Days 700 to 702 - Survival

Well this is it. The end. Or at least one of the ends. The final story in the classic run of the series sees the Doctor in one final battle against The Master.

Taking Ace back home to meet up with her friends, the Doctor soon discovers that people in the small town have been going missing over the last few months and there are some suspicious looking pussies about..as in cats. The cats are actually the kittling of the Cheetah people from another planet who are transporting people across the cosmos in order to be the Cheetahs' prey.

I loved how the story started with the Doctor moping around the town, bored because nothing is going on. Also the returning of a companion home so that she can visit her friends etc is something that doesn't happen much in the classic series and it really feels like a bridge between the old and the new series with the tenth Doctor often taking Rose home to meet up with her mum.

As the Doctor goes off to buy cat food to tempt the pussy (sorry I literally can't stop myself!) we get a cameo from Hale and Pace as the owners of the shop. Fortunately they are only in episode one.

Soon the Doctor and Ace find themselves transported to the world of the Cheetah people and discover the Master has also been trapped on this planet which is on the verge of destruction. It turns out that the Cheetah people are linked to the planet and as they fight and destroy each other they are also destroying their world.

Fortunately or unfortunately (depending on your point of view) Ace soon starts to turn into a Cheetah person herself and therefore develops the ability to tranpsort them all back home.

The final epsiode plays out on Earth again with the Master and the Doctor having one final face off.

This was the final story to feature Anthony Ainley as the Master and he gives one of his finest performances. Often his Master could be played a little over the top and become more of a pantomime villain. Here he is much more subdued and as such it feels all the more sinister.

As the story closes, the Doctor and Ace walk off, hand in hand, back to the TARDIS and more adventures. It was quite emotional to hear the Doctor's final speech as they walked off together.

The Dcotor:- "There are worlds out there where the sky is burning, where the sea's asleep and the rivers dream. People made of smoke and cities made of song. Somewhere there's danger, somewhere there's injustice, and somewhere else the tea's getting cold. Come on Ace - we've got work to do!"

I won't lie, I felt quite emotional..

And that was that, 26 years of Doctor Who was over. Coming tomorrow I jump to the Doctor's next adventure broadcast in 1996 the TV Movie!