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The Ultimate Foe Format Reviewed: VHS Review The conclusion of the Trial of a Time Lord series is The Ultimate Foe. For this story we actually see the events in real time as it were, as the main point is not the evidence being presented, but the battle between the Valeyard, Doctor, Master and Time Lords comes to the fore. After this story, Doctor Who would retire into a short hiatus, only to be resurrected with a new lead actor, a production face lift but unfortunately the retaining of Mel as companion. At the trial, Glitz and Mel arrive to appear as witnesses on behalf of the Doctor, having been called by the Master who has penetrated the matrix proving that the evidence presented by the Valeyard could have been fabricated. The series is brought together revealing that the Time Lords are behind the destruction of Earth as we know it and its renaming as Ravelox from the first story. The Doctor then chases the Valeyard into the matrix having discovered that he is only a future version of the Doctor himself between his twelth and final incarnations. Through a series of perils, the Doctor eventually defeats the Valeyard, only for him to escape unbeknown to the Doctor. It is about time that the action in this series changed from the punctuated stories constantly flicking back to court room bickering. That the story then becomes Time Lord tale of deception is another tried and trusted plot line that has been resurected in a slightly different guise here. It is therefore not neccessarily a good or bad thing that this happens. The excecution of the story is deliberately done so that the viewer is supposed to be confused throughout. The writers clearly want to subvert the viewer, and in this they are successful. The regular cast of Colin Baker, Michael Jayston, Lynda Bellingham and Bonnie Langford do solid jobs. Even the annoying Langford isn't too bad here. It is a slight shame that Anthony Ainley as the Master didn't play a more prominent role, appearing as he does relatively briefly, as he is excellent as the Master. Of the admittedly small guest cast here, Geoffrey Hughes is the pick as Popplewick, quite an accomplished performance. Taking the series as a while, the Trial of a Time Lord is quite a bold move in the production of Doctor Who. Overall it isn't a bad effort for a series, it just lacks the variety and finesse of a 'normal' series of Doctor Who. To have had a variety of different adversaries in a variety of settings without the need to keep coming back to the trial may have been a better option at this stage of the shows history. Perhaps though, after the massively mixed bag of the previous series they needed to do something very different, and so they may have succedded more than I have given them credit for. On its own, The Ultimate Foe is better in contex than the previous two stories in the series as the overall story is moved on significantly. As a series, it may have been neccessary for the show to try something different, so it may have been successful. Personally, I would rather have had a few seperate stories that were independant though. Rating:  |