Nabaza.net-The MarketPlace - Doctor Who - Mawdryn Undead

The Doctor and his companions materialize inside a spaceship set in a warp ellipse around Earth. Someone aboard the ship transmatted to Earth six years before. The Doctor, who meets Turlough aboard the ship, goes to the present, 1983, to fix the transmat equipment on Earth, planning for Nyssa and Tegan to follow him on the TARDIS. However, they get diverted to 1977. The transmat appears, where they encounter who they think is a horribly burned Doctor. Tegan runs to Brendon School for help, where she meets the Brigadier.

The reappearance of the Brigadier for the first time since Terror Of The Zygons is welcome. However, when the Brigadier tells the schoolboy Ibbetson, "Take it from me, boy. A solid object just can't dematerialize," we know something's going on. Evidence of that is proved further when he doesn't remember who the Doctor or the TARDIS is. And when he says fondly, "How could I forget?" The Doctor says "Exactly." So should the viewer. How could one of the Doctor's closest associates forget? We learn that the Brigadier suffered a nervous breakdown in 1977, and that he did meet Tegan. The Doctor tries to get him to remember, and as we learn later, what happened to the Brigadier is indeed the cause of his breakdown. The Brigadier has a good line in this: "After all, if I was to suffer from amnesia, I'd be the first to know."

The setting of Mawdryn's ship is impressive with its red and gold ornate decor. One of Mawdryn's associates sees the 1977 Brigadier and refers to him as a deviant, meaning that he shouldn't be aboard the ship, as his 1983 self is also there. Deviant... now there's a double meaning.

Nyssa and Tegan's personalities are easily discernible here. Nyssa is more logical, trusting, while Tegan is more tough-minded, less trusting, and values security and familiarity. One exchange between them regarding Turlough is good. Tegan: "Nobody from Earth is just going to walk into a transmat capsule." Nyssa: "As you did in the TARDIS on the Barnett Bypass?" Game, set, and match to Nyssa, I think.

The late Valentine Dyall provides a strong menacing presence as the Black Guardian, as evidenced by his effectively harsh demonic voice. And Nicholas Courtney plays the Brig as if he never took a hiatus from the character.

Links to the show's past are shown when the Brigadier regains his memory, via black-and-white clips of various adventures, Doctors, and companions. The homing device from Full Circle makes another appearance here, as does the Fourth Doctor's red coat, worn by Mawdryn. There is a subtle clue that the Doctor knows about the Black Guardian's involvement. He finds Turlough's crystal, which the BG gave him. Presumably, it's made from the same material as the Key To Time.

This is yet another of producer John Nathan-Turner's trilogies, presenting a villain out to get the Doctor and phasing out one companion for another. In this case, Nyssa leaves the TARDIS crew in the next story, Terminus, while Turlough joins the crew.
Mawdryn Undead shows that it's possible to have a story that's fascinating without having sensational alien monsters.