|
The Androids of Tara Format Reviewed: DVD Review The Androids of Tara continues the Key to Time season with the search for the fourth segment. With the plot of the series now relatively well established, the starts and ends of stories become relatively formulaic, with only the meat of the story to be fleshed out. FOrtunately, all of the parts require a sub-plot to be incorporated into the search for the next segment of the Key to Time, and we are treated to some genuine 'Who' romps with the surrounds of a linking theme between all the stories of the season. Tara is the location of the fourth segment of the Key to Time, and on arrival The Doctor sends Romana off to retrieve it while he goes fishing. Romana finds it, but is attacked by a beast and rescued by COunt Grendel who takes the segment from her. Romana twists her ankle and Grendel takes her to his castle for aid, where surgeon/engineer Madame Lamia is shocked that she is flesh and blood and not android, and they then imprison Romana. The Doctor is captured by Swordsman Farrah and Swordmaster Zadek, and they take him to see Prince Reynart, who is to become King but is kidnapped by Grendel. The Doctor is then forced to modify an Android to have the likeness of Reynart so it can be crowned, or Grendel will be crowned by default.The Pricncess Strella, who is an exact double for Romana, is also held by Grendel. An android copy is made and the coronation is interrupted as The Doctor disables the android knowing it would kill Reynart. The coronation is postponed for a day, but Grendel makes another copy of Romana and tries to kill The Doctor with it, but K9 saves the day. The real Romana then escapes, but is recaptured and Grendel plans the twin wedding ceremonies or Reynart to Strella, then himself to Strella following the untimely death of Reynart. The Doctor, with Reynarts men, attack the castle and disrupt the ceremony, freeing all those imprisoned. Grendel does manage to escape though and the fourth segment is recovered. In general, the BBC is very good at putting on period drama. This pervades other genres, like Doctor Who when essentially science fiction appears in a setting such as a medieval one as here. This medieval setting does have the added twist of micro-electronics in it, but we have flowing gowns, horses and knights. The setting therefore, as you would expect, is very good and the costuming is spot on throughout. Marrying the twin worlds of medieval times and electronics is one of the beauties of Doctor Who, you can put any technology into any scene and as long as the story of it holds water, it will stand up. The story itself though is a little messy, with a bit too much being captured and escaping, but this padding is not too troublesome. Despite the complexity of the story, there is a very small cast for this story. The regular cast is again Tom Baker and Mary Tamm as The Doctor and Romana respectively, but Mary Tamm also plays Princess Strella for this story. Tamm really came into her own here, and Tom Baker gave another solid performance. In the guest cast, Neville Jason is slightly anonymous as Prince Reynart, and could have been more forthright. Peter Jeffrey gives a strong performance as Count Grendel, but perhaps could have been slightly more Machiavellian. Lois Baxter overacts a little as Madame Lamia and Simon Lack and Paul Lavers round out the cast as Swordmaster Zadek and Swordsman Farrah respectively. Both do a good job, if a little understated. Another feature of Doctor Who adventures is that occasionally famous works of fiction are fairly directly 'ported' into the Doctor Who universe. We saw Jason and the Argonaughts rebranded as the Tom Baker story Underworld, and here we have The Prisoner of Zenda repackaged as The Androids of Tara. Having the basis of an already popular tale behind you, and adding all the twists to fit it into context with Doctor Who can produce any kind of result, from the fantastic to the muddled and poor. The Andriods of Tara is one of the more successful rehashes of a popular work, although there are some rough edges that could have been polished. Overall, The Androids of Tara picks up the level of the Key to Time season from the disappointment of The Stones of Blood. The popular story The Prisoner of Zenda is the basis for the story, and when it is the case that stories are transferred to the Doctor Who universe the results can be mixed, but this is one of the more successful ones. The story is far from perfect, and there is a lot of padding in there, but it is an enjoyable romp through a medieval setting with a twist. Rating:  |