The Ribos Operation (1978) Review

"Um, is this about my fourth-wall jokes?"

Oh my God, I have such a crush on Romana, it's not even funny. She is SO gorgeous... *swoon*

WRITTEN BY

This is a new paragraph in the reviews, where I take a look at the writer and give my opinion on his work and experience with Doctor Who. In this case, we have Robert Holmes, an old veteran who is less of a sci-fi writer(as proven by his meagre early stories. In my opinion, he didn't get good until Carnival Of Monsters) and more of a satirical comedy/horror writer who took advantage of Doctor Who and turned out works of art. Kudos. 

PLOT

The Doctor's TARDIS is impounded by the mysterious White Guardian, who tasks him to recover the six hidden segments of the Key To Time, with which he could restore the balance of good and evil in the universe before the Black Guardian upsets it. In this mission, he is provided with a new assistant: the young, intelligent Time Lady Romana, who has just finished the Academy. 

The first segment is hidden on the primitive planet of Ribos, where the TARDIS crew make enemies of the vicious, dethroned Graff Vynda-K, who is also being manipulated by a veteran con man and his naive partner in crime.

ANALYSIS

I'm putting my cards on the table: this is the best story arc Doctor Who has ever done, in my opinion. I just love how different it is from the norm and how imaginative. This is fairytale Doctor Who done just right: it is fun, it is mystical, it fits the formula and the stakes are high. I adore quest storylines(hence why I'm a fan of stories like The Keys Of Marinus and the upcoming The Five Doctors). It's like the characters are placed in this awesome game scenario and each serial in this season is like a different level. 

In addition, I love the introduction of the two Guardians, who are the first "race"(if they can be called that) to supersede the power of the Time Lords. I hope they bring these two back at some point in the new series. Or better yet, make up something new, but as epic as this.

The Ribos Operation is a great character story. It's relatively plot-free and feels like Holmes invented a bunch of people and just put them together, on the planet Ribos. I mean, a comedy pair of con men, a melodramatic fallen prince and an alien version of Galileo Galilei? And yet it just clicks so well. 

CHARACTERS

I love Romana as a companion so much. She has Rose's looks and Zoe's brains. And even better, she's played by Mary Tamm. Fun tidbit: Mary Tamm may have been of British nationality, but she's the daughter of Estonian immigrants(you can tell from her last name... it means "oak"). As an Estonian myself, she's a great role model. We ARE good enough to star in Doctor Who! 

Paul Seed is magnificient as the Graff Vynda-K. The Graff is portrayed as a greedy, selfish warmonger, but at the same time, he is heartbroken when his last and most loyal general dies. His death scene could belong in Shakespeare, it is simply beautiful. 

Iain Cuthbertson is equally wonderful in the lively, boisterous role of Garron, the trickster who sells planets he doesn't even own. Like the Graff, he is insidious and largely without morals, but at the same time friendly and genuinely cares about his younger pal, Unstoffe. 

Nigel Plaskitt is a little too much of a sitcom actor for my liking(maybe that's just me), but does play the role well and strikes quite a chord with his meeting with Binro. Speaking of Binro...

he is played by Timothy Bateson, known to Harry Potter fans as the first actor to play Kreacher, which was also his final acting role before death. Like all the other actors, there's something both tragic and funny about him. He's an old scientist-turned-destitute, who was disgraced after suggesting that the stars are other suns. In fact, Binro almost steals the show(before the Graff and Garron take it right back). He has such a nice little subplot.

NOTES

*The editing in episode 1 is really haphazard, which kind of annoys me since that's the one that introduces the whole story arc.

*What exactly does the Key To Time do, especially if it's scattered across time and space? We get some stuff about evil overtaking the universe, but if the Key To Time exists to prevent it, why scatter it anyway? Isn't the risk of evil overtaking the universe bigger than the risk of them getting their hands on the Key? Either they get it and overtake the universe or they don't get it and you have a way to stop them from overtaking the universe. 

I guess in essence, the Key To Time as a whole is a giant reboot button and in pieces, it's a crap antivirus. 

*Also, how would anyone steal the Key from the White Guardian anyway? He looks pretty omnipotent to me, apart from his inability to find the segments himself.

*The city or castle or whatever, where this all takes place, is left very undefined. Why do the guards just let people walk in and out of the treasure room? Where is the treasure room anyway? 

*I've been thinking for a while now that the Graff reminded me of someone and I finally got it just now: he's very similar to Hugh Laurie's "Gordon" character(in manners and appereance) from A Bit Of Fry And Laurie. 

*Why does the Doctor conceal the existence of the Black Guardian from Romana?

*I love the Doctor's reaction when he realises he's been piloting the TARDIS for 500 years. I'm pretty sure now that 100 years is the equivalent of 10 years for a Time Lord. So 500 years is 50 years for him. Yeesh. 

*The Romana-Doctor interplay does sort of herald in the smarminess of the Doctor-companion relationships in the new series, but thankfully, Romana doesn't appear egotistical. She just points out the facts. 

*Why do the Graff's soldiers wear clothes in the Ancient Chinese style? I hate random "history in space" stuff, especially in good stories(read: Voyage Of The Damned and Mummy On The Orient Express).

*Let's face it, Binro's death was kind of silly. "I WAS right, right? You weren't just kidding?"

*After Binro is dead, Unstoffe lunges at the Graff's men and appears to get shot, but is then suddenly fine after that. Did I miss something?

BEST QUOTE

"You do know that sarcasm's an adjustive stress reaction?" - Maybe all that Clara needed was a nice trip to the beach?

CONCLUSION

A classic character drama opens what could be the best Doctor Who season. Stay tuned!