Doctor Who - Mawdryn Undead Reviews

Rating		Votes
10	12%	11
9	17%	16
8	35%	33
7	27%	25
6	6%	6
5	2%	2
4	0%	0
3	0%	0
2	0%	0
1	0%	0
Average Rating 7.9
Votes 93

Synopsis

From: http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/episodeguide

The Black Guardian recruits a young man named Turlough to assassinate the Doctor. Although outwardly an ordinary pupil at a boys' private boarding school, Turlough is in fact an alien who believes that the Guardian will return him home if he succeeds.

The TARDIS meanwhile has its instruments jammed by a mysterious signal and is forced to materialise on board a massive spaceship in a fixed orbit. The Doctor discovers that the signal - a beam to guide the ship's transmat capsule - is being transmitted from Earth. He travels down to the planet in the capsule, leaving Nyssa and Tegan in the TARDIS with the co-ordinates pre-set to follow.

Things go wrong, however, as the Doctor arrives in 1983 but the TARDIS materialises in 1977. Tegan and Nyssa encounter a man with a badly burned body and think that this could be the Doctor.

Tegan goes for medical aid and runs into the Doctor's old friend the Brigadier, now retired from UNIT and working as a maths teacher at the school. They join Nyssa and, at the mysterious stranger's urging, use the TARDIS to travel up to the spaceship.

The stranger is actually Mawdryn, one of a group of alien mutants travelling endlessly in a state of perpetual regeneration brought upon themselves through the use of a stolen Time Lord device.

The Doctor takes Turlough and the 1983 version of the Brigadier up to the ship in the transmat capsule. He reluctantly agrees to supply from his own body the energy needed to end the mutants' ordeal, even though this will mean the loss of his remaining regenerations.

In the event, however, the energy comes not from the Doctor but from an explosion caused when the two Brigadiers meet.

Has Prerequisite Story

0 out of 21 (0.0%) raters say this story requires a previous story.

Extended Ratings

Plot

8.3

(31)

Acting

8.4

(31)

Effects

7.9

(31)

Replay

8.0

(30)

5th Doctor

Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart

Nyssa

Tegan Jovanka

Vislor Turlough

Mawdryn

The Black Guardian

Turlough's Black Guardian Deal

Cast

The Doctor - Peter Davison

Nyssa - Sarah Sutton

Tegan - Janet Fielding

Turlough - Mark Strickson

1st Mutant - Peter Walmsley

2nd Mutant - Brian Darnley

Black Guardian - Valentine Dyall

Doctor Runciman - Roger Hammond

Headmaster - Angus MacKay

Ibbotson - Stephen Garlick

Matron - Sheila Gill

Mawdryn - David Collings

The Brigadier - Nicholas Courtney

Director:

Peter Moffatt

Writer:

Peter Grimwade

Reviews

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Doctor Who

Classic TV Series

Mawdryn Undead

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Reviewed By: recklessE4Review Date: 3/2/19 4:13 pm

0 out of 0 found this review helpful.

I went into Mawdyrn Undead not expecting much. However, what I saw was an impressive and interesting classic who story. Like several episodes of the Peter Davison era, it has plenty for fans of the earlier seasons to enjoy. The Brigadier has returned and his presence is very uplifting. There is also the re-appearance of an old villain who is set up to be the bad guy for the next three stories.

I am writing this review before watching the next two stories. This is important as it is the first in a three part series.

The best parts of this story is when they are executing really creative Sci-Fi ideas. It is a difficult story to keep track of. It uses unconventional forms time travel and arbitrary limitations one where the characters can go at any given time. However, once you wrap you head around it, there are some cool ideas. A ship in perpetual orbit, immortal space "zombies", the consequences of interacting with your former self, and more. It is very interesting to see how all the characters, with their separate motivations, react to each problem as they occur.

This story introduces a new companion, Turlough. He is well introduced as a character and there are several questions raised about him that I hope are answered in future stories. He does not fit any companion tropes, and that's a great thing. I am interested to see what they do with him.

Overall, a very solid story, that really impressed me. It's not perfect with some of the lack lust deliveries of certain effects and actors, but these issues are few and far between. I also despise the costumes of Mawdyrn and his people, but they did not take away from the character. The largest hiccup is how difficult it is to follow, which can probably be solved with a re-watch. Good watch overall!

Doctor Who

Classic TV Series

Mawdryn Undead

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Unsure

Reviewed By: adamelijahReview Date: 3/8/15 4:22 am

1 out of 1 found this review helpful.

Maedryn Undead begins the Black Guardian saga. This story finds the Doctor separated from the TARDIS and its crew but reunited with the Brigadier for the first time in 7 seasons, as the Black Guardian recruits an alien teenager at an English school to kill the Doctor. The story is wonderful fun with thee great return of the Brigadier, a tough decision for the Doctor, and an introduction of a new conflict.