Rate and Discuss: The Visitation

[SiHart]

Still trying to get Tegan back to Heathrow, the TARDIS lands a few centuries early when England was in the midst of the Great Plague. But could an even more lethal force be behind the local outbreak of plague? And why is Death itself stalking the village?

What do you think of The Visitation?

[Rob McCow]

On the one hand, it's dull, plodding and ludicrous, with at least one well-known actor clearly taking the p*ss from start to finish.

On the other hand, it's a tremendous riot of an adventure with action from start to finish; a real tour-de-force of solid Doctor Who in a superb, recognisable setting.

So I gave it a seven.

[J.R. Southall]

I liked it at the time, for its back-to-basics approach (after something like half-a-dozen stories in a row that played around with what Doctor Who is about - nothing wrong with that, but six stories back-to-back can become rather wearing), but retrospectively, it's quite clearly the moment at which Doctor Who starts to eat itself.

The Visitation exists for no other reason than that Eric Saward was invited to submit a script for a series he had no knowledge of other than just one story: The Time Warrior.

[Terry Leptil]

The Visitation is a jolly great romp, maybe perhaps my favourite Davison serial. It's memorable for lots of reasons such as the destruction of the Sonic Screwdriver (until 1996), the Doctor accidentally starting the Great Fire of London and superb special effects with the design of the Terileptils.

Richard Mace played by Michael Robbins is a great character who actually got into the drift of what it was like to be a companion. A lot of people say he should have joined the TARDIS crew.

Excellent stuff 9/10

[Rob McCow]

a series he had no knowledge of other than just one story: The Time Warrior.

Which, to be fair, isn't a bad story to base your new script on!

[J.R. Southall]

Which, to be fair, isn't a bad story to base your new script on!

Very true (The Time Warrior is an all-time favourite story of mine), but looking back, you can see the start of people writing Doctor Who that references only the series itself and its past, rather than reflecting the real world and its concerns - and you can see it in this script. It doesn't really add anything to the sum of the programme, merely replicates one of its previous successes.

I'm not saying it's awful or anything (I gave it a six), I'm just saying it doesn't really add up to anything; it's a story without a point. You can level the same accusation at Earthshock and then most of Seasons 21 through to 23.*

Thank goodness for Time and the Rani! And especially Paradise Towers.


Eta: *With greater or lesser success in the entertainment department, of course.

[SiHart]

I loved this one as kid- it had it all history! Monsters! The Great Fire of London!

I'm not sure it's aged that well though. It's possibly a bit too straight forward, but I'm not sure that that should be a criticism. it'd been some time since Doctor Who had gone back in time- certainly longer ago than I could remember at this point in the show's history, so that seemed like a really exciting thing.

The Terrileptals were also quite memorable monsters, and it was a bit of a shame that they never came back. the mix of reptile and shark made them fairly distinctive and I liked the raspy voices- they were easy to copy in the playground (which we did until the Cybermen came back!)

It's quite nicely made, especially the scenes in London which look fabulous on film. And while the whole of the 17th century is mostly conjured up by Richard Mace, the period setting works pretty well really. It all feels solid enough and real.

[Nyder]

I didn't like this one as a kid for one reason - the death of the sonic!

Mind you, Doctor 11 seems to be making up for it now by waving the damn thing around wherever he goes!

[Paul Monk]

I have lovely fond memories of this, mainly due to the Great Fire of London connection. At school we had been studying this time period so it made this story quite relevant and exciting. Looking at it now I'd have to say that it does seem a bit more plodding than I remember. Its not bad but even then with the Richard Mace character, there's signs that Eric Saward would rather be writing something else which isn't a great sign for a future script editor.

[Andrew Curnow]

I really enjoyed it at the time, and haven't really changed my opinion since then. JR above makes some good points, which I'd not considered before, but just taking this story in isolation I think it's a good old-fashioned romp - in fact, very similar to The Time Warrior in that it's an excellent story, but just somehow lacks that extra something which would make us all hail it "a classic".

I love the Terileptil design, the first sequence with the attack on the house (bit like a pre-credits sequence nowadays), and Davison has very quickly settled on his general performance (this was his second recorded story wasn't it?). There's some nice bits of dialogue ("The miller, a man of very sour disposition" "And not much road sense" is a favourite, as is "I said empathise, not be silly" not to mention "I like long walks") and there's a nice, quality, BBC costume drama feel to the whole thing.

About the only real criticism I have is that Nyssa's subplot with the device to destroy the android is a little dull - and also I have an irrational dislike for sequences midway through a story where they nip back to the TARDIS, so it loses a point for that!

But apart from that, lovely! (Nice music too!)

[Stuart Wallis]

Quite a lovely story. Not an all-time classic, but eminently watchable. For once, given the era and the profession that Mace finds himself in, Saward's wordy dialogue is suitable; and the design of the android not totally gaudy. The terileptils are a fine-looking bunch of creatures; I always wondered, given their textures, whether the cloaks running down their backs were cloaks or parts of their bodies. Very clever piece of design.

7/10

[J.R. Southall]

It's a shell, surely!

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

Scrapes 8/10 if only because my Dad and one of my brothers really enjoyed it at the weekend.

[Stuart Wallis]

It's a shell, surely!

This week's toung twister!

[J.R. Southall]

This week's toung twister!

...and my apologies for calling you "Surely"!

[MacNimon]

I gave this a 9. I love it, and for me it was the first time the Davison era felt like 'proper' Doctor Who. The historical setting, likeable guest cast, memorable monsters (who are long overdue a return) and a simple, plain, traditional feeling story...all this was what finally convinced me that Davison was the Doctor, and that this was still Doctor Who we were watching.