Master, you’re looking rather spiffy today!
The Master (Roger Delgado) is free and the Time Lords realize they need the Doctor (Jon Pertwee) to stop him. Giving the Doctor back his ability to travel space and time, the Doctor and Jo Grant (Katy Manning) find themselves pulled from Earth by the TARDIS and on a planet called Uxarieus in 2472. There, they find a group of colonists trying to establish themselves and facing a new threat from miners seek the planet’s rich mineral deposits. When strange attacks begin occurring, the planet’s natives are blamed. The Doctor must find the source of the attacks and has a new problem when an adjudicator shows up…revealing himself to be the Master with plans of his own.
Doctor Who: Colony in Space falls in the eight season of Doctor Who and aired from April 10, 1971 to May 15, 1971 in six parts. Following Doctor Who: The Claws of Axos, Doctor Who: Colony in Space has been collected as part of The Jon Pertwee Years as Story #58.
This creepy thing looks like it escape from the Island of Dr. Moreau
This is a pretty good episode of Doctor Who in that you aren’t exactly sure where it is going the entire time you are watching it. The colonists versus the miners seems to be the main thrust but you know the Master is involved somehow and it takes a long time for him to get there. Once the Master gets there, the plot goes in a different direction and involves the native creatures but still has to carry out the colonists’ story as well.
I love Roger Delgado as the Master. He was such a good bad guy. Much like Pertwee, he played up the role and doesn’t seem to apologize for it. It wouldn’t shock me to see him twisting his mustache or stroking his beard menacingly. It is just how it is played, and it is fun to have such a cliché that actually works. I just wish in this serial the Master had shown up earlier.
So mister Master…do you have any more bright ideas?
The native aspect of the story also is rather underdeveloped. I think the little baby creature called the Guardian is pretty outright creepy, but I do like that it has the Doctor destroy the weapon rather than have it used for evil. I feel that this was two stories that didn’t necessarily mesh well and almost wish there had been two separate serials.
Doctor Who: Colony in Space plot is all over the place and keeps you guessing, but that isn’t necessarily a good thing. I do like that I really wasn’t able to predict the direction of the story, but I wish it had been two separate tales with more development. Doctor Who: Colony in Space is followed by Doctor Who: The Daemons.
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Preceded By:
Doctor Who: The Claws of Axos (Story #57)
Followed By:
