This story has a simple plot, set in historical times but not feeling like a historical. It gives a sci-fi explanation to the spread of the plague and the Great Fire of London but had little to it other than that. It's a Robert Holmes-esque, The Time Warrior-inspired adventure. It also underplays that pivotal moment in the final minutes of the story.
Michael Robbins appears as the likeable Richard Mace (a favourite character of mine), one of the more memorable historical characters on the show. Michael Melia, unfortunately, plays the Teripleptil like an Ice Warrior, so he doesn't stand out. No other characters stand out since they lack personalities and names.
The Doctor once again tries to be authoritative, but he's not very good at that. What he is good at is to humanely explain difficult concepts to people of 17th century England.
Tegan is back to complaining about her job, which is a shame after her fine turn in Kinda (1982). It's great to see Nyssa back in action, as she works so well with Davison's Doctor. Her skills come in handy for once, which is great. Adric is still an idiot, helping the bad guys in their plans, and then whining the rest of the time.
The Terileptils are iconic classic monsters, and they look horrifying. They aren't very effective though, and their android remains underutilized. It does feel like a bigger threat than it's masters, though.
This isn't the most impressive looking historical, and the Terileptil costume looks both ridiculous and quite good.
I'm surprised that a historical with an alien threat, revolving around an important event in history, flows this slowly. It isn't much built-up in the story and the Terileptils fail to deliver.
This story could have been tense and exciting, but since the script has a lack of variation and the menace is underplayed until the end, there is a lack of these qualities. That being said, the Terileptil melting in the fire is pretty intense and horrifying.
While hardly developing the TARDIS crew, The Visitation is famous for putting the Doctor indirectly in charge of the Fire of London and writing out the sonic screwdriver for many years to come.
Some good characters and performance and a lovely little twist at the end make this worth a replay sims time in the future.
Random Observations:
Adric isn't entirely convinced Tegan likes him. Well, I think the problem isn't just Tegan, my dear boy...
It feels strange seeing companions discuss previous adventures. It creates a whole different type of continuity for the show.
The Doctor once again faces the threat of losing his head, after previously doing so in Four to Doomsday (1982).
The last time we saw the Doctor indirectly cause a huge historical event, was back in The Romans (1965).
So, we have the Terileptils to thank for the destruction of the sonic screwdriver until the end of the classic series.
I can't get over these new companions figuring out how the TARDIS works and flying it everywhere. It just doesn't feel right.
Review by Theo KallströmVIP 6BlockedParentSpoilers2020-07-06T11:54:46Z
This story has a simple plot, set in historical times but not feeling like a historical. It gives a sci-fi explanation to the spread of the plague and the Great Fire of London but had little to it other than that. It's a Robert Holmes-esque, The Time Warrior-inspired adventure. It also underplays that pivotal moment in the final minutes of the story.
Michael Robbins appears as the likeable Richard Mace (a favourite character of mine), one of the more memorable historical characters on the show. Michael Melia, unfortunately, plays the Teripleptil like an Ice Warrior, so he doesn't stand out. No other characters stand out since they lack personalities and names.
The Doctor once again tries to be authoritative, but he's not very good at that. What he is good at is to humanely explain difficult concepts to people of 17th century England.
Tegan is back to complaining about her job, which is a shame after her fine turn in Kinda (1982). It's great to see Nyssa back in action, as she works so well with Davison's Doctor. Her skills come in handy for once, which is great. Adric is still an idiot, helping the bad guys in their plans, and then whining the rest of the time.
The Terileptils are iconic classic monsters, and they look horrifying. They aren't very effective though, and their android remains underutilized. It does feel like a bigger threat than it's masters, though.
This isn't the most impressive looking historical, and the Terileptil costume looks both ridiculous and quite good.
I'm surprised that a historical with an alien threat, revolving around an important event in history, flows this slowly. It isn't much built-up in the story and the Terileptils fail to deliver.
This story could have been tense and exciting, but since the script has a lack of variation and the menace is underplayed until the end, there is a lack of these qualities. That being said, the Terileptil melting in the fire is pretty intense and horrifying.
While hardly developing the TARDIS crew, The Visitation is famous for putting the Doctor indirectly in charge of the Fire of London and writing out the sonic screwdriver for many years to come.
Some good characters and performance and a lovely little twist at the end make this worth a replay sims time in the future.
Random Observations:
Adric isn't entirely convinced Tegan likes him. Well, I think the problem isn't just Tegan, my dear boy...
It feels strange seeing companions discuss previous adventures. It creates a whole different type of continuity for the show.
The Doctor once again faces the threat of losing his head, after previously doing so in Four to Doomsday (1982).
The last time we saw the Doctor indirectly cause a huge historical event, was back in The Romans (1965).
So, we have the Terileptils to thank for the destruction of the sonic screwdriver until the end of the classic series.
I can't get over these new companions figuring out how the TARDIS works and flying it everywhere. It just doesn't feel right.
Score: 71/120