As I have worked through this project, I have encountered any number of odd coincidences (due, certainly, to the human mind's propensity to see patterns even where none exist). Today I noticed that today is Columbus Day (I know, I know, Indigenous Peoples Day), and I just finished watching a story set in the same year that Columbus set sail. This evening I also saw that news that a full restoration of Shada, the great unfinished story from the Fourth Doctor era, will be released next month. I counted out the days, and it will become available for digital download two days before I hit that point in my viewing. If I hadn't missed three days due to my Texas trip the week before last, I would have had to watch it slightly out of order. Instead, it will drop into place perfectly. How wild is that?

Anyway, let's talk about today's viewing.

The Masque of Mandragora - Parts 3 & 4

I'll be honest: It's late, I'm tired, and I don't have anything interesting or pithy to say about the remainder of this story. It was excellent, with a great fake-out at the climax. It was very clear that Elisabeth Sladen thoroughly enjoyed wearing the fifteenth century Italian costumes, particularly for the titular Masque in part four. It really is hard to believe that this story was written by Louis Marks, who previously gave us both Planet of Giants (awful) and Day of the Daleks (mediocre). True, his only other credit was Planet of Evil, which was actually quite good, but nothing in those other three scripts even hinted at the quality of storytelling that would show up in this one. It really is a classic.

Sadly the new secondary TARDIS control room was never seen again in the story, so hopefully it will show up in tomorrow's viewing. I am sure I must have seen The Hand of Fear before, but I remember literally nothing about it except the final scene (Sarah Jane's departure). So, tomorrow should be fun.

And that's all I got. I need to go to bed.

STATS:

Doctor(s): Fourth
Companion(s): Sarah Jane Smith
Episode(s): The Masque of Mandragora - Parts 3 & 4
Steps Walked: 7,225 today, 1,477,722 total
Distance Walked: 3.85 miles today, 734.79 miles total
Weight: 258.20 lbs (five day moving average), net change -49.10 lbs