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| The Doctor encounters friends old and new on Iceworld. |
3 episodes. Approx. 73 minutes. Written by: Ian Briggs. Directed by: Chris Clough. Produced by: John Nathan Turner.
THE PLOT
The Doctor decides to visit Iceworld, a space-trading colony. There, he and Mel meet a new friend in the feisty Ace (Sophie Aldred), an Earth girl who was whisked away by a Time Storm. They are also reunited with Sabalom Glitz (Tony Selby), the untrustworthy space smuggler who has been both an ally and an enemy. Glitz is in possession of a map that supposedly leads to a treasure guarded by a dragon; and though he's skeptical, the Doctor finds the prospect of seeing a genuine dragon too enticing to ignore.
The map is actually a trap, planted on Glitz by the evil Kane (Edward Peel). The ruler of Iceworld, Kane is also imprisoned on the planet, serving an eternal sentence that has already lasted for three thousand years. The key to his escape lies with the dragon, and he has planted a tracking device on the map so that he can follow the travelers' progress. Every step the Doctor and Glitz take brings Kane closer to his ultimate goal: Vengeance against his jailers!
CHARACTERS
The Doctor: Sylvester McCoy's "slipping on ice" acting grows very old, very fast, and his clowning as Glitz rescues him from the Episode One cliffhanger is similarly irritating. But he's very good in a genuinely clever scene with the Doctor encountering a guard who's better-versed in philosophy than the Time Lord would have expected. He's also terrific in the story's quieter moments: Showing the Doctor's sadness as he rejects Belazs as beyond help; allowing Kane to have his prize, then destroying the man with something as simple as the truth of his situation, letting Kane destroy himself as he stands by passively. These are good bits, ones which show that the actor has a grasp on who the character should be. It's just that all the bad comedy keeps getting in the way.
The Doctor: Sylvester McCoy's "slipping on ice" acting grows very old, very fast, and his clowning as Glitz rescues him from the Episode One cliffhanger is similarly irritating. But he's very good in a genuinely clever scene with the Doctor encountering a guard who's better-versed in philosophy than the Time Lord would have expected. He's also terrific in the story's quieter moments: Showing the Doctor's sadness as he rejects Belazs as beyond help; allowing Kane to have his prize, then destroying the man with something as simple as the truth of his situation, letting Kane destroy himself as he stands by passively. These are good bits, ones which show that the actor has a grasp on who the character should be. It's just that all the bad comedy keeps getting in the way.
Mel: In her final story, her most amusing moments are contrast between her and her soon-to-be replacement. When they first see the dragon, Mel screams in terror while Ace looks amazed at seeing something so unusual. When stuck in a chamber on Iceworld waiting for the Doctor, Mel suggests they pass the time by playing "I Spy," earning a withering look from Ace... who, a few scenes later, becomes bored enough to take her up on it. As usual, there isn't much to justify the hatred of Bonnie Langford, who does perfectly fine with what little she has to work with. In this story, at least, I'd rate her acting as considerably better than Aldred's. But Mel's characterization is as nonexistent as usual; it wouldn't be until more than a decade later, when Big Finish and writer Steve Lyons put actual thought into making her into a human being for The Fires of Vulcan, that she would work as a proper character.
Ace: Sophie Aldred's introduction as Ace is not a promising one. She shouts practically her every line, to the point that when Glitz makes an exaggerated gesture as if to backhand her, I was practically rooting for him to do it. Aldred does get one good, subtle scene near the end of Episode One, however. Kane tempts Ace with the promise of an escape from her dead-end life, promising her adventure and breathtaking sights if she goes to work for him. All she has to do is pick up his coin. Aldred conveys Ace's temptation, internally battling herself as she slowly reaches for that coin... It's the first truly good scene of the story, and one of only a few moments showing potential for this character in an otherwise grating debut.
Sabalom Glitz: Glitz was first seen as a ruthless, even murderous character, before his second appearance watered him down to a safe comedy rogue. In tone, Dragonfire takes the latter approach... which is bizarre, given that the story literally opens with his crew being cryogenically frozen after he sells them into slavery! The story reminds us of this repeatedly, yet the Doctor and Mel treat him like an embarrassing yet still ingratiating old friend. You'd think he should be required of the Doctor/the narrative to do penance. But no! He actually gets rewarded, inheriting Kane's entire infrastructure while Mel (inexplicably) goes off with him at the end. I know the audience is eager to be rid of Mel... but the Doctor is actually supposed to like her. Not only could Glitz sell Mel into slavery after zipping back to Iceworld to restart Kane's empire with himself at the head - Doing so would actually be pefectly in-character for him! (Hmm... Now I almost want a sequel...)
THOUGHTS
Dragonfire is often regarded as the best story of a bad season. I actually find Paradise Towers better, despite its misjudged production, and I find Delta and the Bannermen more enjoyable. Still, this three-parter does have more of a traditional Doctor Who feel to it. It's studio-bound and looks it, but it doesn't look half-bad for the most part. Kane's multi-level lair is even moderately atmospheric. In Edward Peel's Kane, it has a classic Who villain: An urbane but ruthless man with near-limitless resources, Kane isn't played for laughs, but is presented as a sinister figure. After the sustained silliness of the rest of Season 24, it must have felt like a relief to see something recognizably Doctor Who.
Which isn't to say that this could be mistaken for anything but a Season 24 story. It's rushed, frenetic, and very uneven. The first episode is appallingly bad; the second, surprisingly good; the third is entertaining, but suffers from the kind of rushed ending all too typical of the era. I know Doctor Who has always had widely varying quality between stories - but rarely has quality varied so much within the same story!
There are good moments. Edward Peel gets to show an additional layer to his villain in a scene that finds Kane rhapsodizing over a sculptor's ice statue of his beloved. The emotion visible just beneath Kane's icy surface earns our compassion for a second or two - until he rewards the sculptor by murdering him.
Another strong scene parallels Ace's temptation by Kane. The Doctor encounters Belazs (Patricia Quinn), Kane's subordinate. Belazs once stood in Ace's spot, at the same age, tempted by the same offer. While Ace just barely manages to reject the offer, Belazs took the coin - and is now desperate to escape. The Doctor looks at the mark of that coin on her hand and sees that she is beyond rescue: "Your debt to Kane? I don't think you'll be able to pay it off, ever." A couple of scenes later, the woman lies dead at Kane's feet.
This being Season 24, there are also some poor and even bizarre choices. It's impossible to discuss Dragonfire without bringing up the infamous Episode One cliffhanger: The Doctor, climbing over a railing in order to dangle at the edge of a sheer cliff or no visibly apparent reason. Writer Ian Briggs intended that the Doctor was trying to lower himself to the next level and misjudged... but the staging doesn't reflect that, leaving the Seventh Doctor - who has been mostly been portrayed as a clown onscreen - looking like an imbecile.
Another issue is the weakness of Kane's prison. Kane is portrayed as intelligent and ruthless. Defeating the dragon is portrayed as being extremely possible, if not downright easy. So, um, how did it take him three thousand years to come up with the brilliant idea of sending a couple guards to gun down the creature? The entire story would make more sense if he didn't know the dragon was the key to his escape - but the evidence on screen indicates that he does know, or at least is not surprised to find out. It's incomprehensible that this "prison" would hold him for more than a year or so, let alone three thousand years!
For all that, I don't dislike Dragonfire. There is good material here, some of it hinting at the reocvery to come. But With a gaping hole in the story's center, a painfully bad first episode, and the desperately frenetic atmosphere that brands all of Season 24, it's far from actually being good.
The best I can say is that (thankfully!) better was soon to come.
Overall Rating: 4/10.
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