The Ribos Operation

"Never trust gimmicky gadgets."

Writer: Robert Holmes
Format: TV
Broadcast: 2nd-23rd September 1978
Season: 16.01

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, Romana I, K9

Synopsis

The Doctor is summoned by the mysterious and powerful White Guardian, and sent on a quest to find the six segments of the Key to Time which, once assembled, will restore balance to the Universe. Joining the Doctor and K9 is the smart and sassy Romana, a Time Lord fresh from the Academy.

Landing on the wintry planet of Ribos to locate the first segment, the TARDIS crew quickly find themselves embroiled in a little local trouble with a pair of conmen and an unstable warlord...

Verdict

The Ribos Operation was a good story and a solid start to the sixteenth season! It kicks off the Key to Time story arc that encompasses the entire season and I thought the first half of part one did a stellar job in setting the scene and the Doctor's task in hand. The way the story started as the Doctor was immediately interrupted and summoned by the White Guardian was excellent and I loved how the Doctor's reaction made you realise just how important he was in universal affairs. The task of collecting the six pieces of the Key to Time is magnificent and basically an extended version of the plot of The Keys of Marinus - a story that I absolutely adore. The Doctor being aided in the form of a new assistant came with considerable humour as you might expect from the Fourth Doctor and it was lovely to see Tom Baker in top form with Romana. Now, this is the only the second time I have seen this serial since my first viewing of the Key to Time six days in succession back in 2012, so my memory of Romana I was not very good and she was a little different to how I remembered her. She was extremely elegant and a stark contrast from the previous companion of Leela. She seemed to get on well with K9 though which was fantastic as he was terrific once again following his reemergence into the story in part three. I didn't actually think the Ribos setting was too great as its scale was very small which didn't leave a lot of room for adventure. It was very contained and I don't think that worked overly well which was a shame. I really enjoyed the character of Garron and his plan to sell the planet to Graff Vynda-K was actually very good. He was quite convincing and his planting of the jethrik to try and broker a sale, along with a humorous tale of a mine of the universe's rarest mineral from Unstoffe, was very good indeed. The pair were extremely entertaining and I think all of their scenes were enjoyable and benefitted from the comedy. Binro was a good character too and his reaction to learning that his theory of other worlds was true was a wonderful moment. The ending was quite decent and full of action and the Doctor mastering the act of the switcheroo on two occasions was majestic. Five more segments to go! Overall, a good story.

Rating: 7/10