N.B. there might (or might not) be spoilers in this article!
Given there’s always been a strong presence of female voices in science fiction, it’s a bit of a shocker that we had to wait until its twentieth season for a woman to receive sole writing credit on a Doctor Who story.
Taking but one example, Tanith Lee (who, with Sand, for me wrote one of the best Blake’s 7 episodes) must surely have been in the minds of the production team on a list of potential writers.
Classic Doctor Who had had a few female directors — notably Paddy Russell in the 60’s and 70’s and Fiona Cumming who had helmed Castrovalva before Enlightenment — and of course Verity Lambert was its first producer back before day one, but that it took almost 600 episodes for Barbara Clegg to become the first female writer is, at the very least, a statistical anomaly.
“This is the sort of excitement that makes eternity bearable.”
Striker, Enlightenment: Part One
It’s especially noticeable when the contribution is this good. What other stories might we have missed out on by having only one sex contribute scripts for nigh-on twenty years!
It looks lovely — Striker’s yacht being particularly well-designed –, the music — by The Sea Devils‘ Malcolm Clarke no less — is great and the Doctor and his companions are ably supported by the guest cast, especially on Striker’s ship (with Christopher Brown as Marriner possibly being the pick of the bunch). It wraps up the Black Guardian trilogy neatly, giving Turlough plenty to do as he approaches near bug-eyed mania at some points.
“I find you fascinating. Quite fascinating.”
Marriner, Enlightenment: Part One
But even if none of those aspects can be attributed specifically to the quality of the writing per se in Enlightenment, its central concept — immortal beings racing ships in space — is, as Tegan is to Marriner, ‘quite fascinating’ and the kind of idea that would not seem out-of-place in 21st-century Who.
Whilst it perhaps not quite as perfect as I remember, there’s a lot to admire in Enlightenment and it’s a shame we never saw anything else by Barbara Clegg reach Doctor Who‘s screen.
