says I. But I'm really not sure where the big bang
bootstrap paradox or the threat of universal destruction really fit into
that picture; just seemed like a way of ratcheting up the stakes to me.
I must regretfully say that none of the guest characters are very
interesting here. Olvir and Kari, who help the TARDIS team, seemed
pretty unimportant to the story overall, particularly in the latter
case. Bor, the Vanir who goes into the danger zone and almost succumbs
to his sickness, probably comes the closest to having an interesting
performance. It's unfortunate that Eirak, the erstwhile leader of the
Vanir, enters the story so late and is used so sparingly. A good villain
might be the missing ingredient that Terminus really needed.
All things considered, I thought it also took slightly too long to
actually get to Terminus and start digging into the plot. The pacing in
general was a little rough, though once the story got to Terminus things
did get pretty interesting.
Regarding our regular cast, the Doctor was on fine form and I thought
Tegan came across well, too. But the real star of the show is Mark
Strickson as Turlough, who is already making a strong impression. He's
good at conveying both fear and quiet thoughtfulness; one gets the
feeling that there's a lot going on in Turlough's head all the time,
something we're told outright in the next serial. He's given this team a
desperately needed shot in the arm.
About Nyssa, I feel like I have less to say than I would like. In what
should be her finest hour, on the eve of her departure, she seems to
instead spend most of the story being put in peril, captured, and jerked
around. It's only in the final episode or so that she really starts to
take charge of anything. I do find her motive for departure somewhat
understandable, though still disappointing. I'll have more to say about
Nyssa at the end of this era during the companion roundup.
With all that said, Terminus is almost a really interesting story
in the vein of Gallagher's other Doctor Who contribution, but seems to
be continually let down by the pacing, direction, and casting choices. I
wish I could like it more, but as it is, it's merely okay.
Enlightenment is next.
(Modified from the original posted at Gallifrey Base on 25 April 2024.)
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