Doctor Who - The Androids of Tara
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List Price: $9.98
Features
• Closed-captioned
• Color
• Original recording reissued
• NTSC
In Theaters : 29 September, 1975
Video Release : 19 July, 2000 |
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Doctor Who - The Androids of Tara Customer Reviews
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♥♥♥♥♥ |
"A hamster with a blunt penknife could do it quicker!"
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And now, for something completely different...
"Androids of Tara" is an unusual "Doctor Who" storyline in many ways, possibly unique in the history of this long-running TV series. It's neither science-fictionalized horror nor straightforward high-concept science fiction, nor even a historical adventure from the old days of the show. Instead, it's a strangely quaint fairy tale romance complete with handsome princes, beautiful princesses and evil counts--and horses, castles, dungeons, coincidental doubles, and swords (the latter with a little electrical buzz just to remind you that this is science fiction, after all). The stakes are pretty low, too. Hardly anyone dies, the fate of the planet Tara doesn't hang in the balance, no Cybermen armies are poised to invade; the Doctor and Romana just have to make sure the good guy gets to be king instead of the bad guy, and then whisk off with the fourth segment to the Key to Time--which is found easily at the very beginning, almost anticlimactically. Furthermore, as "Doctor Who" stories go, this one is unusually shallow. There are a few references to a rigid social hierarchy making Tara almost believable as a place, but otherwise this story is devoid of the usual depths and layers of meaning so characteristic of the show. Sly social satire is likewise muffled, despite the whole royal succession humbug virtually begging for such treatment.
In some ways, of course, this brief flirtation with an unusual genre makes for a breath of fresh air, and all in all is delightfully entertaining if a bit silly. It's nice to see the show go out on a limb and try something a little different, anyway. That said, the writer relies on his sources (or source, rather: Anthony Hope's "The Prisoner of Zenda" apparently) to such a degree that the Doctor and Romana seem almost like co-stars rather than main characters. The plot kind of drags in spots, with multiple twists and turns clever at first but gradually a bit tedious; a hamster with a penknife could've carved away the plot's padding a lot quicker than the editor, apparently. Still, when Tom Baker's the Doctor, all's not lost--the oddball, eccentric charisma and humor he brings to the role serve to enliven even the most mediocre of episodes, and that charm goes a long way towards making "Androids of Tara" enjoyable. And he also gets an outstandingly memorable sword-fighting scene at the very end of which even Jon Pertwee could've been proud.
So all in all this is hardly a classic, but it still manages to function as a fun if somewhat forgettable light-hearted adventure. But let the writers and producers beware. I shall not be so lenient next time.
P.S. Since "The Androids of Tara" is the fourth storyline in the six-part "Key to Time" saga of the sixteenth season, this DVD is also included with five other DVDs in a box set, [[ASIN:B000067FPE Doctor Who - The Key to Time Collection]], so unless you have a particular interest just in this one storyline, that may be the better option both in terms of economics and convenience. |
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