N.B. there might (or might not) be spoilers in this article!
After Turlough’s early histrionics with the Black Guardian and the ensuing soap opera between him and Tegan in the TARDIS, Terminus settles down into a fairly decent bit of hard sci-fi — perhaps not unexpected given it’s from the same mind as Warriors’ Gate.
“I am hoping for something rather better on the other side.”
Bor, Terminus: Part Four
It’s not quite at the level of his earlier story, but Stephen Gallagher’s second contribution to Doctor Who — a tale of a plague ship heading for the centre of the universe — is nevertheless compelling. Indeed for me its main problem is that it’s just too well-lit. If it’d have been as dark and gloomy as Alien, for example, it’d have been properly grim! As it stands, Terminus is content to be merely quite grim.
It is a story perhaps most (in)famous for Nyssa dropping her skirt and, true, it’s does go all a bit New Romantics-on-a-raid when Kari and Olvir first arrive — Liza Goddard’s helmet is only just big enough for her hair! — but then again, as I said last time out, this was the 80’s.
Tegan and Turlough spend most of Terminus trapped in trusty old sci-fi ventilation ducts and yet, despite his almost total separation from her for this story, the Doctor is nevertheless not that eager to see Tegan again. I’d never noticed this aspect of the Doctor’s attitude towards Tegan before. Whilst it might not go as far as contempt, whatever it is (barely tolerant perhaps?), at times it can only be described as ‘thinly veiled’.
But yes, there might be too much light on board for Terminus fully to convey the despair of the infected Lazars and disaffected Vanir, but nevertheless it gets points for trying!
“You’re a very brave person. I wish you every luck. “
The Doctor, Terminus: Part Four
And Nyssa gets a great leaving scene. I’m not convinced she’s quite loved ‘every moment’ of her time with the Doctor — meeting him did of course coincide with the death of her father and the destruction of her home planet and everything she’d ever known — but leaving aside such trifling matters, alongside Tegan and Adric, she is part of the core TARDIS crew I remember most fondly from childhood.
If nothing else, for that she would be missed, but, as many have remarked of the Fifth Doctor’s companions, she’s the one who seems to work best with him, being neither as immature as Adric nor as pugnacious as Tegan or Turlough. The Doctor’s face as she hugs Tegan goodbye says it all — he’ll miss her too.
Perhaps it’s because she’s the calmest, most level-headed of the companions he’s had since regenerating? That said, you’ve got to love the bad-ass way she defends the Doctor in the otherwise mostly forgettable Arc of Infinity.
