Terror of the Vervoids [TV/1986.11.1 ~ 11.22]

★★★★☆

  A bona fide Agatha Christie mystery in space (pretty much celebrated by the writers by a shot of one of the characters reading Murder on the Orient Express), filled with delightful performances and produced with plenty of confidence -- now who's going to tell me again that this is the weakest of the Trial of a Time Lord lot? This third serial of the season continues to prove me right, that Season 23 is still one of Dr. Who's most consistent seasons; not one out of the four stories go below 'fantastic' for me, and every one has a brilliant Colin Baker performance. Look, it still makes me sad that he was given the middle finger by the BBC this way because the higher-ups had it in for him; he had so much to give, and he gave his all in this season, you can tell. It's just sad that something similar's happening (or happened) with Jodie Whittaker in the new series. Flux is pretty much Trial of a Time Lord, isn't it, with its severely undervalued adventures and its connected format.

  Well, at least these wonderful serials are out here for us to enjoy. Set and costume designs are some of my favourite aspects of any visual media (as you can tell, from the way I keep mentioning them in many reviews), and Vervoids has these in droves. I love the look of the Hyperion ship, from its private, staff-only sectors that hae much more dark colours, while the guest areas are much brighter and welcoming. You have the cafeteria/lobby area, the gym, the rooms... it's like someone was dying to design a hotel in space, and they got their wish and did a fantastic job. As for clothes, everybody's wearing some fantastic colours, and I love the new blue on the Doctor's multi-coloured fashion choice -- it works so well. Do you know another thing that works very well from the off? The Doctor and Mel. They're a fantastic duo from the word go, with Colin Baker and Bonnie Langford displaying an unmistakable chemistry. They start off by Mel administering the Doctor's workout (with the latter obviously having a hard time); how can you not love them? I will stand by my opinion that Mel was never the one-dimensional shrieker people said she was, and that she's a great character to watch in Terror of the Vervoids; she's investigating on her own, being shrewd, kind, and so fun with the Doctor. Plus, I don't know if anyone told you this before, but her scream is a registered weapon. 

  So with a Pip & Jane Baker script that delights in creating a genuine murder mystery, with trial segments that enhance the level of fun of the story with sabotaged footage, a fantastic TARDIS team (with great costumes to boot) and a truly wonderful extended-edition version to watch should you want a more rounded experience (I certainly did), Terror of the Vervoids is a serial of absolute confidence and it's a brilliant one at that. Introducing a future companion this way, implementing body horror and scientific morality to an Agatha Christie homage? Must've been quite the task to write, but Pip & Jane were so talented that they could pull through and deliver us such quality stuff.