by Dr Kain » Sat Dec 15, 2018 4:41 pm
And we have now concluded the first season of Peter Davison with Time-Flight, which I was fearing for the worst due to comments I've read. I liked it. Sure, it was kind of a plain episode, the effects were utter crap all around (and no updated effects for some reason), especially that really bad green screen bit that even I can do better than, the Jewish Arab sounding alien was quite pathetic, the smoke bubble things were dumb, and the Doctor just kept talking a lot of nonsense as if it was supposed to be sophisticated. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed the build up as the beginning took its time to introduce the plot before throwing the Doctor into it (something that seemed common in this season) and the twist with the Master was great. It was quite entertaining in that regard, though, it was supposed to be the season finale, and that was a pretty pathetic end to what should have been a big showdown. What's funny is I had no issues with most of this stuff until I started typing up my thoughts and thinking about the episode. Regardless, I did enjoy it and that is what matters most.
I also watched a lot of the bonus features and even the cast didn't seem to like this one that much, which is odd considering "Kinda" was the episode that was apprently hated back then. However, one of the biggest things that I am confused about is what the hell is so friggin amazing about "The Concord?" Most of the making of feature was all about how amazing this "Concord" thing was and I still don't understand if that was the name of the company, the plane, or whatever. Is there supposed to be something special about this thing?
Anyway, overall, I really enjoyed watching this season as Davison was a fantastic Doctor. Sure, the episodes varied in quality from stories that could have been an episode shorter, shoddy effects, a wide array of acting on both ends of the spectrum, but I was highly entertained all of the way through. As for the companions, Adric was annoying, but he did go out with a bang, Nyssa was very underutilized (but still managed to be my favorite of the three companions thanks to Black Orchid), and Tegan was way too whiny most of the time. They could have been much better, yet, they could have been a lot worse.
My order rankings are as follow:
1. Black Orchid
2. Kinda
3. Earthshock
4. Castravolva
5. Four to Doomsday
6. Time-Flight
7. The Visitation
It's a shame that the rest of Davison's era isn't out on BD yet, as it would have been nice to just keep going, but whatever. On to... well whatever I end up watching next, which might be the firt three Doctor's premier and regeneration episodes as I await with anticipation of getting the first Tom Baker season for Xmas. I hope that season is as good as this one was.