Written by Robert Holmes and Sydney Newman
Directed by Graeme Harper

Doctor Who is a British science fiction television series that has been around off and on since 1963. The main character is just known as “The Doctor” and is a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey. This means he travels through time to various places. One of his favorite places to visit is Earth. Typically, he has a companion traveling with him, usually female, sometimes male, sometimes one of each. He travels in a time machine known as a “Tardis” which is disguised as a British Police booth.

A Time Lord can regenerate if fatally wounded, which has accounted for all the different actors who have played The Doctor throughout the years. In this episode, he is portrayed by Peter Davison. The Doctor is traveling with Peri (portrayed by Nicola Bryant).

The two land on the planet Androzani Minor. It’s the future, and the planet is desert-like. However, there is a mining complex on the planet. The planet is rich in Spectrox, which is a regenerative substance desired by many. It’s derived from the remains of the planet’s indigenous bat colonies.

While poking around the mining complex, the Doctor and Peri are discovered by armed guards. General Chellak (portrayed by Martin Cochrane) believes them to be arms traders supplying Sharaz Jek (portrayed by Christopher Gable), who has hijacked all of the Spectrox on Androzani. The two are sentenced to die in a military execution. What the general does not realize is that Trau Morgus (portrayed by John Normington), the head of the conglomerate who pronounced the sentence, is actually a part of the gun running.

There is much more to the story involving Spectrox toxicity, bats, and a magma creature. All of this is building toward the next regeneration of the Doctor due to Peter Davison leaving the show.

I suppose in some ways I’ve been spoiled by the first few seasons of the new Doctor Who. There is a real chemistry between the Doctor and the character of Rose. They are in synch in a way I had not seen before between the Doctor and a companion.

I don’t know if it’s the actress’s fault or not, but I hated Peri here. She seems wooden, especially in the beginning. Some of this was explained in the commentary, where it’s said how cold the outdoor scenes really were (which was actually supposed to be terribly hot). She also admits in the commentary that since she was playing Peri as being sick through most of the story-arc, she sort of convinced herself that she was sick.

Caves of Androzani has showcased Peter Davison very nicely as the Doctor. Tom Baker was always my favorite from the original run in the role, and Peter Davison easily slides into second place with his performance here. He was up there anyway, this just solidified it. He’s a bit like the fish out of water here, as there is no one he can align himself with and be convinced he is on the side of what is right and good. All of those he encounters on the planet have a dark side to them. The shades of gray in “good” versus “evil” dominate, rather than having it clearly spelled out who we should be rooting for. Davison manages to tread the line here. After being betrayed in the first alliance, he attempts to forge on this world, he shifts ever so subtly into survival mode. There’s no huge change in personality, but a subtle shift in how Davison is approaching the resolution of events taking place.

Davison does a tremendous job making the Doctor more feeling and relatable for us human viewers. It has always seemed that somehow the Doctor is larger than life and a step ahead of us mere humans in terms of intelligence, emotions, and insight. In Caves of Androzani, he seems to lose that stature as he and Peri fight to survive and become more like those he models his body on. At the same time, Davison doesn’t drift so far from what I’ve known of the Doctor through the years – it’s not like I’m watching a completely different character. A great performance for his last one as the Doctor.

The supporting cast does a great job. I have heard many actors say it’s more fun to play someone who’s evil rather than good, and the fact that not one of them seems to be faultless gives all of them plenty of meat to sink their teeth into. Gable was not the first choice for Jek. Producer John Nathan-Turner first offered the role to the likes of Tim Curry, Mick Jagger, and David Bowie before settling on him. He does a terrific job in the role, showing someone who seems to be truly on the dark side and demonstrates that demeanor… until he meets Peri. Somehow, her beauty and life-force begin to transform him, even if that seems a bit like unrequited love. Gable plays it a bit like Beauty and the Beast, and it works quite well.

The special effects are actually pretty decent when graded against what I’m used to seeing on this show. Don’t get me wrong – the effects are still not even Star Wars caliber (and this was 10 years after Star Wars), but they are better.

Caves of Androzani is probably the best Doctor Who story I’ve seen out of the Peter Davison era. It’s well worth fans of the series picking up this DVD, and it does seem accessible enough that non-fans could get an idea of just why we love the series so much.


SPECIAL FEATURES:

• Commentary with Peter Davison, Nicola Bryant, and Director Graeme Murray
• Behind the Scenes: The Regeneration
• Original Opening Scene
• Extended Scene
• Creating Sharaz Jek
• BBC1 Trailer