Vengeance on Varos

"Your story is far from over."

Writer: Pete McTighe

Format: Webcast

Broadcast: 01 November 2023

Series: Tales of the TARDIS 1.03

Featuring: Sixth Doctor, Peri

Synopsis

The Doctor and Peri meet to remember their first conflict with Sil on the planet Varos.

Verdict

Vengeance on Varos was another lovely episode to continue my way through the Tales of the TARDIS! This one felt a little different than the first two which is great as keeping things fresh is definitely a good idea. Having the central story as Vengeance on Varos initially doesn’t seem like the most obvious choice for the Sixth Doctor, but by the end I thought it absolutely was the correct one because of where Peri is now in her life. The initial moment between the Doctor and Peri was just wonderful and I was so delighted with the acting from both Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant. Both have obviously aged since we last saw them in The Trial of a Time Lord, and that was addressed for each character in very different ways! For Peri, she was now a Warrior Queen after marrying King Yrcanos and it was really nice for the Doctor to have caught wind of the songs sung about her. She was revered and had a stunning reputation which was quite incredible. That’s a big level of maturity and development from the Peri we got to see on television. I’m a big fan of that character evolution. I won’t touch too much on the omnibus version on Varos for this episode as I’m much more interested in the two scenes that bookend it - and I’ve blogged it before in both television and novelisation formats! - but it was fun to revisit the level of violence in this era. It absolutely works and I think I even enjoyed the story at hand more on this viewing. It’s a brilliant one and a fine example of the more distant and enigmatic early version of the Sixth Doctor. It’s very different to the one we meet inside the Memory TARDIS! I liked how different this meeting felt as it certainly had the impression that Peri arrived to the Doctor rather than the Time Lord joining her there too. He was well aware of the remembered TARDIS element and what it meant which was intriguing. Perhaps a memory of his visit to tell the story of Earthshock with Tegan? That would certainly make sense. The Doctor acknowledging his changed appearance of being both older and bigger was quite amusing although I’m not sure the latter was necessary! It was just wonderful to see new content with the Sixth Doctor after so long. The way he led into the events on Varos and how that shaped Peri into the character she was and her own destiny was a really nice touch. It made sense to go with it and was fun to explore. The moment after the omnibus was also lovely as it seemed that the Doctor and Peri as they were here would now move on to have adventures of their own! I’m not sure how Peri would know what buttons to press to pilot this TARDIS, but seeing them set off together again was really nice. Peri wanting to honour Yrcanos with an annual memorial visit was nicely included as well. As a whole, this was another delightful meeting that may not be the last for them! That’s fun to think about. Overall, a terrific episode. 

Rating: 9/10