Nightmare of Eden is the "Professor and Mary Ann" of season 17. Sort of forgotten amongst more memorable stories of the season (the Dalek retread with the wacky regeneration; the instant classic; the omigod-is-Tom Baker-giving-that-giant-green-blob-a-blowjob?; and the completely over the top story where Doctor Who went of the rails).Funny thing is, Nightmare of Eden has a pretty decent script. It's surprisingly adult with it's central plot point that the monster of the week is in fact a life-wreaking drug. There's some clever sci-fi regarding ships being fused a la hyperspace and a great (though too brief) performance by David Daker as Captain Rigg.
Of course it also has some dreadful performances, K-9 at his most prissy, and monsters that look like refugees from HR Pufnstuf (or the Muppet show). Lewis Flanders as Tryst is the worst offender. With his faux German-ish accent, he's just doesn't have a handle on the character. We should really be fond of him as an eccentric professor, only to have the rug pulled out from under our feet when he's revealed to be a drug smuggler. I feel nothing for his character and it could have been played with many more layers. Della is bland bland bland with aspirations to blandness.
Daker is great and I really care about his character. I feel great regret when he's doused with Vrax and goes off the rails. I love how he checks out the Doctor's story, but still discerns logically that the Time Lord duo is trying tho help.
Not much more to say really. Next week I'll be in Britain and watching new Who on BBC1! My 15 year old self would be utterly agog. And it's all set on a pirate ship. Hopefully it will be more The Smugglers than Pirates of the Caribbean.
Original viewing date: November 10, 1984
Wine: Long Neck Shiraz
Music: "They Don't Know About Us" by Tracy Ullman.
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