Project: Who - Warrior's Gate
Warrior's Gate
Written by Steve Gallagher
Directed by Paul Joyce
In another area of E-Space, a group of humans are space-faring travelers. They use another species as slaves, chained up and forced to pilot their ships. These slaves are time sensitives, which means they can travel through space and time just like the Doctor and Romana.
Meanwhile, the two are arguing like they're Lalla and Matthew. The Doctor wants to get back to Gallifrey. Romana doesn't. One of the slaves, Biroc, gets into the Tardis and changes their coordinates. He leaves, with the Doctor following him. Romana and Adric stay behind. She is a raving bitch to him. (art imitating life?)
The Doctor follows Biroc into what appears to be a castle. There, one of the suits of armor comes to life and attacks.
Romana goes out to meet three of the men from the ship. After a few minutes talking with them, she wanders off to their ship, followed later by K9 and Adric.
The Doctor escapes. Romana the idiot is forced to be the new navigator. She couldn't have possibly seen this happening. It's not like Biroc warned her only minutes before. Oh, wait. Yes he did. While she's restrained, all the men leave the ship, heading towards the castle.
With K9's help - he shows up just when the script says the Doctor needs him - the Doctor finds out the place they are currently in is the gateway back to N Space. That's when the men from the ship enter.
Another slave, one of Biroc's people, awakens and climbs to the bridge where the tied-up Romana screams. While she continues to scream, he unties her. Adric wanders around in the white space between the ships and castle. The Doctor is with the travelers and Biroc.
Adric rescues Romana, but she quickly gets recaptured, then escapes again courtesy of her new furry friend.
She then finds the Doctor, who is skipping through timelines.
The whole space they are in is constricting. The travelers - who are actually slave traders - try to kidnap the Doctor and Romana, but Adric (yes, Adric) rescues them. The four, including K9, return to the Tardis.
After a few bits if Treknobabble, the Doctor and Romana leave to visit the other ship to do a bit of sabotage.
The captain orders all of the slaves woken up from their suspended animation.
After their sabotage, the Doctor and Romana escape with Biroc's assistance.
While the Doctor and Adric leave in the Tardis, Romana and K9 stay behind with Biroc and the other furries, never to be seen again. Bye bye, Fred.
* * *
It's convoluted, doesn't make a lick of sense, and at times is hilarious. Some of the worst acting Lalla Ward has done is on display here. And yet, it's still watchable. It's too bad they left K9 behind. I would have liked to see K9 and the Fifth Doctor interacting, but that's life.
I actually saw someone at Dragon*Con dressed up as Biroc this year. It's a completely random costume. While most were dressed up like either Two or Eleven (and those, mostly with Fezzes and mops), it was funny seeing a one-shot character like this.
Anyway ... We know Romana returns at some point, because she's made President of Gallifrey and interacts with several of the future Doctors. But that's in the audios. We never see her again in the series, except for previously-recorded material (specifically, the scene from Shada that's used in the Five Doctors special), flashbacks and still images.
Sometime shortly after this, the actors who played the Doctor and Romana had a brief marriage. Nothing snarky to say there, just had to throw it in there somewhere, and since we'll not see her again, may as well do it here.
So, why do you think Romana II was an utter failure, while Romana I was the better of the two? Or do you prefer this Romana?
And a quick note ... I'm done with full stories. Beginning with Keeper, the next story, I'll be back to doing one episode at a time.
Written by Steve Gallagher
Directed by Paul Joyce
In another area of E-Space, a group of humans are space-faring travelers. They use another species as slaves, chained up and forced to pilot their ships. These slaves are time sensitives, which means they can travel through space and time just like the Doctor and Romana.
Meanwhile, the two are arguing like they're Lalla and Matthew. The Doctor wants to get back to Gallifrey. Romana doesn't. One of the slaves, Biroc, gets into the Tardis and changes their coordinates. He leaves, with the Doctor following him. Romana and Adric stay behind. She is a raving bitch to him. (art imitating life?)
The Doctor follows Biroc into what appears to be a castle. There, one of the suits of armor comes to life and attacks.
Romana goes out to meet three of the men from the ship. After a few minutes talking with them, she wanders off to their ship, followed later by K9 and Adric.
The Doctor escapes. Romana the idiot is forced to be the new navigator. She couldn't have possibly seen this happening. It's not like Biroc warned her only minutes before. Oh, wait. Yes he did. While she's restrained, all the men leave the ship, heading towards the castle.
With K9's help - he shows up just when the script says the Doctor needs him - the Doctor finds out the place they are currently in is the gateway back to N Space. That's when the men from the ship enter.
Another slave, one of Biroc's people, awakens and climbs to the bridge where the tied-up Romana screams. While she continues to scream, he unties her. Adric wanders around in the white space between the ships and castle. The Doctor is with the travelers and Biroc.
Adric rescues Romana, but she quickly gets recaptured, then escapes again courtesy of her new furry friend.
She then finds the Doctor, who is skipping through timelines.
The whole space they are in is constricting. The travelers - who are actually slave traders - try to kidnap the Doctor and Romana, but Adric (yes, Adric) rescues them. The four, including K9, return to the Tardis.
After a few bits if Treknobabble, the Doctor and Romana leave to visit the other ship to do a bit of sabotage.
The captain orders all of the slaves woken up from their suspended animation.
After their sabotage, the Doctor and Romana escape with Biroc's assistance.
While the Doctor and Adric leave in the Tardis, Romana and K9 stay behind with Biroc and the other furries, never to be seen again. Bye bye, Fred.
* * *
It's convoluted, doesn't make a lick of sense, and at times is hilarious. Some of the worst acting Lalla Ward has done is on display here. And yet, it's still watchable. It's too bad they left K9 behind. I would have liked to see K9 and the Fifth Doctor interacting, but that's life.
I actually saw someone at Dragon*Con dressed up as Biroc this year. It's a completely random costume. While most were dressed up like either Two or Eleven (and those, mostly with Fezzes and mops), it was funny seeing a one-shot character like this.
Anyway ... We know Romana returns at some point, because she's made President of Gallifrey and interacts with several of the future Doctors. But that's in the audios. We never see her again in the series, except for previously-recorded material (specifically, the scene from Shada that's used in the Five Doctors special), flashbacks and still images.
Sometime shortly after this, the actors who played the Doctor and Romana had a brief marriage. Nothing snarky to say there, just had to throw it in there somewhere, and since we'll not see her again, may as well do it here.
So, why do you think Romana II was an utter failure, while Romana I was the better of the two? Or do you prefer this Romana?
And a quick note ... I'm done with full stories. Beginning with Keeper, the next story, I'll be back to doing one episode at a time.