Burdened by the most irritating trio of companions in the history of the show, (Adric, Nyssa and Tegan) Peter Davidson’s recently regenerated Fifth Doctor finds that they are Four to Doomsday when the Tardis materialises inside a vast starship with a multiracial crew from Earth’s distant past. Downloaded into computer chips are the memories of the three billion survivors of the Urbankan race, and the Earth is to be their new home. Meanwhile Monarch, a giant green frog-thing, wants to travel back to the Big Bang to meet God, whom he is convinced is himself.
The Alien-influenced spaceship sets are striking, and there are enough ideas to make a decent adventure. Unfortunately, the gentleman autocrat Monarch–your only opportunity to see distinguished actor Stratford Johns maintain his dignity while dressed as a giant green frog–is far too reasonable and easy going an opponent for the Doctor. The ideas underlying the plot are barely explored, and in constantly trying to find something for three companions to do, the pace slows to a crawl and dissipates any suspense. Fatally, there is an almost complete lack of action. Following Peter Davidson’s introduction in the mind-bending Castrovalva this is thin stuff indeed. —Gary S Dalkin
Frogs with funny hairdos Peter Davison’s second serial playing the eponymous Time Lord was actually the first that he recorded; you’d never know this from his assured and breezy performance, although there are a few moments of clunky humour that don’t sit well with his earnest demeanour – left over from his fourth incarnation perhaps?. Davison’s `wanderer in eternity’ is both dashing and as fiercely intelligent as any of his predecessors; he also brings a fresh inquisitiveness and real energy to the role; something that had been lacking in Tom Baker’s twilight years on the show.The story itself is pretty routine; The Doctor and his three companions (Adric, Tegan and Nyssa) arrive on a colossal spaceship and meet its pilots; three amphibian-looking Urbankans. The aliens claim to be visiting Earth as tourists, but their uncanny abilities to replicate the human form, plus the fact that their ship is stocked with androids posing as Earthlings, leads the time travellers to uncover an altogether more sinister purpose.Perfectly adequate as a lead-in to The Fifth Doctor and his companions; this serial does suffer from being rather static. The best performance comes from the excellent Stratford Johns as the power-crazed Monarch, whilst his fellow Urbankans `Persuasion’ and `Enlightenment’ are also well played. The music is atmospheric without being intrusive, and the set designs and costumes are effective; reflecting a time in the early 80s when the show still had a pretty healthy budget.DVD extras here include Davison’s first recording session; intriguing as a reminder of how slow it all was in 1981, but rather odd and stilted without the incidental music. It also contains the amusing scenario of Matthew Waterhouse (Adric) demonstrating that he was unable to act his way out of a paper bag.Rather more entertaining is the short feature `Saturday Night at the Mill’; where interviewee Peter Davison talks extensively about `All Creatures Great and Small’ and makes a chocolate milkshake live on air!
Davison era doomed? ….Not at all!! This isn’t the most gripping or well produced of the Fifth Doctor’s adventures, however it makes up for this with the deployment of a solid villain and sterling support from all current companions. After the intriguing post-regeneration trauma of Castrovalva, Davison seems to have come to terms with the role, whilst Nyssa, Tegan and Adric have gelled as his bickering but emotive fellow time-travellers. Production values seem to have slipped – particularly evidenced by an unconvincing spaceship and a baddie reminiscent of the Vogon warlord in Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Nevertheless, believable characterisations and a robust storyline ensure that Four to Doomsday can sit quite comfortably alongside Enlightenment and The Caves of Androzani, and certainly does the new era justice.