"What a splendidly subservient Citadel..."
Much delayed (blame BT), my review for a rewatch of Invasion of Time. Many spoilers under the cut.
I know all it's faults. I do. And I love it still. This time I even liked the running around the corridors. Maybe I'm just turning into a Pollyanna or something. Speaking of which, this is the first time I've ever watched almost all of S15 like this and while it's up and down like a yo-yo, I was left muchly entertained and amused by the whole thing. It's probably as well for my sanity that Leela leaves here.
Anyway, I read the novelisation (and loved that, too), so I suppose I knew what to expect the first time around.
Things I like: Borusa. John Arnatt is Borusa. I don't know who the others think they are. More seriously, this is the only one that we see the Doctor and Borusa actually have the relationship they're assumed to have in all the other encounters. They know each other well, they respect each other, they might even like each other, but they don't necessarily approve of each other.
Also: (randomly) the guard who comes back too late with the key, and then happily shrugs and decides (despite everyone else having vanished) that the only thing to do is what he was told in the first place. Leela arguing with Rodan - the whole conversation is lovely and her "Then reason is a liar!" very Leela.
Wonderfully, K9's reaction to Andred warning about upsetting the Academy: "Blow it! Have the day off school!" Now, why do children like K9, I wonder? And Leela's priceless fed-up look when the Doctor (at the end) won't let her kill the Castellan. It says sulky 'You never let me kill anyone' better than words.
There are problems, but I've taken that as a given. The plot is... well, the Vardans are a double bluff (the Doctor is bluffing, but he's been out-bluffed by the Sontarans) and the Sontarans are the real point - without them the first four episodes wouldn't work, but when they turn up they don't really do anything. And why is the Doctor not President at the end after all the stuff about there being no turning back once he's been inducted? I know he's temporarily lost his memory, so maybe Borusa's just bribed the rest of Gallifrey not to mention it or something, but still.
Oh, yes, and why does Leela leave to marry Andred? Now, don't get me wrong. Their pairing is so wonderfully ridiculous I love them both to pieces for it. What's more watching S15 in order for the first time made me see Andred in a new light. (Compared to the men on Pluto and the P7E, he looks a whole lot more attractive... Heh.) Besides, arguing that Leela should a) die or b) marry one of the Outsiders as they're more her type is no better. (Because a) do you want to watch that happen in this season? It would be so out of place and upsetting. I think not. And b) Leela clearly doesn't go for warriors. She could have stayed on her own planet and married Tomas or Calib and been Queen of the world. It's obvious she prefers her men at least a little bit helpless.)
And, no matter what it says about Gallifrey, Andred is the best this planet has to offer. And they have the clothes scene, plus a narrative that shouldn't have been too hard to peg a romance on (they meet, argue, then he leads the fighting inside, she leads it outside and they meet back up again), but, er, no one does. Every time I'm left baffled along with everyone else. Still, it does lead to the extra amusement of spotting the attempts at romance that Louise Jameson and Chris Tranchell valiantly try to include. Plus, being very slow, I've finally worked out what's odd about Andred (well, aside from anything else, like the uniform) it's that Chris Tranchell is obviously trying to quash whatever his usual accent is. It takes me a while, but I get there eventually.
Oh, but when Andred gets injured and Leela says to him, "We'll do this my way." I'm very, very amused, because there's no doubt that's how it'll be from now on...
Oh and the Doctor's scary laughter as he betrays Gallifrey at the end of Part 2 is really quite a cliffhanger.
Edit I had to go out in a hurry, then and realised that I have omitted any mention of the entertainment value of watching Milton Johns as weaselly Castellan Kelner (isn't he just everyone's insecure inner child trying desperately to be in with the big boys and girls? Whoever the big boys and girls are...) And I love it that he nevertheless pauses to genuinely appreciate a work of art.
Plus, Andred in Episode 2 - after Leela elbows him in the face and escapes all his guards and he chases after. He pauses with a look on his face and every time I ad-lib for him: "What a girl!" (a la Ace Rimmer. Because he's definitely thinking it...). Yes, this serial keeps me amused no end. (And in the last episode, what do Leela and Andred get up to under that tree? Maybe that's when she tells him she's staying... Heh.)
What's more, I dared listen to the commentary (I was afraid it would be very dull with Mat Irvine on it) and it wasn't too bad at all. It was quite fun. Tony Read is interesting, Louise Jameson joins in the spot-the-romance game ("Did you see? I hugged him then!") and John Leeson occasionally turns into K9 and talks to himself.
