Doctor Who:
Arc of Infinity
By Johnny Byrne
“I've found it unwise to
predict what the Doctor can or cannot do.”
After The Doctor’s TARDIS
is under attack from someone crossing the Arc of Infinity and trying to take
over the Doctor’s body. This was made
possible by a traitor on Gallifrey who stole The Doctor’s biodata information. Soon after this happens The Doctor gets the
recall from Gallifrey and his TARDIS is route back home.
It is not the warm welcome
he was expecting as The Doctor and Nyssa are locked in the security area where
the TARDIS materialized in. They soon
break out and are now being hunted by the Castellans guard where Commander
Maxil promptly shoots him. The Doctor
and Nyssa are then brought up to the High Council of Time Lords where they
decide the only way to stop the animatter being from getting into our universe
is to execute The Doctor. But this works
to the plans of the one who is behind all of this. The long lost Time Lord Omega who wants
nothing more than to come back and rule Gallifrey.
The Twentieth Season of
Doctor Who was one of celebration. John
Nathan – Turner wanted to do something special for the Twentieth so he wanted
the season to have adversaries from The Doctor’s past come back and cause havoc
again. The Arc of Infinity was filled
with stuff from The Doctor’s past as we return to Gallifrey and The Time Lords
and one that we have seen before in Damon who is Leela’s husband and of course
Borusa who is now Lord President.
More importantly is the
return of Omega who was last seen in the Tenth Anniversary story The Three
Doctors. This time he has his own TARDIS
and servant The Ergon and he is based in Amsterdam. He gets a new redesigned costume and his identity
is kept secret until the end of episode 3.
What a reveal that was as he would be one of the last villains anyone
would expect but actually quite appropriate since it is the Twentieth
Anniversary.
Tegan also returns in this
story and I liked how they did it with her cousin getting captured by Omega and
Tegan searching for him. She was supposed to meet him in Amsterdam to visit so
having her helping out to find him and then getting mixed up in the events
really worked. The look on The Doctor’s
face is priceless when she says she is back for good.
I enjoyed Arc of Infinity
as it was one of those stories that had something for everyone. A traitor on Gallifrey in Hedin, a romp through Amsterdam chasing Omega that looks like the 5th Doctor and a Colin Baker guest appearance. I really liked the chemistry between Nyssa
and The Doctor and it is too bad that that wasn’t the main Doctor companion relationship
during that era. I think that pairing would have been terrific
as we have seen with the Big Finish adventures.
Arc of Infinity is also
known for a guest appearance by future Doctor Colin Baker playing Commander
Maxil. He was pretty ruthless and mean
in the role and even shots himself in a figurative way. I still find it strange to watch him in Arc
of Infinity and then the next season he is the Sixth Doctor. Strange and funny as one might say he was
being ruthless to get the role early. I’m
just kidding on that one.
While Arc of Infinity isn’t
the greatest Doctor Who story but it sure is a fun one to watch with lots of
past characters and a story that isn’t all that bad that shows more of
Gallifrey and the Matrix also.
Grade B –
makes me wonder...if his subconscious mind chose his current face, why did it choose the face of Commander Maxil for his sixth incarnation? hmm
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