The Visitation (1982) Review

"Now listen here, you impolite wrongdoer! Please?"

The Visitation is a welcome return to the show's roots as a simplistic, but entertaining and witty time travelling show.

WRITTEN BY

Eric Saward, who is also taking over as the script editor of the show. So far, so good.

PLOT

Another failed attempt at returning Tegan home brings the TARDIS to 1666, where the crew find themselves caught between paranoid villagers and a renegade group of Terileptil fugitives plotting to eradicate the human race and colonise the planet. 

ANALYSIS

There's not much substance to be found here, but the 17th century rural atmosphere makes up for it. It's the Robin Hood era, with forest dwellers and shadowy, candle-lit rooms. Very cold and autumn-y. 

As with the previous three stories, the unusual TARDIS team dynamic continues to be a source of interest as well. They may not be particularly good characters, but at least it's not the bland "girl asking questions from an older gentleman" cliche. 

There's lots of great lines, something interesting is always happening and one particular source provides an endless amount of warmth for this story. What is that source? 

CHARACTERS

That source is Richard Mace, as played by Michael Robbins. He's a wandering actor/highwayman with a heart of gold, who gets by in the plague-ravaged England with luck and two fake pistols. A real gentleman, he follows the Doctor around for the entire story, making the best of his situation(whether it be indulging in the contents of a wine cellar or showing off his lockpicking skills) and trying to steer clear of getting slaughtered. Definitely one of the best guest characters we've had on the show.

Peter Davison is all over the place in this story. At times, he is active, confident and aloof, harkening back to his more eccentric predecessors. This "old, impatient man in a youngster's body" is probably the best characterisation he's gotten. However, he has a very annoying tendency now to nag with his companions and the way Davison plays his exasperation with them is far too melodramatic for my liking. 

Well, color me impressed, because Nyssa finally shows promise! Her early goodbye to Tegan was very endearing and I loved the cute wave she gave to Adric once she saw he'd managed to escape on his own. Her interactions with the Doctor are really lovely too. After all, the Doctor in this story is rather like a teacher taking a group of students out on a field trip. And Nyssa's top of the class. 

Tegan and Adric are both a waste, though. They both spend most of the story drifting in and out of the story without any meaningful contribution. And I am simply exhausted from Tegan's itching to go home. Seriously, what was up with that breakdown when she realised the TARDIS missed Heathrow? Just get back in the machine and try again! There's no hurry!
There's really nothing else to say here, neither of them add anything to the narrative apart from padding it out. 

The Terileptils themselves had their moments, but weren't particularly memorable monsters on the whole. Their costumes were more than a little stiff and the design just didn't look that appealing to me. Those giant teeth looked ridiculous.

NOTES

*Apparently, Adric still doesn't hold himself responsible for what was obviously his own errors in Kinda.

*But why is the Doctor rattling on about the TSS anyway? Just let it go, it's irrelevant now, Doctor.

*In a series now filled with bad acting and awfully written scenes, the hug between Tegan and Nyssa was a rare moment of genuine emotion. I just wish we could've seen them develop to this point as opposed to it just... existing.

*Why does the crew leave the TARDIS anyway? They're clearly on a mission to return Tegan to Heathrow, so why bother walking around in 1666 England?

*The crew theorise that Tegan doesn't really want to leave, but then... what's the whole mess about, anyway? That makes no sense.

*I despise this spiteful line from the Doctor: "Earthlings..." That's not the Doctor I know.

*Adric suffers through a classic Terry Nation ankle-twist!

*Would Mace really think that two gunshots would scare off the villagers? I mean, guns were only loaded with one bullet at a time back in the day...

*I love the little detail of Mace, as an actor, using his props to frighten off the villagers.

*Perhaps it's just me, but for someone who lives in such a dangerous era, Mace is far too trusting. 

*How does Mace not hear the Doctor and Adric discussing his necklace on the loft right above him?

*I get that Nyssa is an alien from a society that has advanced space travel(the Traken Union was multiple planets, right?), but it seems odd to me that she would know almost as much about other worlds as the Doctor. Then again, I had the same issue with Zoe, so I guess I just can't accept someone being as smart as he is.

*Tegan's reaction to hearing that aliens breath in a different atmosphere: "Who'd want this sort of atmosphere? Stifling!"

*The first encounter with the Terileptil android is directed abysmally, with the companions basically running circles around the monster with a gun.

*The Doctor seems oddly irritated by Mace not understanding anything about other worlds. And why is he sharing so much with him anyway? Shouldn't he be concerned about contaminating the timeline? Although, I guess if it's not a problem on alien worlds...

*Once again, Davison runs absolutely breathless to the point of hilarity.

*In a funnily sort of out of character moment, the Doctor goes on ahead and then angrily belts out: "WE'RE WASTING TIME, NYSSA!"

*How can there be three levers for three Terileptil control bracelets? We see more of them later on, and who would design special levers just to turn on a bracelet?

*Apparently, some of the villagers are American, judging from those accents at least.

*I know that Adric runs away to get help from the Doctor, but is it really smart to leave Tegan alone with the Terileptils, who could kill her at any moment?

*Sometimes, watching Matthew Waterhouse act is like watching an over-the-top parody of acting.

*Considering that Adric is a genius and everything, why can't he help Nyssa construct the sonic booster?

*Why doesn't the Doctor use his sonic screwdriver to unlock the handcuffs(instead he dis-assembles it to get wire to lockpick it).

*You have to love the starry(that's the only way I can describe it) incidental music when Mace does get the Doctor's handcuffs off with the safety pin.

*Speaking of which, his fascination with the pin was just a wonderful moment. I wish they did at least another scene with that idea.

*Okay, so Mace tries to lockpick the door, then the Doctor shoots at it. But he doesn't shoot the lock, he shoots above it. Mace complains that he wasted their shot by not blasting at the lock, but the Doctor tells him to try the door and it opens. Mace doesn't know how... and neither do I. What happened here??

*We see Nyssa experiment with the sonic booster through a mirror... wouldn't it have made for an awesome shot if the mirror cracked from the sonic waves then? It seems kind of pointless otherwise.

*This really happened: when the villagers notice Adric, he tries to hide behind a tree. Facepalm.

*How did the Terileptil android get into the TARDIS if Nyssa closed the doors? I know she didn't have time to lock the doors, but I thought those giant white doors were locked from the TARDIS control panel...

*At one point, the characters are trapped in a building, all the doors and windows are locked. Question: why not simply break the windows open? They're not barred or anything.

*My favourite part of the whole episode: Adric fails to drive the TARDIS until he gently punches the console. Such an adorable moment.

*Just like director Michael E. Briant with the Sea Devils, Eric Saward does not appreciate his aliens being naked.

CONTINUITY ADVISOR

1) They are still taking Tegan back to the airport, as established in Logopolis. It fits here, but it's a very silly storyline.

2) Tegan relates the events of Kinda to Nyssa. I guess this is an okay moment... not necessary, but I like that Nyssa sort of found out what happened.

3) This may just be a coincidence, but Davison seemed to pull some classic Venusian aikido aka, rolling a villager through the air. A nice reference.

4) Adric informs Tegan that Alzarians heal faster than humans, which we saw before in State Of Decay. Fair enough, though it kind of renders the ankle twist a bit pointless.

BEST QUOTE

(After being directed towards wine barrels by the Doctor)
"Ah! I'm so impetous. Always looking to the hills and missing the treasure at my feet!"

Really, most of Mace's lines could go here. He speaks Robert Holmes-ish. 

CONCLUSION

A fun little jaunt in the medieval period. Comfortable fluff.