Mawdryn Undead

Mawdryn Undead
by Peter Grimwade
Originally Broadcasted: February 1st-9th, 1983

The Doctor, Tegan, and Nyssa almost collide with a spaceship due to a warp ellipse and are forced to materialize onboard. There they discover a transmat to Earth where new and old friends, along with a man Nyssa and Tegan believe to be The Doctor...

The Peter Davison era was a hit or miss era for me. The stories were either really good (The Caves of Androzani) or really bad (Warriors of the Deep). Yet most of Davison's stories are very watchable, mainly due to his superb performance as The Doctor. Mawdryn Undead narrowly enters the good category for me. The thing I love the most about this story is the return of Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, who at this point hadn't appeared since 1975's Terror of the Zygons. The Brig is always a fun character to watch. He's the perfect foil and aid to The Doctor, and he works well against every single one of them. Introduced in this story is the tricky sly Turlough, who after a car crash is contacted by the Black Guardian (another returning character. See a theme? So did John Nathan-Turner) and forced into an agreement to kill The Doctor. That sets up the basis for this story and the two following stories (Terminus and Enlightenment) of Turlough trying to kill The Doctor, and never really getting very far with it. That's really just a side story though. Main attention is drawn to Mawdryn's struggles with eternal life and just how to solve that, as well as getting the Brig's memory back. The one thing that really bugs me about this story though is how in the world Tegan and Nyssa can think that Mawdryn is The Doctor. Sure he's all shriveled up at first, but you'd think they'd look at some facial features and realize that's not the Fifth Doctor we know and love. Fortunately the Brig is there to set them straight. Overall an enjoyable Doctor Who romp, mainly due to the involvement of Lethbridge-Stewart.

Luke's Rating: 8/10