Terror of the Zygons

"You can't rule a world in hiding."

Writer: Robert Banks Stewart

Format: TV

Broadcast: 30th August - 20th September 1975

Season: 13.01

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, Sarah, Harry, Brigadier

Synopsis 

The TARDIS crew are back on Earth to fight a creature that everybody has heard of, but nobody is ever able to prove if it actually exists - the Loch Ness monster. 

Arriving in Scotland after a summons from the Brigadier, the Doctor and his companions Sarah Jane Smith and Harry Sullivan soon discover that not only is the monster very real but some of the locals are behaving strangely. 

Verdict 

Terror of the Zygons is a very good story but despite my highly awarded rating and the fact I do think it's great, I would argue it is one of the most overrated stories in Doctor Who history. There are many better stories even in this season alone but for some reason this is regarded as being in the higher standards of Classic stories. Don't get me wrong it's good, but it's not up there with the likes of The Daleks' Master Plan, The War Games or The Keeper of Traken. This was a special watch for me as it was very possibly the last blogged story that I have watched with my cousin for quite some time. This was my last night for him before I move to Bath to attend university. After giving him a choice of stories to pick from I was quite pleasantly surprised that he picked this over Survival due to his liking of the Seventh Doctor. But after he's seen all the latest previews of the new series he was eager to watch a Zygon story and what better than their first? He seemed to really like them which was good and in particular I think he liked the fact of not knowing for sure who somebody was given that they had shape-shifting abilities. The idea of the Zygons is certainly a very good one but I feel that they were better executed in Sting of the Zygons and The Day of the Doctor. I'm probably sounding like I despised this story but that is far from the truth! There was a whole lot of good. I thought the cliffhangers were pretty strong and I like how much the production team were trying with the imagery of the Skarasen. For a story that is now 40 years old, they did a stellar job. The idea of doing Doctor Who's take on the Loch Ness monster is just about as audacious as they come, but I love it. Why can't we do mythical stories? It had been done in The Underwater Menace and The Time Monster so I'm glad that mythology got revisited. I absolutely despise religion but I'm very intrigued by mythology so I like it when that subject spills over into Doctor Who. The plot advanced very well and I liked how this quickly followed on from Revenge of the Cybermen in having the TARDIS trio answering the call of the Brigadier. It's lovely that the Brigadier and UNIT aren't being forgotten after the legacy they left during the Third Doctor's exile to Earth. They should have featured more prominently after this story in my opinion. Sgt Benton is always good in a story though I felt he was a bit quiet here. The guest cast were all very good and I really did like the Duke of Forgill. There was a lot of mystery there but even when the revelation of the Zygon's shape-shifting ability was known, I still didn't suspect he was a member of the scavenging species. Munro served as an eery beginning to the story with him emerging from the sea after escaping and surviving the destruction of the oil rig. Caber was an interesting character also and his association with the Zygons was more obvious than the Duke's. The way he brought Sarah the steps in the library somehow made him freaky! You would think it to be such a simple activity. Angus was a magnificent character and I really loved the strength of his Scottish accent. I was quite gutted that we didn't get a young female with a Scottish accent as I do love it on a woman I must say! Sarah's brief attempt was nice. Sister Lamont was obviously not what she seemed and you could tell with her looking after of Harry that she wasn't all she seemed. The Zygons were good but I think the opening quote I have used for this story sums up my thoughts on this story incredibly accurately. The Zygons just hide for the majority of the story! Had they emerged triumphantly I think I'd like this story even more. I'm excited for the ninth series story that they feature in due to the name. Invasion of the Zygons better be what it says on the tin! Broton served as a good leader but I thought him standing tall at the end shouldn't have been the way to finish. The ship exploding would have been my personal preference. But overall, it was an excellent story. We said goodbye to Harry, hello again to the Brigadier and co and the birth of the Zygons. 

Rating: 8/10