The Masque of Mandragora

"The great blade of our god thirsts for blood."

Writer: Louis Marks

Format: TV

Broadcast: 4-25 September 1976

Season: 14.01

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, Sarah Jane

Synopsis

An encounter with the living energy structure known as the Mandragora Helix leads the TARDIS to fifteenth century Italy. Between palace intrigue, the machinations of a sinister cult and a rogue fragment of Helix energy, the Doctor and Sarah have their hands full. There is not much time for when the Mandragora swallows the Moon, it will be time to strike.

Verdict

The Masque of Mandragora was a very good adventure to kick off the fourteenth season of Doctor Who! It's a very solid tale from start to finish and is all you want a from a four-part opener to be honest. It is of course Sarah Jane Smith's penultimate venture in the TARDIS, but there's no real indication of that and Elisabeth Sladen gives an accomplished performance in the companion role. I really liked that the story started with the Mandragora Helix being seen in space and it turning out that inadvertently the Doctor brought the damage to the fifteenth century on Earth. That setting was really good and it was quite refreshing to be in the Italian past rather than usual British. I really enjoyed the casualness with which the Doctor told Sarah how she could understand the Italians and it was a really good way to bring that into play when she actually spoke Italian when under control. Back to the start of the story and the introduction of the secondary control room which I thought was done relatively well. It's such a different design to the usual white that the viewers would have been so accustomed to at this point, but it is also a little refreshing. I do think the actual console should be a bit bigger though! The walk through the corridors and seeing the familiar white roundels throughout was excellent though. The arrival to Italy was good and I really liked how quickly the Doctor and Sarah were thrust into action and getting themselves in trouble. There was a pretty strong guest cast in this one with the likes of Count Federico and Hieronymous particularly standing out. The astrological nature of the latter was fascinating and whilst I am definitely not a believer in messages being told in the stars and how they're aligned, it's something that has always intrigued me. He was a brilliant character and his role in the fourth part when the Mandragora Helix really arrived with an impact was terrific. The cliffhanger at the end of part three with the blank face and the Doctor's comment about that in the following episode was brilliant. I was a big fan. Giuliano was also a good character and fitted in well to the story, along with the Brethren and their efforts to sacrifice Sarah Jane. The casual nature of the Doctor saving her was really good, but they were definitely persistent! The conclusion was pretty good and I really thought the twist with the Doctor being under the mask was fantastic, but I do think there needed to be a bit more clarity on what had actually happened with the Mandragora Helix. The energy squared comment didn't really say a lot, but of course we know that the Mandragora Helix is far from done in Doctor Who media. The special effects for it were decent for the time, but the most impressive element was the state it left one of its targets in once it had strikes and killed. That was pretty disturbing! The humour surrounding the Doctor wanting to meet Leonardo Da Vinci was great and I also really liked the cult nature surrounding Demnos. There probably ought to have been a little more than that. It was very good stuff. Overall, this was a terrific and very solid tale from start to finish. 

Rating: 8/10