Terminus [TV/1983.2.15 ~ 2.23]

★★★★☆

  Sometimes you hear people slagging off a particular serial and you go, 'Did we even watch the same serial?' The way some people talk about Terminus as if it's the most boring thing on the planet has me scratching my head, really. Most of the time, I find out that they also dislike Warriors' Gate, by which point I realise they just don't like Steve Gallagher's dreamlike/nightmarish, slow and reflective style of Dr. Who. That's OK, people are entitled to their opinions and I equally have every right to write a very positive review about it. 

  Terminus is a beautifully crafted dark vision of the future, with infected patients being regarded as cargo and corporations using these infected and quarantined (read: marooned on a derelict spaceship) as free slave labour and making them work for their own survival as well as regulating their access to essential drugs. A group of infected act as warriors and lawbringers with their own rules and traditions, and a giant dog proves to be the only thing stopping the spaceship from causing the opposite of the Big Bang. At least you can't blame Gallagher for a lack of ambition -- this serial is jam-packed with ideas, and director Mary Ridge (despite going through a really rushed and rough production) manages to blend those whizzing ideas with a rock-solid production and create a riveting TV experience.

  Tegan and Turlough really don't get anything to do here, which I would say is its biggest downside here. The latter has a few good moments (namely starting all this mess by obeying the Black Guardian's orders), but as for Tegan... she and Turlough are trapped underground while the entire story comes and goes above them. Poor sods, it's clear Gallagher had no space for them in his script. Thankfully, this means the Doctor and Nyssa get some fantastic material to work on -- mostly the Doctor, I should say, and Peter Davison gets to show just how good an actor he is. Look at him at his most brooding, observing the dire situation surrounding him and following the tone of the adventure so effortlessly. Sarah Sutton gets a touching goodbye as Nyssa as well, and although she doesn't get nearly as many things to do as the Doctor does, it's good to see her departure is actually relevant to what she does best. The Black Guardian trilogy of Season 20 is up fora critical re-evaluation, I'd say -- Terminus is the ultra-confident middle child that hides its behind-the-scenes catastrophe really well and presents itself as a clever, imaginative and high-stakes adventure. It's just so funny that in such a grim and fatalistic story, no one dies.