And, yes, I am trying to do a Leela/Andred story to go along with the others. But it may be a while. And whether it'll explain the mystery, who knows?
I know all it's faults. I do. And I love it still. This time I even liked the running around the corridors. Maybe I'm just turning into a Pollyanna or something. Speaking of which, this is the first time I've ever watched almost all of S15 like this and while it's up and down like a yo-yo, I was left muchly entertained and amused by the whole thing. It's probably as well for my sanity that Leela leaves here.
Anyway, I read the novelisation (and loved that, too), so I suppose I knew what to expect the first time around.
Things I like: Borusa. John Arnatt is Borusa. I don't know who the others think they are. More seriously, this is the only one that we see the Doctor and Borusa actually have the relationship they're assumed to have in all the other encounters. They know each other well, they respect each other, they might even like each other, but they don't necessarily approve of each other.
Also: (randomly) the guard who comes back too late with the key, and then happily shrugs and decides (despite everyone else having vanished) that the only thing to do is what he was told in the first place. Leela arguing with Rodan - the whole conversation is lovely and her "Then reason is a liar!" very Leela.
Wonderfully, K9's reaction to Andred warning about upsetting the Academy: "Blow it! Have the day off school!" Now, why do children like K9, I wonder? And Leela's priceless fed-up look when the Doctor (at the end) won't let her kill the Castellan. It says sulky 'You never let me kill anyone' better than words.
There are problems, but I've taken that as a given. The plot is... well, the Vardans are a double bluff (the Doctor is bluffing, but he's been out-bluffed by the Sontarans) and the Sontarans are the real point - without them the first four episodes wouldn't work, but when they turn up they don't really do anything. And why is the Doctor not President at the end after all the stuff about there being no turning back once he's been inducted? I know he's temporarily lost his memory, so maybe Borusa's just bribed the rest of Gallifrey not to mention it or something, but still.
Oh, yes, and why does Leela leave to marry Andred? Now, don't get me wrong. Their pairing is so wonderfully ridiculous I love them both to pieces for it. What's more watching S15 in order for the first time made me see Andred in a new light. (Compared to the men on Pluto and the P7E, he looks a whole lot more attractive... Heh.) Besides, arguing that Leela should a) die or b) marry one of the Outsiders as they're more her type is no better. (Because a) do you want to watch that happen in this season? It would be so out of place and upsetting. I think not. And b) Leela clearly doesn't go for warriors. She could have stayed on her own planet and married Tomas or Calib and been Queen of the world. It's obvious she prefers her men at least a little bit helpless.)
And, no matter what it says about Gallifrey, Andred is the best this planet has to offer. And they have the clothes scene, plus a narrative that shouldn't have been too hard to peg a romance on (they meet, argue, then he leads the fighting inside, she leads it outside and they meet back up again), but, er, no one does. Every time I'm left baffled along with everyone else. Still, it does lead to the extra amusement of spotting the attempts at romance that Louise Jameson and Chris Tranchell valiantly try to include. Plus, being very slow, I've finally worked out what's odd about Andred (well, aside from anything else, like the uniform) it's that Chris Tranchell is obviously trying to quash whatever his usual accent is. It takes me a while, but I get there eventually.
Oh, but when Andred gets injured and Leela says to him, "We'll do this my way." I'm very, very amused, because there's no doubt that's how it'll be from now on...
Oh and the Doctor's scary laughter as he betrays Gallifrey at the end of Part 2 is really quite a cliffhanger.
Edit I had to go out in a hurry, then and realised that I have omitted any mention of the entertainment value of watching Milton Johns as weaselly Castellan Kelner (isn't he just everyone's insecure inner child trying desperately to be in with the big boys and girls? Whoever the big boys and girls are...) And I love it that he nevertheless pauses to genuinely appreciate a work of art.
Plus, Andred in Episode 2 - after Leela elbows him in the face and escapes all his guards and he chases after. He pauses with a look on his face and every time I ad-lib for him: "What a girl!" (a la Ace Rimmer. Because he's definitely thinking it...). Yes, this serial keeps me amused no end. (And in the last episode, what do Leela and Andred get up to under that tree? Maybe that's when she tells him she's staying... Heh.)
What's more, I dared listen to the commentary (I was afraid it would be very dull with Mat Irvine on it) and it wasn't too bad at all. It was quite fun. Tony Read is interesting, Louise Jameson joins in the spot-the-romance game ("Did you see? I hugged him then!") and John Leeson occasionally turns into K9 and talks to himself.
And, yes, I am trying to do a Leela/Andred story to go along with the others. But it may be a while. And whether it'll explain the mystery, who knows?