State of Decay [TV/1980.11.22 ~ 12.13]

★★★★☆

  Practically flawless in what it sets out to do, State of Decay is a world apart from Full Circle in the E-Space trilogy and is all the stronger for it. Terrance Dicks knocks on the door and reminds everyone that the Philip Hinchcliffe era existed, and the result is a fascinating combination of every major era of Dr. Who during Tom Baker's tenure. You've got the subtle and yet apparent comedic undercurrent of the Graham Williams era, the Hinchcliffe-era Gothic horror of bloodsucker bats, dingy castles and vampires, and the incoming science-fiction element of the initial John Nathan-Turner era. What's better, the serial is really, really good, and multiple rewatches reward you with more details and background knowledge.

  The effects don't bother me that much, and the practical effects on display are especially good (just take a gander at the Great Vampire's hand rising from the ground). Plus, this is all about the atmosphere, and the entire serial benefis from Peter Moffatt's procifiency in bringing out such a pervading feeling of dread, death and blood. In particular, Episode 1 is one of my all-time classic series opening episodes because it stacks its revelations so well, offering viewers just the right amount of information to tease them into being intrigued. It helps that the leads (whether as an artistic choice or as a result of real-life conflicts and dislikes towards each other) seem to be a bit more acidic towards each other, as the Doctor and Romana are faced with an irrational fear which stems from a deeply-encoded race memory of the Time Lords against the Great Vampires. Oh, and Adric forces his way into becoming a companion. Matthew Waterhouse's best performance this is most certainly not, but he does (awkwardly) try to double-bluff the bad guys. Oh, and did I mention that vampires are one of my favourite baddies from Dr. Who, and that they're portrayed so well here? Intimidating, scary and verging on the psychosexual... yes, this is the stuff. State of Decay remains (for me) one of Terrance Dicks' finest contributions to the show, a confident, smart script turned into a production dripping with atmosphere. Another win for Season 18.