Enlightenment

"We're here for the race. That's all that matters."

Writer: Barbara Clegg
Format: TV
Broadcast: 1-9 March 1983
Season: 20.05

Featuring: Fifth Doctor, Tegan, Turlough

Synopsis

Materialising on an Edwardian sailing yacht in space, the Fifth Doctor and his companions Tegan and Turlough find themselves caught up in a mysterious and deadly race. The prize is Enlightenment – the wisdom to find your heart's desire – and it quickly becomes clear that one of the crews will let nothing and no-one stop them claiming victory.

As the Black Guardian pressures Turlough to complete his side of their murderous pact, it seems that the Doctor may not survive to cross the finish line...

Verdict

Enlightenment was an excellent serial to conclude the Black Guardian trilogy of stories that make up half of the twentieth season of Doctor Who! It's a fitting end that does really well to tell its own story whilst tying elements of the previous two adventures together for a fitting conclusion. I was really impressed with the story throughout and I have to say that the cliffhangers to parts one and two really do rank as brilliant ones. They were both excellent in their own way as we first found out that the Edwardian ship was actually a spaceship and then with that the idea of Turlough jumping overboard would prove catastrophic! It was clear to see in this story that he no longer had any interest in carrying out the doing of the Black Guardian and destroying the Doctor, and seeing him struggle with coming to terms with that was fantastic. He had his strongest story yet for sure. Speaking of which, I thought Peter Davison was superb as the Fifth Doctor in this adventure and he really did show all of the signs that made him my favourite Doctor when I first divulged into the Classic era of the programme. I was really impressed with him here which is wonderful to be able to say. The Eternals were an excellent addition to the story and I found the concept behind them really intriguing. They needed the minds of the so-called Ephemerals to function as they themselves were empty which was fascinating. A really good and original concept. Tegan's relationship in particular with Marriner was very good and I liked how she was able to shut out her thoughts at a point. He was interested by that and his will for existence actually made him fall in love with the Australian. It was quite a heartfelt and emotional moment when he faded out of existence. Going back to the start a little, the TARDIS scene to kick things off was very good and I loved how the interior looked with the dark lighting. It was almost like seeing the TARDIS on the dark mode setting for your iPhone! Really great stuff. The White Guardian making an appearance was good, if expected, and the power drainage he was inflicting on the TARDIS was good because of the problems it created. Their arrival on the ship was good and the Doctor being mistaken for its cook was a very comical moment that Turlough perhaps enjoyed a little too much. Tegan's bedroom on board the ship was really intriguing because it was a blend of her bedrooms in Brisbane and on the TARDIS. That's quite the mix! Finding out all about the race was brilliant and the prize being Enlightenment was terrific. It was definitely a worthy reward! Wrack made for a decent villainous character after she had saved Turlough. I thought it was a bit of a shame that we didn't get to see her fall to her demise, but finding out that the Black Guardian was in league with her as well was very good. I didn't see that coming when perhaps I should have. I even had myself thinking midway through part three that there was still a lot to resolve! But resolve it they did. The meeting at the end between the White and Black Guardians was very powerful, but the Doctor's emergence onto the scene safe and alive was terrific. Turlough had well and truly sided with him and before you knew it the Black Guardian was lit up in flame! I did think the Doctor throwing the jewel he'd crushed overboard a bit of a stretch when it came to the explosion, but it did look good for sure! The ending with the White Guardian promising a third battle for the Doctor against the Black Guardian was good and with hindsight of course I know that this wouldn't happen on television. Maybe he was foreshadowing the point I'm at in my Main Range listening? The Key 2 Time awaits, perhaps? Regardless, for now this was a fantastic serial!

Rating: 9/10