Here we are again.... silly as ever...
Hey Joe... pass the Cognac....

Castrovalva

Pick up with a brief recap of the regeneration scene, cut to the opening credits, then on with the story...

Trying to recover from regenerating, the Doctor seeks the zero room, and actually manages to get in there for a while. Unfortunately, Event 1 is not a pleasant place to be, and when the Doctor jettisons a quarter of the TARDIS (how large is a quarter of infinity?), and, accidentally (year, right... PLOT DEVICE!), the zero room. Needing some-place quiet to rest, the trio (Adric's with you know who) journeys to Castrovalva. Unfortunately, recursion does nasty things to an unstable mind after regenerating. You know who turns out to be the Portrieve, the ruler of this recursive town. The Doctor rescues Adric (unfortunately), recovers, and leaves you know who to be trapped in his own creation as it collapses in on itself.

Louis: to quote an old lady, "Wheeeere's the PLOT?"

Entertaining, and quite an interesting idea. Finally we get an explanation as to why the Doctor NEEDS the TARDIS after regenerating.

Four to Doomsday

This one doesn't even deserve a summary of it. We didn't think that the "Four" meant four episodes. It does have two memorable cliffhangers: 1 and 2. If this one comes around, ignore it, unless you really want a complete video library of all stories.

Kinda

This is what happens when the writer has never written for television before, and doesn't understand cliffhangers or the term 25 minute episodes.

Anyway, the story itself involves Tegan's journey "behind" a mirror (hello, Alice....) and her picking up the Mara in this place. It has the Doctor and Adric trying to find her, and when they do, they have to suppress the Mara without killing Tegan and what's-his-name... no, not you know who...

Yuck! Isn't even worth a review, except that the story has character (about OCT 177)...

The Visitation

The Doctor just kinda goes to London around the time of the Great Fire (see what's coming yet?) near Pudding Lane (need more help?). There, he meets an android and some Terileptils who are very artistic and totally war-like and want to destroy London for no very good reason. The Terileptils breed an extremely virulent strain of the black plague, and the Doctor destroys the infected rats with fire.

As you can see, we don't particularly care for this story. It has no redeeming features whatsoever, and neither of us understands how they kept the rats in those cages if they were carrying a disease.

Black Orchid

The Doctor, et al, land in Victorian England at a railroad station. There, he is met by a chauffeur, who mistakes him for another doctor. After playing cricket (show-off), the Doctor is invited to a masquerade ball. There, we meet Nyssa's double, Ann. A rash of murders brings suspicion on you know Who (no, not that you know who...), but it is eventually found that it is the mad George Cranleigh, having returned from Africa, minus a tongue.

Louis: my favorite of the season.

Lo and behold, an historical story! Accurate, even... well, almost. It is actually authentic in style, and Adric is kept out of most if it by keeping him near the buffet (keeping fat, wouldn't you say?).

Earthshock

The compilation Cyberstory. For a summary, see below. (Oh no, not again!)

The best part... the end of episode 4...

Louis: it should be noted that the reason Tegan and Nyssa have to hide their faces is so nobody sees them giggling. That scene convinced me that PD is an excellent actor... he actually looks hurt. Wow! We even get to see new Cybermen! Complete with metallic chins under their masks/helmets. They even have emotion too. Despite all this, they actually look really sharp.

Time-Flight

You know who is back trying to get you know Who. Kidnapping concordes via time corridors (yes, you'll see these again) seems a bit contrived. The passengers on the concordes are used to dig out the Xeraphin consciousness. In the end, you know who is trapped by you know Who, and left within the Xeraphin consciousness. (Sound familiar?)

Do we really need to review this one? See Castrovalva for a little more on plot devices. This is the prototype wimpy you know who story.

Overall

Take a good guess.... *YAWN* "wake" us "when it's over."

Seasonal trivia

For each of the following plot devices found in Earthshock, name the story from which first it came:

NOTE: this is considered one of the all-time classics. (and you wonder why we didn't like it that much...)

                           --Him and me

First posted to rec.arts.drwho on 1 Oct 88

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