Silver Nemesis (1988) Review

"Our blood sugar levels must GROW in strength!"

Silver Nemesis is a sloppy, but still spectacular action adventure with mindbending twists and turns, and a healthy blend of slapstick comedy and dramatic tension(mostly centered around the ongoing plan to mysticise the Doctor).

WRITTEN BY

Kevin Clarke, who was such a profound expert on the show that his initial pitch was that the Doctor was literally God.

PLOT

Learning of the imminent return of the artificial comet Nemesis to Earth, a group of neo-Nazis, a fleet of Cybermen and a time-travelling 17th century aristocrat chase after it in the hopes of assuming control of the living metal validium, one of the most powerful weapons in the universe.

ANALYSIS

A bit slapdash and far too derivative of Remembrance Of The Daleks, but this story shares the zany energy and audacity of the other McCoy stories plus a plot that's clearly had a lot of time put into it(if not by Clarke, then by Cartmel) as the amount of timey-wimey in it would probably impress Steven Moffat.

There are multiple references to an unseen adventure between the Doctor and Lady Peinforte, teases about something in the Doctor's past on Gallifrey, and all the brouhaha surrounding the living Nemesis statue and its travels through time.

The camerawork is excellent(I especially love the Cybermen POV shots up on the warehouse gantry in the final episode), and the special effects are mostly great, save for the Nemesis' crashlanding. I have to note the glowing effect on the bow, which looks just fabulous even today.

CHARACTERS

I love this characterisation of the Doctor as a meticulous planner, with alarms reminding him of upcoming conflicts, and an intellect so capable that he dances around his foes. It seems that Sylvester McCoy is also very enthusiastic about this approach and it's given his Doctor even more of a backbone and a sense of grandeur hidden behind a meek image, like all the best incarnations of the character.

Sophie Aldred gets to show a bit of Ace's vulnerable side, which is nice. She seems genuinely frightened of the Cybermen(though it's never really specified why) and throughout the story, comes across as more open and inquisitive than usual. I like her subtle sarcasm as she "denies" carrying the Nitro-9 and her irritated attempts to hide the Doctor from Queen Elizabeth II. She and McCoy already have a superb rapport.

Fiona Walker and Gerard Murphy are excellent also as Lady Peinforte and his lackey Richard. They are well-balanced - Walker carries most of the dramatic side on her shoulders and manages to form a three-dimensional character despite her true motivation never being revealed. Meanwhile, Murphy's cowardly-but-selfless Richard is a hilarious fish out of water, but maintains his dignity and goes through his own character arc of becoming a better person as a result of his travels.

David Banks gives a typically strong performance as the Cyber-Leader, though the writing for him is a bit off, embuing him with a bizarre sense of overconfidence(leading to a conflict with his Cyber-Lieutenant) and a random, half-hearted attempt to drive Lady Peinforte insane... is conversion no longer a thing?

Anton Diffring is restrained and driven as the old Nazi who leads the so-called "Fourth Reich". Whilst the neo-Nazis are probably the story's most superfluous element, they are hardly an annoyance and their presence is a nice commentary on how times have changed since 1963.

NOTES

*The Doctor's futuristic fobwatch is digital, lol.

*Why does the Doctor even bother being quiet in the 1638 Windsor Castle after just arriving with a wheezing, groaning sound?

*It's downright strange to see McCoy fool around the 1988 Windsor Castle in a fez and a mop, two items usually identified with Matt Smith's Doctor.

*As the guide leads the tourist into the 1988 Windsor Castle, one can spot mr. Bean's distinctive green car.

*The way gold works against the Cybermen in this story is bizarre. Apparently, it's gone from a non-corrosive material that clogs their suits to a kryptonite that just takes them down by touch.

*During the initial Nazi/Cybermen battle, there's a shot of a Nazi being shot and killed, but without the Cyber gun effect(or any effect to be honest).

*Why exactly is Richard so frightened anyway? I mean, I understznd being freaked out upon arrival, but he is practically on his knees before they even take off. Eh, anxiety I suppose.

*Though the Cybermen's helmets look especially glamorous for the anniversary, their suits themselves are strangely grimy and clearly different from the ones last used in Attack Of The Cybermen.

*According to the Cybermen, their race depends on them taking control of the Nemesis. Erm, why? According to this very story, they have a whole fleet, with thousands of ships. Or could this reference the Cyber Wars?

*There's something incredibly familiar about actor Metin Yenal(Karl aka the second-in-command of the neo-Nazis), but I just can't put my finger on it. Apparently, he hasn't done much notable, so I'm just going to assume he resembles someone,

*"We are invincible to your weapons." The dumb Cyber-Leader says, after a long conversation that wouldn't even be happening if humans hadn't used GOLD as a weapon.

*The Cybergloves look really daft here, mostly because of those fused fingers.

*Living metal or not, blaming the Nemesis for the World Wars and the Kennedy assasination is a bit reaching(not to mention problematic for future stories about those eras,

*Maybe I missed something, but how does the Nemesis statue end in Lady Peinforte's tomb? Why would the Cybermen take it there after obtaining it from the crash site? Unless it time-travelled back to Lady Peinforte's time, crashed there and was placed in the tomb by her.
But no. As that doesn't explain where it is now,

*I found it pretty interesting that the Doctor refuses to release the Nemesis - a sentient being, mind you - unless things are finally "perfect". That's pretty dark and deluded if you think about it, and yet it totally works because the Doctor still sees it as doing the right thing, therefore it fits his character in my opinion.

*Why does Lady Peinforte leap into the Nemesis at the end? Desperation? I don't know, it was a poorly directed scene.

*What on Earth compelled the Cyber-Leader to hand the bow over to the Doctor, even if he thought the Doctor was going to obey his commands?? That's like giving a prisoner a gun and asking them to guard themselves.

CONTINUITY ADVISOR

1) The Doctor built Ace a new 1980s-style "tape deck" with improvements after her previous one was destroyed by the Daleks in Remembrance Of The Daleks. Nice, using the elements from previous episodes to build the current storyline, this is how continuity is supposed to work.

2) The Nemesis statue was designed by previously seen founders of Time Lord society - Rassilon, Omega etc. This just seems a bit stupid to me, since surely there are other Time Lords who built notable inventions. Why always those three?

3) The Cyber-Leader declares that Earth will become a new Mondas(which was destroyed in The Tenth Planet). Now, this would seem like a pointless, forced line, but considering that we're talking about Earth and the relatively recent use of Mondas in a Cyber-story, it's not actually all that bad of a reference.

4) Ace compares the Doctor wiping out the Cybermen to the way he "nailed those Daleks" in Remembrance Of The Daleks. Yeah, comparing these two is just asking for trouble.

BEST QUOTE

"There's still one question you haven't answered. Professor... Doctor... who are you?"

CONCLUSION

Great character development for the Doctor and Ace, a sense of adventure, plenty of unique and memorable elements that are all pulled off well and a decent outing for the Cybermen. It's a hell of a party, though perhaps they had too much to drink.