N.B. there might (or might not) be spoilers in this article!
For the first time since The Space Pirates I had one of my memory blind spots with Colony in Space, remembering almost nothing about it other than it was the Third Doctor’s first venture into space, that there was a cliffhanger in a cave that featured a close-up of Jo’s eyes and that Gail Tilsley was in it.
“This is no time for philosophising.”
Jo Grant,
Colony in Space: Episode Four
As has usually been the case when I can’t remember a story, it’s pleasing to discover there’s actually quite a lot going on here. (Well, it is a Malcolm Hulke script after all.) There are well-meaning colonists, evil miners, an indigenous race whose civilisation appears to have regressed, a Doomsday Weapon and – quelle surprise – the Master.
Indeed this is the first time the Master has seemed somewhat superfluous to events (although admittedly he is the reason the Doctor is sent there by the Time Lords, but let’s forgot that slight contradiction for the moment). In Terror of the Autons and The Mind of Evil, the Master was essential to the plot, whilst he was the best thing by a mile in The Claws of Axos . With Colony in Space, he feels just a little bit tacked-on, although of course Roger Delgado delivers his by-now-customary top-notch performance so things never get too bogged down.
“I want to see the universe, not rule it.”
The Doctor,
Colony in Space: Episode Six
Amongst the guest characters, other than Gail Tilsley, there’s Roy from EastEnders as the oily Dent’s thug-in-chief and a welcome return for John Ringham. There’s not so much scene-stealing slimy villainry from him this time around but instead a measured performance as the well-meaning and ultimately heroic colonist leader Ashe.
It’s nice to see the Time Lords again, albeit briefly, and it’s good to get off Earth for an adventure, even if the standard of the exile stories so far has been pretty high. In fact, it’s really only in comparison with what has gone before that Colony in Space suffers. It’s not that bad a story, but nor is it a great one.
I wonder if we’ve seen the last of the Master though …
"I can't believe this story is the first Third Doctor story in space and time."
"This story is set in the future so I.M.C. isn't International Mining Corporation: it's Interplanetary Mining Corporation. I think that's cool!"
"The Master – again?!?!?"
