Days 492 to 495 - The Androids Of Tara

I'm a little bleary eyed right now after a couple of busy days at Nantwich's Jazz Festival but luckily I still found time to get the required episodes in and I'm determined to keep this damn blog up to date no matter how tired I am.

Incidentally before I start talking about this story, some recent developments should be noted. David Tennant and Billie Piper have been confirmed as returning for the 50th anniversary story! Very exciting. I really hope that there are some more casting announcements soon. To get some of the other Doctors back to would be a dream! I really had given up hope of a multi Doctor story but fingers crossed that that is what all this is building up to. Anyway, back to The Androids Of Tara

I'm loving season 16! The quest for the segments of The Key To Time is throwing up some really fantastic stories. Surprisingly the fourth segment of the key is found almost immediately by Romana. The Doctor has decided not to bother helping and is content to sit by the river bank doing a spot of fishing. It doesn't seem good for him when, left to her own devices, Romana is able to locate the key straight away when usually it takes the Doctor 4 episodes to do so!

Of course things don't go completely to plan as Romana is soon kidnapped by the villainous Count Grendel, who notices her uncanny resemblance of the Princess Strella and therefore assumes she is an android. Soon the Doctor is also roped into the plot of helping Prince Reynart be rightly fully crowned king of Tara instead of Grendel.

This is very much a story of duplicates. There is Prince Reynart and his android replica. Then there is also Romana, who looks exactly the same as Princess Strella and additionally an android that looks like both of them! It's all played out very well though and it's not nearly as confusing as it sounds.

The cliffhanger to episode 2 is a really shocking and disturbing one! Princess Strella, or possibly Romana (there both good guys, that's all that matters) is pledging her allegiance to the new king when the Doctor grabs the King's sceptre and bashes her skull in!! I was just left feeling "What the hell just happened there??" Of course it turns out to be an android that was programmed to kill the king so the Doctor's actions were justified thank goodness!

Of my favourite moments occurs in Episode 3. With the Doctor trapped in hut with only one exit, and surrounded by Grendel and his soldiers, the Count promises the Doctor that if he should come out and give himself up then he shall not be harmed. The Doctor steps out of the hut, only to be fired on by Grendel's men and so he dashes back in but then pokes his head out again just long enough to shout "LIAR!!" Ha ha! Hilarius!

And so the quest to locate all six segments of The Key To Time is two thirds complete!