It seems Christopher Bidmead really hates the TARDIS. As in many of the other stories written by him he finds someway to do harm to it and here he takes the ultimate swipe at it by (apparently) completely destroying it!
The Doctor, Tegan and Turlough find themselves on the planet Frontios where the last remaining humans are trying to make a life for themselves on this barren rock. Their plight is not helped by the attacks from space as asteroids are being flung at their planet. I'm sure that's the basic plot of Starship Troopers! It's soon discovered however that the threat does not come from outer space but from deep beneath the surface of the planet itself where a group of Tractators are using their gravitational powers to pull the asteroids into the planet. It's quite a neat twist really.
Additionally we find out some more background of the mysterious Turlough as the sight of the Tractators awakens a race memory inside him and he is forced to relive the trauma of an attack from the Tractators on his home planet. As he is screaming and shouting about them he starts foaming at the mouth which isn't all that pleasant to watch but having seen the documentary that goes along with this story it becomes clear that the foaming at the mouth was specifically mentioned in the script much to the displeasure of poor Mark Strickson who played Turlough and was therefore required to do the foaming. Spit is never a nice thing to see! Especially when you are trying to eat your tea!!
During the first few years of Doctor Who, the Doctor and his companions were always trying to get back to the TARDIS so that history could run it's course without putting themselves in unnecessary danger. As the series progressed, the Doctor became more proactive, wanting to help the people that he meets. In many ways this story feels like a throw back to the old days as the Doctor clearly wants to get out of there in episode one because he knows that these are events in human history that he should not be dabbling in and if he does so then he will be risking the fury of the Time Lords. However his plans to escape of thwarted when he returns to where the TARDIS landed to find it gone, with only the hatstand remaining..for some reason. Of course the TARDIS has not been destroyed as the Doctor suspects, but has been pulled into the Earth by the Tractators.
Such things happen quite a lot in this story and it's cool to see people being pulled into the earth in some pretty neat effects. Frightening stuff!
I enjoyed this one much more than I thought I would. Like many fifth Doctor stories I was only watching this one for the second time and it was quite a pleasant surprise. The Tractators themselves aren't to bad and are pulled off quite well. The only bad part of the costume seems to be when they are required to collapse and all they can do is fall forward right on to their faces which I'm afraid to say is unintentionally hilarious!
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