The Visitation [TV/1982.2.15 ~ 2.23]

★★★☆☆

  The Visitation is that one Dr. Who story. You know the one. It's the one you point at and go, 'yeah, that's basically what Dr. Who is about'. You've got time travels to the past, aliens intent on killing a lot of innocent people, androids (dressed up as more recognisable figures), a memorable one-off character, a historical event happening (because of the Doctor's involvement), and a lot of mucking about inside the TARDIS. It's practically got everything, even down to the pacing that's more leisurely than breakneck. It's so emblematic of the show as a whole, in fact, that it even acknowledges that the show has just as many bad adventures as it has good ones and acts accordingly -- being slap bang in the middle of my review scale. 

  I hope that didn't sound too uncharitable to the old fellow. Thing is, The Visitation is completely fine as a serial and it's a heap of good-natured fun all around. The Terileptils are good baddies, the Fifth Doctor gets a strong showcase (it shows us early on that he's not the wet-behind-the-ears schoolboy that some made him out to be, and he fires a musket like some Western film star), and the TARDIS team is working well with one another. For once, there's a minimal amount of bickering and they seem to truly be comfortable as a unit, and that's a good sign of development that shows John Nathan-Turner was willing to make Season 19 a solid show. Though why he had it in for the poor old sonic screwdriver, I will never know. It was hardly even used before this serial, and the Fifth Doctor especially wasn't too keen on it. Compared to the antics of Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat, the sonic back then was practically a rare artefact. Simply a choice I will probably never fully understand. Meat & potatoes Dr. Who, that's The Visitation for you -- sometimes you just get a craving for this sort of thing, and there's nothing else quite like it. A distillation of what makes Dr. Who special, presented in fine, serviceable quality.