Friday 22 May 2015

TARDIS Travels No.25


The 25th anniversary season sees only four new stories, but one of them has a lot of TARDIS travelling in it...

Journey 369: Iceworld, date unknown, to Coal Hill, Shoreditch, London, 1963.
The TARDIS returns to the Coal Hill district of Shoreditch in London, shortly after it first departed from the nearby Totter's Lane junkyard. It materialises in an alleyway close to the school where Ian and Barbara taught, and where Susan was a pupil. There is another unearthly child at the school - this time a girl enslaved by the Daleks. We are supposed to believe that this is just a few days after the teachers stumbled into the ship - but it is obviously not winter. A new sci-fi series is coming on TV at 5.15pm - yet it is clearly bright outside. That don't happen in London in the winter!


Journey 370: Coal Hill, London, 1963, to Terra Alpha, date unknown.
Sometime in the far future. The Doctor mentions encountering a Stigorax like Fifi on Earth in the 25th Century. The TARDIS has landed in the unnamed capital city of this colony world. Blue is a forbidden colour due its association with melancholy - so the Happiness Patrol paint it pink. They have to undo this once the Doctor has toppled Helen A's government.


Journey 371: Terra Alpha, date unknown, to Berkshire, England, 1988.
Somewhere close to Windsor. The Doctor and Ace take in a jazz performance by Courtney Pine in a pub beer garden. There is a river nearby - the Thames or a tributary - beside which the TARDIS is parked. Yet again there is something wrong with the weather / daylight hours. This ain't November - no matter what the script says.


Journey 372: Windsor - river to Castle basements, 1988.
The Doctor and Ace travel to the cellars of Windsor Castle where the Queen houses all those gifts she keeps getting given - every time she goes there, every time someone comes here... They are in search of a piece of the Nemesis statue. The Doctor dons a fez for the first time...


Journey 373: Windsor Castle, 1988, to Lady Peinforte's home, also Windsor, 1638.
The Doctor and Ace next travel back to the 17th Century, where (and when) the Doctor last encountered the Nemesis comet, which has returned to Earth in this vicinity in the present day - as they discover from some documents. Lady Peinforte and her manservant Richard have already left for 1988 using a magic spell (subsequently revealed to be one of Fenric's time storms).


Journey 374: Lady Peinforte's home, 1683, back to Windsor Castle, 1988.
The TARDIS materialises in the grounds this time. The Doctor doesn't recognise the lady walking the corgis - at least not at first. Surprisingly, he doesn't seem to recognise any of the tourist party - despite one of them being the spitting image of Nicholas Courtney... Ace finds a portrait of herself from the 18th Century - but only if you watch the Special Edition.


Journey 375: Windsor - Castle to industrial waste ground, 1988.
The TARDIS travels to where the Nemesis comet has landed. Cybermen, Lady Peinforte and a bunch of Nazi mercenaries all turn up to claim it. One of Lady Peinforte's poisoned, gold-tipped arrows gets embedded in the TARDIS exterior.


Journey 376: Windsor - waste ground to Safari Park, 1988.
The arrow in the hull survives the journey. They have come to the safari park as this is where Lady Peinforte's mausoleum is situated. The Cybermen have brought the Nemesis statue here.


Journey 377: Windsor Safari Park, 1988, to Lady Peinforte's home, 1638.
The TARDIS makes a brief return to the 17th Century. The Doctor ponders the chess game, and Ace picks up a bag of gold coins that will come in handy shortly.


Journey 378: Lady Peinforte's home, 1638, to waste ground area, Windsor, 1988.
This time the TARDIS materialises inside the abandoned hangar-like building close to where Nemesis landed. There is a final battle in which Lady Peinforte kills herself before she can reveal details about the Cartmel Masterplan; the last of the Nazis is killed; and the Cybermen are destroyed. That arrow stuck into the ship comes in handy for despatching the Cyber-Leader.


Journey 379: Windsor - waste ground area, 1988, to Lady Peinforte's house, 1638.
Third and final jaunt back to the 17th Century. I assume Richard will take over the house now.


Journey 380: Windsor, 1638, to region of space near Segonax, date unknown.
The TARDIS is idling in space near the current location of the Psychic Circus. One of their robotic advertising 'droids manages to enter the ship as the Doctor practices his juggling skills. Or does he let it in? Bit of a coincidence he has parked up here and is practising circus skills don't you think...?


Journey 381: Segonax - region of space to planet surface, date unknown.
Despite Ace expressing her phobia about clowns, the Doctor takes the TARDIS to the planet so they can attend the Greatest Show In The Galaxy. They land a whole episode away from the actual circus site...

Silver Nemesis, with 8 TARDIS journeys within its 3 episodes, marks the final hurrah for the TARDIS in the classic series. The final season will prove to be one of the most TARDIS-lite, with only the briefest glimpse of the console room...

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