Review of State of Decay (#113)

DVD Release Date: 03 Oct 16
Original Air Date: 03 – 24 Jan 1981
Doctors/Companions: Four, Romana II, Adric, K9
Stars: Tom Baker, Lalla Ward, Matthew Waterhouse, John Leeson
Preceding Story: Full Circle (Four, Romana II, Adric, K9)
Succeeding Story: Warriors’ Gate (Four, Romana II, Adric, K9)

I have to say I was utterly unsurprised to find State of Decay among the titles here at the bottom of the “Everything Else” barrel. As the middle installment of the E-Space Trilogy that sees the introduction of Adric and the departure of Romana (and K9), it doesn’t seem to stand out in any particular way except one: vampires.

Given the recent popularity of the Dracula Daily email list for reading Bram Stoker’s classic in chronological (not chapter) order, it’s a fairly timely coincidence that I have the opportunity now to talk about Doctor Who‘s own take on vampiric myths. Sadly, unlike the Stoker novel, State of Decay doesn’t really give the viewer anything truly gripping or unique to hand onto.

We begin with the Doctor and Romana still looking for a way out of E-Space, initially unaware that they now have an additional crew member in the form of stowaway Adric. When they find themselves on a planet with nothing but a single village and an imposing tower, and the peasants all apparently willing to continue serving their three Lords unquestioningly, of course they need to look deeper. Nominally that’s so they can get a lead on how to get themselves back out of E-Space, but in practice it’s because the Doctor just can’t help himself.

Eventually the Doctor deduces that the real danger here is an ancient foe of the Time Lords, another “last of their race” creature that was the true basis of every other culture’s stories of vampires. Then it all becomes a question of how to save the peasants—and Adric, who’s been taken to the Tower—from said foe.

Putting aside the peripheral inclusion of the creature’s use of human blood to sustain itself, and the occasional use of the word “vampire” (Dracula even gets name-checked!), there is nothing at all out of the ordinary about this story. It is, as I’ve heard the sentiment expressed elsewhere, bog standard. How many other times have we seen the Doctor come across clueless villagers oppressed by overlords secretly working for / under the control of an alien power?

If you have only a very casual interest in vampire stories, you might find State of Decay diverting, but if you are steeping in vampire lore or want a story that includes vampires to be extremely heavy on the tropes, it may not be for you. On the other hand, if you’re just looking for a solid-but-not-innovative Doctor Who adventure, this one is perfectly serviceable.

In other words, State of Decay is very middling. It’s the middle of the E-Space Trilogy, it’s the middle of the “good” to “bad” story scale, and it’s the middle of nowhere in my mental map of Classic Who stories. After re-watching this adventure for the first time in years, I see no reason not to label that part of the map “Here Be Dragons Vampires” and go back to ignoring it.