"we've come full circle"

[usuallyhats]

I have watched "Full Circle"! And then I accidentally wrote a whole post about it instead of doing some more work WHOOPS.

• I wasn't that interested in the actual plot for most of this, but the twist towards the end was good, and the scene where the Doctor is shouting at the complacent, fraudulent Deciders was brilliant.



• I thought Four's reaction to Romana being recalled to Gallifrey was interested, especially when compared to "The Hand of Fear" and "The Invasion of Time" - he won't even contemplate taking Sarah back there for fear of her suffering the same fate as Jamie and Zoe did, but post "The Deadly Assasin" he's in more of a postion of strength towards the Time Lords: he can take Leela back without being afraid for her. But he still doesn't quite dare to defy them to the extent of running off with Romana or helping her run off on her own (not to mention the fact that I think he sees his younger self in her, and he knows what the consequences of running away were for him), and he doesn't like that about himself - he was so brusque about it! - he doesn't like admitting that for all his bravado he is still a little afraid of the Time Lords.



• If I were giving out points to anyone who said the episode title, a lot of people would've got them, but the Doctor would have the most as is right and proper.



• The marsh creatures looked great rising up out of the marsh à la Sea Devils, and whenever it was misty and/or dark, but not so much when running around brightly lit corriders...



• K9! I gasped out loud when he got his head ripped off. DON'T DO THAT TO K9. But then Romana was all blasé and "oh, again?" about it and that was a bit hillarious. ♥



• Here is Adric! He is alright in this one. I like the way he was all "this adventuring lifestyle looks fun, I shall STOW AWAY, there are no potential issues with this plan." I find it hard to judge my feelings towards Adric as the first episode I saw him in was "Earthshock", and then I saw "The Keeper of Traken" which he is pretty good in.



• I am not sure if I liked the ending or not. The scene where the Deciders start procrastinating again was great and I sort of wanted it to leave us wondering whether or not they ever did get round to leaving. But then having them actually leave is more hopeful.


Only two more Romana stories left! WOE.

Comments

[zurcherart.livejournal.com]

I always thought that Adric's character was pretty well written and handled until around the time the Doctor regenerated. It's hard to like the character that Adric becomes. I shall have to watch Full Circle again -- don't think I've seen it since I was a teen.

I never thought about Sarah Jane in relation to Jamie and Zoe. But you raise a very good point. I wonder if the show runners of the day thought about this at all, or if they were just looking for a handy (ha pun) way to write Sarah Jane out and fulfill Tom Baker's demand for a solo adventure. No matter. Finally I have a satisfactory explanation of why the Doctor wouldn't bring Sarah Jane to Gallifrey but would bring Leela.

[usuallyhats]

I can't claim credit for the connection between Sarah Jane and Jamie and Zoe, I'm afraid - I've seen it all over the place and it seemed to make sense to me, so I adopted it!

Based on the few episodes I've seen of his so far, I agree with you about Adric - I like him a lot more with Four.

[everlasting-day.livejournal.com]

Season 18: The Season of K-9 Abuse. I think Full Circle is a bit underrated. It's not a masterpiece but it's really solid, with some very cool concepts and visuals.

And Adric really isn't half bad either this season, he just flat out doesn't work with Five. Him and Four have a sort of teacher/pupil relationship going on that's much better.

[usuallyhats]

Yeah, the sets were excellent in this one. I was very impressed!