N.B. there might (or might not) be spoilers in this article!
‘Does E-Space have spiders?’ my son asked towards the end of Part One of Warriors’ Gate.
It’s a good question, one that isn’t answered by the story presented to us on screen. I ventured the theory that, as the story is set at the nexus of two universes, the spiders responsible for the cobwebs might have been from N-Space. My son, far more imaginative than I, suggested they might have been made by some other creature from E-Space, but given the decrepitude of the gateway, said creatures were probably long since dead.
“The universe is our garden.”
Biroc, Warriors’ Gate: Part Three
Aside from such arachnid thoughts, given its apparently tumultuous production — numerous re-writes, a fired/re-hired director and an unwell leading man — it’s remarkable how good Warriors’ Gate is.
And it is very good, perhaps the most visually arresting Doctor Who story since The Mind Robber (although the third episode of The Deadly Assassin is, admittedly, pretty funky too). Indeed its use of time and space as plot devices made me think of P.J. Hammond’s Sapphire and Steel.
(It also makes me lament that Hammond — notwithstanding a couple of episodes of Torchwood — hasn’t written for Doctor Who proper, although I think we might have been close to a Sixth Doctor tale at one point.)
As with that extraordinary show, Warriors’ Gate isn’t afraid to leave a few things for the viewers to figure out themselves. (Or at least find rewarded by a second viewing.)
But apart from the tossed coin, the excellent supporting cast (especially Kenneth Cope as Packard and David Weston as Biroc), the idea that the distance between the ship and the gateway differs every time, the superb minimalist design, the use of photographic backdrops (that briefly reminded me of 90’s video games with pre-rendered backgrounds), how the story ties in beautifully with the themes of ending and decay that have developed through the season …
Yes, apart from all those touches (and probably much more that I have not complied in a single viewing’s worth of notes), one of the things that’s great about Warriors’ Gate is how gradually you realise that the ship crew are an even nastier piece of work than you first thought. Yes, they quite happily imprison Romana and put her to work — many a Doctor Who villain would’ve tried that — but even more than that, they’re slave-traders. Their victims — the Tharils — aren’t exactly lilywhite themselves abusing their servants and apparently having enslaved the Gundans. There’s plenty of subtlety and nuance here.
“I’ll miss you. You were the noblest Romana of them all.”
The Doctor, Warriors’ Gate: Part Four
All that and it has a significant ending too.
Romana stays in E-Space to help Biroc free the Tharil slaves, build a new TARDIS and avoid going back to Gallifrey.
I love how understated her leaving the Doctor is — it’s much more effective (and affecting) than an episode hell bent on forcing us to feel something for the companion’s leaving.
In short, Warriors’ Gate is so far the best of the eighteenth season by a country mile!
