Warrior's Gate

Alright, time to say goodbye to Romana and K-9. This is the last episode in which they appear (well, as real companions anyway). Comes right after State of Decay, so the setting is still E-Space, and Adric is still along for the ride. And K-9 is a walking (rolling?) disaster area at this point, as well. Constantly broken so John Leeson doesn't actually have to participate. Ah, I love Tom Baker.

Heh, the guys on this ship (though kind of callous and evil and greedy in general) are pretty funny. At least their interactions are funny. They really convey the idea of a crew of people who've been stuck together in a kind of hopeless situation for a while and are loosing the will to care anymore. And now K-9 is broken again. And the Doctor is following a lion-man into an abandoned castle a point in E-Space with all coordinates zero.

Waauugghh!! The skeleton suit of armor thing just moved. Creepy. I think this episode was written by someone who was chronically confused. I can't exactly explain why, but it just feels that way. It's not the efficient fighter in the world, is it? I do like how the stop-start seizing type music is reflecting the movement of the thing. Ok, now the Doctor is holding a giant axe pretending to be a skeleton suit of armor. Fail.

Tee hee, Romana's funny. She tells Adric to stay inside the TARDIS and says "Especially if I do this..." and puts her hands up in the air then behind her head. Lol, and now she's playing with these guys' minds. I love her. Oh, that actually was meant to be a sign for Adric not to come out. Well, whatever.

Woah! Their freighter looks a little bit like Serenity! And the Doctor isn't doing so well against these guys. Well that was a gamble. He put his head down (as if giving up and allowing them to just slice his head off) and the two hit each other. Silly man.

Oh, poor Romana. She's been put in the torture chair the hairy guy was in before and she is not enjoying it one bit. Everything always happens to her. And now she's being assaulted by another of those hairy lion guys who's breathing all heavy. Pervert. Ok, obviously not really, but still. Weirdo. Ah, he's just releasing her. Neat.

Man I'm hungry, I think I'll go for a sandwich or something. Be right back.

Ok, had to scrap the sandwich idea. No bread. Well, ok, yes we have bread, but it's icky dry wheat bread. I got oatmeal instead.

Anyway, this episode is really confusing. Someone is speaking cryptically and the Doctor is confused. I feel totally lost. Oh, and poor Romana still. These two comic relief people are making me very tense [Tom Servo]. Gosh, this is weird. I don't even have much to say, it's just so odd. In a kind of lost, what's going on here, why are these people doing this, what is the gateway, why is the background suddenly black and white, how did we suddenly appear in History of the World Part I, and WHAT IS WRONG WITH K-9???

Oh, Adric! He snuck onto the ship! What a silly boy. I suppose he's there to save Romana. I get this feeling she could take care of herself, though. And indeed, here she comes!

God, at least there doesn't seem to be much more. Who the hell wrote this? What were they on? Was it written in a round robin of some kind? What is with this music? Can someone explain this nonsense? Oh well, who cares. So long as I understand why Romana sticks around in E-Space in the end I'll be ok.

Argh, what's going on??? Romana just teleported, and she and the Doctor just jumped forward in time a whole bunch. My god, this is strange. I am so confused. Whatever. I'm losing interest very quickly.

Huh. That was weird. And sudden. Just kind of... oh, Doctor, I'm not coming with you. I'm staying here. See ya! Ok, bye! Have fun!


Quotes:
"Just needs a little friendly persuasion, that's all." "I've been friendly!" "Probably too friendly. I said a little friendly. Firm, but friendly."
"Make safe the hatchway... close the door.... AFTER I'VE GONE THROUGH!"
"He's gone again. It's like talking to a cheshire cat."

We have lift off!

Full Circle

Well, I can't say it was one of my favourite episodes so far, but it wasn't bad. Interesting, at least, in some ways. The E-Space stuff is cool, of course. I feel like the planet with negative coordinates of Gallifrey should have been a bit more special, though. Although there was a familiar sense of overwhelming bureaucracy and ceremony that the Doctor so hated about Gallifrey. The bit where he's standing in front of the Deciders, furious at the deception of their people and the careless disregard for life, he seemed to upset about it it almost was as if it had hit a nerve. The amount of procrastination and laissez faire style shown by the Deciders really bothered the Doctor, as someone who continually shows a profound interest in respecting all forms of life. Anyway, I'm rambling.

Adric! I don't care what anyone says, I like him. I think he's sweet and cute and pleasantly independent. He knows the Doctor knows exactly what he's doing, but in the absence of instructions he can come up with something clever to do all on his own. And he's smart. I'm not sure how old he's supposed to be, though. Sometimes he's like a precocious twelve-year-old, but he looks at least 16. But I'm pretty sure he's supposed to be the youngest companion the Doctor ever had, and Ace was only 16, so he's probably younger than that.

And this was an episode in the full swing of "let's break K-9 as much as possible so John Leeson can go home early", so there wasn't much of him. Which I think is a shame. I didn't like him at first, but he grew on me. I think he's cute, I think it's cool when he's a little bit feisty, and I like it when the Doctor and Romana treat him like their pet. "'What is it'? It's my dog!" Cute.

Other than that, there really isn't that much to say about this episode. They get trapped in E-Space, they meet Adric, Romana is part marsh-creature for a while, and the Doctor gets mad at some stuffy old guys.

Favourite quotes:
"What is this, Noah's Ark? Where's Romana?!"
"How can you compare us to those things?" "Yes, I see what you mean. I suppose they are adaptive and intelligent."