C21S06 The caves of Androzani

Synopsis

On the barren cave-riddled world of Androzani Minor, the Doctor and Peri find themselves embroiled in a long-running underground war.

Military troops mount an armed blockade whilst gunrunners bring in weapons for the sinister, masked renegade, Sharaz Jek.  Lethal androids guard the caves, and a deadly creature lurks in the shadows, killing all in its path.  At the heart of the conflict is a substance called Spectrox — the most valuable item in the universe — and the deadliest!

The duplicitous politician Morgus wants Chellak to execute the time travellers as spies, while the disfigured Jek seeks to keep Peri forever hostage within his stronghold.  The very presence of the Doctor and Peri on Androzani sets in motion a chain of events that will have dramatic consequences for everyone involved.  As the situation gets even more desperate, the Doctor realises time is running out — both for Peri and himself.

Hunted by both factions and with death just hours away, how far must the Doctor go in order to save his young friend's life?

Cover notes

From its very first screening in 1984 The Caves of Androzani has been one of the most highly regarded Doctor Who stories of all time.  On this magic occasion there is something truly extraordinary to be found in each and every element: the direction, plot, visual effects, music and perfomances all work together in order to create one of the most chilling and moody Doctor Who serials.

Arguably, no-one knew more about writing for Doctor Who than Robert Holmes, and his first script for the series in nearly five years clearly demonstrates his pedigree.  Razor-sharp dialouge proliferates, and Peter Davison certainly plays to the script's strengths, giving a final performance that allows the fifth Doctor to depart on a real high.

Director Graeme Harper takes Robert Holmes' dark script and uses every opportunity to add menace and meaning to every shot and scene.  His enthusiasm for the story is apparent, allowing him to demonstrate an ability to bring the script visually to life in a way that few mastered, whilst assembling a guest cast that injects a sense of reality and vitality to the story.  Every character in this story is grotesque: twisted and genuinely uncaring of any matter not serving their own selfish interests.  And yet it is testament to a combination of the writing, directing and strong performances that although this world is populated with such monsterous personalities, each has their own realistic motivations and goals, with the audience occasionlly tempted to sypathise with them.  Here Harper and Holmes present us with an entire misguided culture sustaining itself around greed and self-preservation at the sacrifice of humanity.

Placing the Fifth Doctor into this hopeless world, we see how his values are so diametrically opposed to the attitudes of its denizens.  Perhaps, then, this environment serves as a fitting final outing for this incarnation of the Doctor.  Over three years of adventuring we have seen him try to convince (amongst others) Cybermen, conditioned Dalek agents and traitorous companions to value life.  And in his final moments we see him take the moral code he champions to the very extreme.  The Caves of Androzani truly deserves its status as one of the series' all-time classics.

Cast

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Commentary