The visitation (1982)

On-page link, opens in this window Review
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Review

This is a four-part serial, first broadcast between 15th - 23rd February 1982. A brief and somewhat spoiler-ish summary of the plot: when the Doctor tries to drop off Tegan so she can get on with her job as an air hostess, the Tardis arrives at the right place, Heathrow, at the wrong time, 1666. The Doctor, Tegan, Nyssa and Adric find themselves caught between aliens who intend to wipe them out along with everyone else on earth, and local yokels who simply want to kill them for reasons of their own. They do manage to save the planet, even if they start the Great Fire of London and the sonic screwdriver goes up in flames.

Out with the old, in with the new… When Eric Saward wrote 'The visitation' he knew that Peter Davison would take over as the Doctor, but he'd never seen him in the part. He had also received conflicting information regarding the number of companions he would be writing for, and he hadn't watched the series in recent years. Nevertheless, he would go on to become script editor for Doctor Who and to write several other serials for the Davison era.

The good news:

The somewhat good news:

The not so good news:

The puzzling bits:

My verdict:

Quite good, actually.

Not a must-see serial, but pretty entertaining.

More about Doctor Who

An introduction:
On-site link, opens in this window Doctor Who reviews: introduction

More "quite good, actually" Doctor Who:
On-site link, opens in this window Doctor Who reviews: quite good, actually

More from the Peter Davison years:
On-site link, opens in this window Doctor Who reviews: 1982 - 1984

Similar stories:
On-site link, opens in this window Doctor Who reviews: genre benders

Original version of this review:
On-site link, opens in this window 06/08/30

More about this serial

Episode guides:
Off-site link, opens in new window BBC Cult

Serial reviews:
Off-site link, opens in new window Outpost Gallifrey

DVD reviews:
Off-site link, opens in new window Outpost Gallifrey



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