![]() It's probably the best work director Peter Moffat has ever done on the series with some truly wonderful visual flourishes - a highlight being the mixing of the slow motion bat footage over the face of Aukon still remains a potent image and is redolent of Herzog's similar approach to his 1979 Nosferatu - and he seems to rally the actors into giving some rather gorgeous performances which is an achievement considering he had two leading actors who couldn't bear to be in the same room as one another at the time. But it works well because everything else in the production has such a commitment behind it. ![]() Some of the ideas have seen the light of day before - namely The Face Of Evil- where an almost medieval society has grown out of science and technology and transposed it into a quasi religion/magic. Bidmead, being his usual self, then throws in some of his 'science-mysticism' obsessions to remind us that this is Season 18 not Season 14. With the story in 'Hammer' mode - a hyper Gothic production dripping in atmosphere with superb production design (Christine Ruscoe take a bow), costumes, make up, lighting etc - it's the script that cleverly understands how to undercut the stifling ambience with a great deal of wit and insight into the genre itself. Still in E-Space, the Doctor, Romana and stowaway Adric find themselves on a planet where the local inhabitants are held in thrall by the 'Three Who Rule' - astronauts turned vampire by an ancient Gallifreyan enemy. For me, it's an indication of the production team's confidence that they feel they can go for the traditional whilst still pushing their 'modernising' agenda. ![]() It keeps its Gothic trappings for this revived version so it's often accused of being a bit of a throwback. Take one teaspoon of Hinchcliffe, one teaspoon of Williams, a sprinkle of Nathan-Turner and then throw it all in to a slowly marinading pot of Terry Dicks and.your taste buds are in for a treat.ĭicks' script was put on the backburner back in 1977 (the BBC getting in a tizzy about it being too similar to their prestige production Count Dracula) so you can't get more steeped in tradition than that. 'Then die, that is the purpose of guards'
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