Vengeance on Varos [TV/1985.1.19 ~ 1.26]

★★★★★

  One of the absolute standouts of the John Nathan-Turner years of Dr. Who, Vengeance on Varos is just as sharp, witty, and horribly humorous as it always was. The video nasties scare of mid-80s UK may be gone, but with the advent of the Internet, secret dark web servers hosting snuff content, governments turning the blame on "violence-inciting" media whenever their own incompetence rears its ugly head back at them (and secretly indulging in & in some cases, funding these forms of entertainment), even the rise of Twitch and interactive streamers catering to the needs and whims of viewers (a good example of this would be Jerma's Dollhouse, out of all things)... it's hard not to feel like Varos is as relevant as ever in today's world.

  Ron Jones gives the serial his best directorial ever, without a doubt. So many inspired choices I could point to, starting from the opening panning shot that shows the desolate world of Varos and changing to a close-up shot of a man being tortured in front of a camera, instantly giving viewers an idea of what this serial is about. Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant are on top form at this point, visibly comfortable in their presence (unlike in The Twin Dilemma when the two were obviously testing their chemistry with each other), and Baker especially gives one hell of a performance; he's the middle finger towards a sick society ruled by a corrupt government, he's courageous and compassionate and he'll never let a friend down. He doesn't fear death, and even when his neck is tied to a noose, he never fails to be defiant. That's my kind of Doctor. 007's son gives a fine enough performance as well.

  Really, I'm just in love with Varos as a world and how it's presented here. It's a terrible world where snuff content is used to sate the masses, and the framing device used for this serial is ingenious. We get to see how the average Varosian thinks about all this, reacts to public executions/votes, and mulls about when the Doctor eventually dismantles the corruption within. It's an incredibly powerful choice of storytelling, and it leads to one of the finest final shots of the entire classic series. The cliffhanger for episode 1, that's an all-timer as well -- incredibly bleak in nature and piercing, and most of all, a heap of fun. Every character's defined in their own way, and the inclusion of Sil is a stroke of god-given luck. Nabil Shaban steals the show whenever he's in the spotlight; no wonder he was brought back. This is a stone-cold classic, whichever way you look at it.