Earlier this week director Patricia (a.k.a. Paddy) Russell passed away at the age of 89. Doctor Who fans might recognize her as the director of The Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve, Invasion of the Dinosaurs, The Pyramids of Mars, and Horror of Fang Rock. She was notably the first woman to direct for the show. She had a very long and remarkable career, working on a number of classic British television series. I count both Massacre and Fang Rock among my all-time favorite Classic Who stories. Her legacy as a pioneering woman in her field is truly an inspiration. I was truly saddened to hear of her passing when I saw the news last night.

On a happier note, I began the epic Key to Time saga this morning. Let's talk about that.

The Ribos Operation - Parts 1 & 2

(TARDIS Data Core recap)

The sixteenth season opens with the Doctor and K9 (Mark II) waylaid by the White Guardian, a god-like entity who sets the Doctor upon a quest to collect the six pieces of the Key to Time - a MacGuffin that somehow maintains the equilibrium of time in the universe. Each segment could be disguised as virtually anything of any size, and can be found with a particular locator device.  The White Guardian warns the Doctor that there is also a Black Guardian who is pursuing the same goal for nefarious purposes, and then sends the Doctor off to begin his quest with the addition of a new companion, the Time Lady Romanadvoratrelundar (Romana for short). And with that bit of setup we are off on a season-long story arc.

The first story involves the planet Ribos, which seems to be at about the equivalent of Earth's middle ages. The first segment of the Key to Time is hidden amongst the Crown Jewels of the local royalty, but drama is afoot in the personage of two con artists from Earth who are essentially pulling a Brooklyn Bridge scam. They are attempting to sell the entire planet to an exiled  tyrant from the planet Levithia, with all parties passing themselves off to the local natives as being "visitors from the North". So the whole story is pretty much a variation of The Sting, with grifters and double-dealers trying to outwit each other and make a quick and dirty profit. By the end of the second episode, the Doctor and Romana have been apprehended along with one of the grifters and are about to be summarily executed.

Although the Holmes/Hinchcliffe era is well and truly over, writer Robert Holmes returned to the fold for this story and delivered a rock-solid script. The necessary info-dump at the start is handled quickly and deftly, the new companion is introduced, and the main story gets off and running all within the first few minutes. Romana makes for a nice counterbalance to the Doctor, particularly when she is teasing him about his low grades back at the Prydonian Academy. Both of the grifters are well-drawn and fun to watch, as well. There is a lightness and deftness to the script that is just a delight to watch.

One interesting thing I learned to day, that I had not know before, was that originally Elisabeth Sladen was approached to return to the series as Sarah Jane Smith after Leela's departure at the end of the last season. She declined, and as a result we got Mary Tamm's Romana I for this season, and Tom Baker's future wife (and just slightly more future ex-wife) Lalla Ward's Romana II next season. It's funny how things work out.

Anyway, it's late and I need to get to bed. I'll be finishing this story tomorrow morning.

STATS:

Doctor(s): Fourth
Companion(s): Romana, K-9
Episode(s): The Ribos Operation - Parts 1 & 2
Steps Walked: 7,476 today, 1,659,271 total
Distance Walked: 4.15 miles today, 831.06 miles total
Weight: 254.22 lbs (five day moving average), net change -53.08 lbs