The Visitation (Story #120, 1982)
Viewed 19 Apr 2011, 21 Jun 2011

Doctor/Companion:   Five, Adric, Nyssa, Tegan
Stars:  Peter Davison, Matthew Waterhouse, Sarah Sutton, Janet Fielding
Preceding Story:  Kinda (Five, Adric, Tegan)
Succeeding Story:  Black Orchid (Five, Adric, Nyssa, Tegan)
Notable Aspects:

• demise of the sonic screwdriver, which would not be seen again until The Movie in 1996

I found it difficult to decide at what point in his tenure to trot out Five for the Ladies’ viewing. Eventually, I decided I wanted one that involved the classic trio of Adric, Nyssa and Tegan, and settled on The Visitation because it gave a good sense of the three of their personalities. I’d have used Castrovalva, but I wanted to save that as the denouement of the whole regeneration arc for another time.

Due to various scheduling conflicts, the Ladies had to watch this one in shifts. Each time we had at least one n00b and one veteran (here I include myself). Among other things, it was entertaining to hear the first impressions of appearances. One initiate commented that she wasn’t sure about Five’s outfit (to which jE immediately responded, “wait’ll you see the next one!”). The other thought he reminded her of Chevy Chase. Everybody commented on the ’80s-ness of the episode, from make-up to hair to costuming (jO thought Nyssa “would have looked so amazingly cool in 198[2]”) to the TARDIS herself. There was also some consternation – coming from those accustomed to the modern “just swap ’em out” era – that the poor sonic screwdriver would disappear from the Doctor’s toolbox for nearly a decade and a half after its destruction at the hands of the Tereleptils.

We loved the silliness of the bejeweled androids (androids always wear platform shoes, dontcha know), but wondered why a Tereleptil would make a human-shaped android instead of a Tereleptil-shaped one. (I suppose they might have waited till they got to Earth and tried for something vaguely like the native “primitives”…) Similarly, we wondered why – if they’re intending to leave at the first opportunity anyway – they would kill off the local populace? So there were some plot holes. And what’s new?

Plenty of other minor details stood out to us for one reason or another. Some struck our funny bone (e.g., Tereleptils’ atmosphere machine = bong, or Nyssa’s need to rearrange her bedroom before beginning work (“maybe she’s one of those people who can’t do anything till the house is clean”)). Others gave us a twang of classic nostalgia (when the Doctor used his “squeaky voice” (as noted by Ten in Time Crash) or a Companion (in this case, Adric) fell and sprained an ankle). Still others just made for interesting notes on our own perspective (like the fact that to Americans, the period costumes for the locals in 1666 England looked like the Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth Rock and gave our country – among other things – its Thanksgiving holiday).

General reactions:

• jA – not so sure about this Doctor
• jE – watched him at the time, and still love him
• jO – liked it well enough; very ’80s
• mrfranklin – by now, an old standby; always enjoyable

Overall, the reaction seems to have been pretty favorable. Final judgement on this Doctor will have to wait till at least one more story has been viewed. To be honest, I was a little surprised at jA’s lukewarm reception, but given that this isn’t the most scintillating story I can understand it. I’ll just have to choose a good next installment…

Feel free to post in the comments your recommendations for the next Five story we should watch!

Verdict:  Thumbs (with slight reservations) up.

Looking ahead:  More of Five