The Creature from the Pit [TV/1979.10.27 ~ 11.17]

★★★★☆

  Season 17 is one of my favourite seasons, and the reason for that is that every serial is practically bursting at the seams with imagination and the willingness to put pure entertainment over everything else. This is most apparent with Tom Baker being on top form throughout the entire succession of adventures, laughing his way through dangers and near-deaths and being the totally alien and affable hero for children to follow. Everything has a brisk pace, and the stories feel very confident (I don't know how they feel for anyone else, I'm simply talking about my perspective). Even in its lowest-- I hate to associate it with that word but hmm, perhaps Destiny of the Daleks -- the season never ceases to be fin to watch, infectious in its energy.

  The Creature from the Pit is much the same; with some gorgeous set and costume design, plus an impressive final turn by director Christopher Barry, this is a really good-looking serial. Add to that a pleasing colour palette, addictive performances from Tom Baker (who is on his best joke-a-second ratio streak) and Lalla Ward (it's a good description because while I wouldn't call it the most befitting performance to the second incarnation of Romana... and Ward doesn't seem the most comfortable performing her material... it's certainly memorable, and I keep coming back for her specifically), and a genuinely iconic performance from Myra Frances as Lady Adrasta, this is event television for people like me (we get excited over the smallest of things). The penis alien ambasssador really isn't that bad, as the phallic tube only gets blown on once by the Doctor and is subsequently covered by a translation device -- and besides, I like that it's totally weird. The Graham Williams era really must be commended for not being afraid to portray the outright weirdness of alien cultures, and Creature from the Pit benefits from the ambition. It's funny that practically everyone hated making this serial, as it's bursting at the seams with golden lines of dialogue and a boundless imagination. Who knew that saving a diplomatic anbassador in a world that hoards metal could be this fun to watch?