Arc of Infinity

After the pleasing interlude of Big Finish's Fifth Doctor and Nyssa audios, returning to the television series is rather disappointing given that the opening story of Season Nineteen maintains the quality of Season Nineteen's finale. By which I mean of course that like 'Time-Flight', 'Arc of Infinity' is crap. 

The plot of 'Arc of Infinity' concerns the return of Omega, the villain of 'The Three Doctors', and his attempt to bond with the Doctor in order to regain corporeal existence in the universe of matter. He tries this and fails, the Doctor gets dragged to Gallifrey for three episodes, then Omega tries again, partially succeeds, and gets shot by the Doctor. This sounds like an overly simplistic plot without any interesting subplots or subtext, and that is because it is precisely what it is. To make matters worse, writer Johnny Byrne, previously responsible for the horribly overrated 'The Keeper of Traken', litters his story with some horrible plot contrivances. The Time Lords' decision to keep the Doctor imprisoned in his own TARDIS is bizarre whether they disable it or not; it's akin to the police keeping people whom they've arrested locked in their cars with the sparkplugs removed. The script is littered with nasty expository dialogue, including "impulse laser?", and "that wasn't here before". In addition, the decision to have left Tegan on Earth in 'Time-Flight' results in a coincidence that seems ludicrous even by Doctor Who's standards, as Omega just happens to kidnap her cousin who is backpacking around Europe. One of the few plus points of the story is that Tegan is at least fairly well used in her scenes with Robin and Omega, proving as usual to be brave and resourceful. 

The acting doesn't help. The regulars are all fine, but half of the guest cast seems to be asleep. Which considering the characterisation that they are given to work with is unsurprising. Elspet Gray's Thalia and Max Harvey's Zorac are nonentities; Paul Jerricho's Castellan is one-dimensional and grumpy, and Jerricho seems annoyed to have been cast in the role. Leonard Sachs is wasted as Borusa, a character so different to the one previously played by Angus Mackay and John Arnatt that he might as well be a different character (and yes I know Time Lords' personalities alter somewhat when they regenerate, but Borusa so totally lacks any of the shrewd intelligence that he previously displayed that it isn't an adequate excuse). Equally wasted is Michael Gough as the treasonous Hedin, a man supposedly an old and dear friend of the Doctor's who sells him out to a nutter who previously tried to destroy the entire universe. There's a flimsy excuse about Hedin's obsession with history, but it isn't very convincing; lots of people are interested in history, but they wouldn't necessarily want famous historical madmen to come back to life and take over the running of the world. Mention of Hedin raises the question of why his voice changes when he's talking to Omega, since no explanation is offered beyond the obvious need to keep the identity of the traitor a secret. Possibly it has something to do with his frantically gesticulated wand. And on the subject of hitherto unseen old friends of the Doctor, we also meet Neil Daglish's Damon, a man so charismatic and interesting that it is a crying shame that he hasn't been seen before or since. I am of course being sarcastic. Daglish's performance is so wooden that he might be considered the worst actor in the story were it not for the presence of Andrew Boxer as Robin, a man from the Matthew Waterhouse school of acting if ever there was one. 

Mercifully, Omega is rather better than in 'The Three Doctors'. Partly this is because Ian Collier doesn't stamp around the set bellowing and pointing at the sky, and partly because he's more stable and therefore less of a pantomime villain than in he was in his debut story, but whilst still managing to retain the air of madness that the script keeps reminding us about during the last two episodes. Omega's motivation is believable, and Collier's largely vocal performance combines both menace and charisma. Once Peter Davison takes over the role, he gets to show off his acting skills and manages to make Omega different from the Doctor through body language and facial expressions alone; the oft-mentioned scene in which he smiles at a child as he watches a street organ in wonder is indeed highly effective, and does a great deal for Omega's character considering that he's just killed a gardener and shortly afterwards decides that if he cannot survive then neither will anybody else. Mind you, if I'd just regained corporeal existence of millennia of being trapped in the universe of anti-matter and I found myself in Amsterdam I wouldn't be standing around looking at street organs, I'd be nipping into a coffee shop to role a joint. By the end of the story however, everything goes to, erm, pot as Omega starts to decay. A protracted chase scene through Amsterdam shows off the nice overseas location work, but since 'Arc of Infinity' lacks the charm and wit of 'City of Death' it just feels like a gratuitous waste of license payers' money. In addition, the sudden switch from Davison to stuntman is painfully obvious despite the extensive makeup used to show Omega's degeneration, and the unconvincing blonde wig certainly doesn't help. The denouement is rubbish; Omega rants for a bit, then the Doctor shoots him.

The production is also rather poor. The attractive location work is undermined by some dreadful studio sets. The crypt looks OK, but Gallifrey does not. Back in 'The Deadly Assassin', Gallifrey had an air of faded grandeur, which 'The Invasion of Time' at least made an effort to recapture. Here, Gallifrey is represented by drab sets littered with office furniture and lurid plastic. On the other hand, perhaps designer Marjorie Pratt deliberately made tasteless sets for Time Lords to walk about in as a deliberate homage to 'The Three Doctors'. At least the recycled costumes look decent enough, and I like Omega's new outfit, although the Ergon looks ridiculous. Mind you, it's better than the Gel Guards. Ron Jones' direction is also rather drab, although he does at least get a great incidental score from Roger Limb to work with.

Finally, I can't mention 'Arc of Infinity' without mentioning Colin Baker, for obvious reasons. It's weird in retrospect to see him in a role other than the Sixth Doctor, but he's nevertheless playing a different character in the shape of Maxil. He plays the part with brutal efficiency, although Maxil isn't as sadistic as he first appears, merely very devoted to his duties. Beyond acting as henchman to the Castellan however, he doesn't get a great deal to do except stomp about bullying people; Baker is reasonable enough in the role, but there's little else I can say about him. Still, at least his later involvement with the series makes seeing him in 'Arc of Infinity' interesting, and it needs all the help it can get to be interesting. It is by no means as diabolical as 'The Three Doctors', but it is still very poor; hopefully Big Finish's forthcoming 'Omega' will be the first story featuring the character that is actually worthwhile.