Full Circle

Full Circle
by Andrew Smith
Originally Broadcasted: October 25th-November 15th, 1980

The Doctor and Romana have been summoned back to Gallifrey, but suddenly the TARDIS falls through a CVE into E Space and they arrive on the planet Alzarius, even though the TARDIS thinks they're on Gallifrey. On Alzarius, the Doctor must deal with superstitious people, as well as the "deadly" Mistfall and the marsh creatures that come during Mistfall...

Full Circle was the first of the three part E Space Trilogy of loosely connected stories all taking place in E Space, an alternate universe that should be impossible for the Doctor to be in. It was also the introduction story for one of the most beloved companions in Doctor Who history, Adric. Of course, I was being a wee bit sarcastic there. Right from the beginning we can see just how annoying Adric is. He's unhelpful, sarcastic, and a bit of a smarty pants. Certainly no artful dodger. Seeing him introduced just made me wish we were at Earthshock already... Our leads get some great stuff to work with in this episode. Tom Baker is at his most Doctor-like in this story, throughly being the voice of reason and intelligence. On the other end, Lalla Ward gets to play Romana as an almost evil character, having her brain waves altered to become more like the Marshmen. How clever of a realization was it that the humans on Alzarius had actually evolved over millions of years from the Marshmen. The thing their so afraid of is actually themselves. And with the Marshmen, we get one of the most iconic scenes from this era of the show, the Marshmen rising up out of the swamp as the cliffhanger to Part One. Sends shivers down my spine every time! I think the Deciders are a great parody of how government works. These three people are supposed to rule, govern, and change, and yet they seem to be incapable of any of that. It's only with the curiosity of Decider Login and the help of the Doctor that Alzarius finally comes full circle. One of my favorite elements of Full Circle is the fantastic incidental music provided by Paddy Kingsland. I think this is one of the finest examples of why I love early 80s Doctor Who music so much. It provides a creepy tone and a joyous one as well. Some people think the music in this era of Doctor Who is a bit overpowering, but I love it! Full Circle is a fine example of early 80s Doctor Who, which just so happens to be probably my favorite era of the show. And when you consider it was written by a 17 year old, that makes it all the more impressive! If only it hadn't introduced Adric...

Luke's Rating: 8/10