Review of Snakedance (#125)

DVD Release Date: 12 Apr 11
Original Air Date: 18 – 26 Jan 1983
Doctors/Companions: Five, Nyssa of Traken, Tegan Jovanka
Stars: Peter Davison, Sarah Sutton, Janet Fielding
Preceding Story: Arc of Infinity (Five, Nyssa, Tegan)
Succeeding Story: Mawdryn Undead (Five, Nyssa, Tegan, Turlough, the Brigadier)

I’m not sure if it’s because I didn’t grow up watching these stories, because I find the Fifth Doctor’s era nearly as beige as his costume, or because of something else, but I don’t really have a strong impression of many of the early-80s stories. So when I popped Snakedance into my machine to watch it again, I really didn’t know whether this month’s adventure was supposed to be a High or a Low.

Happily enough, it didn’t take much run-time for me to decide which end of the scale it occupied (it ranks #57 on io9’s list); I could relax into it and watch without keeping an eye on the clock the way I do with some of the Lows.

We discover early on that poor Tegan is not rid of the evil Mara that invaded her mind nearly a season beforehand (Kinda aired in February 1982). Instead, it is invading her dreams to begin to take control of her. Under its influence, she sets the TARDIS coordinates for Manussa, where the people are celebrating the banishment of the Mara some five hundred years ago. Almost no one believes in the prophecy of the Mara’s return, but thanks to Tegan and her serpentine mental parasite, prophetic events begin to unfold anyway.

I think one of the things that makes this story engaging for me is that although some of the characters are rather bombastic (especially when possessed by the Mara), none of them is over-acted. The cast all take their roles very seriously, and the resulting drama comes across as tense and threatening rather than overwrought and melodramatic, as it easily could have.

Another point in Snakedance‘s favor is that it has a well-disguised moral lesson. That is, the clear moral lesson doesn’t beat the viewer about the head and shoulders: “Look, moron, the moral of the story is…” Rather, the points about the Mara having been created out of human fear, despair, and greed are made in a quiet moment of discovery, and then reinforced unobtrusively during the climactic festival ceremony.

This is why Snakedance works as a Fifth Doctor story. Only his temperament really fits the sedate style of this story, leading the viewer to the desired conclusion without necessarily noticing how they’re being maneuvered into a particular point of view.

While some of the costuming is, perhaps, regrettable in its garishness (I mean, even poor Nyssa is wearing a truly dreadful (new) outfit—not that the Doctor notices), it doesn’t actually feel out of place, and the set design—especially in the festival market—is truly impressive (particularly when you keep the show’s notoriously low budget in mind).

All in all, aside from the rather abrupt ending (not atypical for the era), Snakedance provides a mellow, rewarding jaunt into the Doctor Who universe. Although writer Christopher Bailey clearly has an agenda, the lecturing is done subtly enough that one hardly even notices the soapbox onto which he has slipped. So sit back and savor the story; it’s worth seeing.