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The Visitation Format Reviewed: DVD Review The Visitation contains an adversary whose image was one that haunted my childhood. For some reason, the Tereleptils android was one of the scariest things I could imagine when I was a boy in the 1980's, and it still brings a shudder to my spine now. With the benefit of age and experience, I am no longer gripped by fear when the android appears but it remains an early memory that will probably stick with me until the end. The Visitation sees The Doctor Trying to return Tegan to Heathrow, but instead arrives 300 years early and in the midst of a suspected plague outbreak. The Doctor soon discovers alien technology and the TARDIS crew are then go to the local squires house and find strange things such as laser bolt holes a wall that is in fact an energy barrier. The barrier is then breached and Tegan and Adric are captured while The Doctor, Nyssa and Mace, a local who has joined with the TARDIS crew, escape. They discover that the alien presence is Tereleptils who have escaped from a prison, and it is their android that is prowling about. The aliens are eventually defeated when having been chased to London, a fire breaks out and the Tereleptils are killed. The TARDIS crew then depart leaving Mace to help fight the fire on Pudding Lane. After the early 'educational' stories that delved into Earth history, we have had several pseudo historical tales such as The Visitation presented to us. I must admit though to really liking the way the show is used in this way I think is part of what really makes the show great in that little events can be thrown in to tie in with known and established history. The tie in here is with the Great Fire of London, which started in Pudding Lane. These little 'throw-away' references are often criticised, but I am firmly of the opinion that tying the stories back to reality does the shows a lot of favours. Perhaps, if there were to be a criticism of doing this, it would be that events were not more closely linked in with established history rather than fleeting references given that could appear as though they were done as an afterthought. In the remainder of the story though there is a lot to be interested in. Apart from the terrifying android as mentioned earlier, the concept of the small scale alien invasion is good and there is a lot to admire. The problem is that the aliens are just not convincing. The costumes and make up really does just serve to make the actors look rather silly and quite unbelievable, not a good look at all really especially when you consider that movement is obviously so hideosly restricted that they have to shuffle around comically. As with most of the stories at the beginning of Peter Davisons era the trouble is always what to do with so many companions. Here, all are rather shoved to the background with only Nyssa really coming to the fore. The star of the whole cas though is Michael Robbins as Richard Mace, who gives a wonderfully camp performance of a seventeenth century luvvie. The character is possibly really him playing himself, but either way he really is a joy to behold throughout. The rest of the guest cast are little more than brief cameo appearances, but none really let the side down. The real positive of the story is the tone that is achieved throughout. The action is suitably tense, with the incidental music and set design contributing well alongside some beautiful location shooting. The real negative though it that the action does seem to crawl along in places and a promising storyline seems to have realised in a dull, low-key manner. The positive is really a peripheral matter whereas the negative is a more central matter. In my view therefore the story can be seen as somewhat forgettable overall. Overall, The Visitation combines pseudo-history with science-fiction to create a beatifully realised story full of a tense, dramatic tone and some wonderful acting performances. The negative side is that the action seems to drag in places and it really doesn't fully engage the viewer throughout therefore leaving a more negative view of the story overall, despite the particularly scary android! Rating:  |