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The Stones of Blood Format Reviewed: DVD Review The introduction of a Time Lady was also a brave decision taken by the production team for this season. Traditionally, the companions, certainly the females, ran around screaming and asking The Doctor what was going on so it could be explained to the viewer. They were a window into the story for the laymen essentially. This was taken away partially by having a Time Lady alongside The Doctor, as Romana has much the same training and mental capacity as The Doctor. This therefore needed fairly skilful scripting and acting by Mary Tamm, something that was achieved well throughout the season. The third segment of The Key to Time is traced to Earth, in a stone circle. It isn't there though and The Doctor and Romana meet Professor Rumford and her assistant, Vivien Fay who are surveying the circle. The Doctor also goes to see Leonard de Vries, head of the British Istitute for Druidic Studies who worship a tthe circle. The Doctor almost becomes their latest sacrifice, but is rescued by Professor Rumford but de Vries is then found dead, killed by one of the stones, that are actually Ogri, creatures that live of blood and similar nutrition. Vivien Fay later turns out to be the Cailleach and she transports herself and Romana to her spaceship that occupies the same coordinates as the stone circle. The Cailleach is a being that the druids worship, and is chased back to her ship by The Doctor who releases prison machines called the Megara who put The Doctor on trial, but are tricked into scanning Vivien Fay, who turns out to really be the Cessair of Diplos, the person the Megara are searching for. They sentence her to becoming part of the stone circle, but The Doctor manages to steal her necklace before sentence is carried out which turns out to be the third segment to the Key to Time. The Stones of Blood is quite a contrast in itself. There are some dark, moody scenes that are somewhat gothic and druidic, with others that are modern and played for laughs on the spaceship. Essentially, this story seems to have been one that was good in its conception, but fell short of the required time and some other bits were bolted on. It could even be argued that there were two very different writers collaborating on this script, but this is pure conjecture. The scenes with The Doctor and the Megara, especially the courtroom scenes are so overacted, camp and played for fun, that they seem out of place with the dark scenes around an apparantly druidic stone circle. This is the main downside to the story. The cast for The Stones of Blood is relatively small, with Mary Tamm and Tom Baker taking the leads as Romana and The Doctor respectively. They often act sepeartely here, and I think their best performances are when they're together. Certainly not bad fayre from them, but not their best work either. The guest cast is mixed, with Susan Engel putting in a good innings as Vivien Fay, but Beatrix Lehmann's portrayal of Professor Rumford was muddled at best. I feel sorry for her in that the meaning of the story seemed largely to pass her by. There is little else of note in the cast, as John Leeson's voice of K9 is very sparsely used, and the rest comprises little more than the voices of the Megara, played by Gerald Cross and David McAlister. All do well, but the parts are very small really. The upside to this story is that there are some themes and concepts that are well thought through. The living stones are a good idea, the marooned criminal and her ship stuck in hyperspace are concepts that fit well within the Doctor Who universe. It just seems a little clumsily put together. Most of the actual scenes are very good in themselves, but the disjointed nature of them fails to really build the tension throughout. The excellent concept of the Key to Time season is somewhat let down in the execution of this story. Overall, The Stones of Blood is conceptually a very good story that appears to suffer from some very messy execution. The scenes are very disjointed, and the different storylines don't mesh with each other very well. This, coupled with Beatrix Lehmann appearing to be largely baffled with the whole thing throughout her scenes, makes the story a bit of a let down after the good opening stories of the season. Rating:  |