Well, this is a strange one. “Warrior’s Gate” is full of vague mysticism and surreal images, and by the time you get to the end of it you’re still not sure exactly what happened— or, indeed, whether it was brilliant or just weird.
Still seeking a way out of E-space, the TARDIS is intercepted by an alien who calls himself Biroc and looks like a humanoid lion. Taking control of the TARDIS, the alien steers our heroes into a strange white void, occupied only by an ancient stone ruin— and another spaceship which has been stranded there for months. The void could be the way back to normal space— if our heroes can figure out a way to get out at all. From there things get very complicated. The villains of the story are the crew of the stranded spaceship, and especially their Captain. They are slavers transporting a cargo of Biroc’s people, called Tharils, who are enslaved on many worlds where their abilities to cross different timelines at will are used in the navigation of spaceships. Now it appears that, after sensing the TARDIS in flight, Boric used his power to set in motion a series of events— or perhaps choose a timeline— that will lead to his people being freed. I think.
A lot remains mysterious even after repeated viewings. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, though it’s very unusual for Classic Dr Who. There’s some interesting character interplay among the spaceship crew: the Captain, Rorvik, is the only one of the bunch who has any energy. After months trapped in the void, the rest of the crew seem to have let defeatism sink right into their bones— unless they were just that lazy and apathetic all along. They treat Rorvik’s attempts to keep them working as an imposition, and would rather sit and stare at their screens, reminding him that they already know nothing works, so why bother? This sets up Rorvik’s increasing frustration and violence, until in his final moment he seems to have lost his mind completely, laughing hysterically as he screams, “I’m finally getting something done!”
On the other hand, there’s an attempt to contrast Rorvik’s mania with the Doctor’s realization that the way out of the void is to do nothing (because Biroc already set the necessary events in motion) but it isn’t set up well enough to be meaningful. And the story sees the departure of Romana and K-9 from the series, but Romana’s decision to leave also isn’t set up well. Although she’s been unhappy about the summons back to Gallifrey that started the E-space trilogy, and this is mentioned again at the start of this story, there’s no further indication she’s thinking of leaving until the very end, when they get back to the TARDIS and out of the blue she tells the Doctor she’s going to stay behind in E-space to help the Tharils. The story should have spent time foreshadowing her decision: let her see some of what the Doctor sees about their situation, have her express her sympathy and desire to help, and so on, so that her final decision isn’t such an out-of-the-blue surprise.
What’s the overall verdict? Is “Warrior’s Gate” a good Dr Who story or a poor one? I honestly don’t know. I change my mind every time I watch it, and even writing this post I start to settle on an opinion and then say “But on the other hand…” It’s an episode that leaves you thinking, anyway, and that at least is not a bad thing.
Details
- Credited writer Steve Gallagher originally submitted a script with a great deal more explanation and backstory, but it was far too long and ambitious for Dr Who at the time to produce. Script editor Christopher Bidmead went over it to pare it down to something that could be achieved. In an interview on the DVD special features, Bidmead and Gallagher each credit the other as the greater contributor to the final script.
- There was an unusual degree of chaos behind the scenes during production. The story’s director, Paul Joyce, was a young hotshot determined to change the way BBC drama was produced, which offended the veteran cameramen and other crew who knew how it was supposed to be done. The disagreements reached the point where Joyce was briefly fired in mid-shoot, then hastily rehired again when it was realized no one else could get up to speed in time to finish the episode on time. Meanwhile there was a lot of on-set awkwardness between Tom Baker and Lalla Ward, who when not shooting would position themselves at opposite ends of the set and even during scenes would refuse to look at each other (you’ll notice it in the final episode once you know to look for it). They’d become romantically involved with each other during their time working on Dr Who, and people on set assumed some horrible fight and break-up had occurred. Everyone was astonished when they announced that they’d actually just gotten married.
- On the other hand, the marriage was extremely short-lived, so it seems there was a lot of stormy stuff going on. Contrasting today’s internet-gossip-dominated celebrity world, there’s not a lot that anyone’s ever said about what went on between them— mostly just a few carefully bland, image-conscious remarks.
- K-9 also departs the series in this episode. Once again he gets severely damaged early on in the story, but this time he gets to fully participate in the story anyway, and even though malfunctioning and often speaking nonsense, he still gets to play a key role in the story as he detects, and then tries to warn everyone, that the void is collapsing and everyone must soon escape or perish. Passing through the Warrior’s Gate of the story title restores him, but only if he stays on the other side. When Romana decides to stay behind (also on the other side) she takes K-9 with her. The Tharils have asked her to become the E-space Time Lord, and we last see her and K-9 planning to build a new TARDIS (K-9 says he has all necessary plans and procedures to build a TARDIS in his data banks).
- Is that the end of Romana? This is a little complicated, but follow along: in the Eighth Doctor audio adventures from Big Finish, Lalla Ward reprised her role as Romana, leaving E-space and returning to Gallifrey where she eventually became President of the High Council of Time Lords, K-9 still at her side. Big Finish also produced a series of adventures featuring Romana and Leela (who stayed behind on Gallifrey when she left the series). But are these canonical? That would have been highly doubtful until, as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations, Steven Moffat wrote the Eighth Doctor’s regeneration in “The Night of the Doctor” mini-sode. Before regenerating, the Eight Doctor says goodbye to his companions, and names everyone he traveled with in the audio adventures. That seems to clearly bring the Eight Doctor audio adventures into Dr Who’s primary continuity, and so we have to assume that Romana did return from E-space and become President of Gallifrey. Did she then die in the Time War with the rest of the Time Lords? Presumably yes, but if the new series ever decides to say otherwise, the door is certainly open.
- Meanwhile, K-9 reappeared in the only Dr Who spinoff ever produced during the Classic era. See below:
K-9 and Company: “A Girl’s Best Friend”
This one-shot 45-minute adventure was produced around a year after “Warrior’s Gate,” so I’m discussing it a bit early for the “from the start” series, but with K-9’s departure in the above story it seems an opportune time. Broadcast as a Christmas special in 1981, it’s often described as a failed pilot for a K-9 series, but it wasn’t: although John Nathan-Turner had some hopes it might lead to a series, the episode itself was contracted and produced as a one-off special.
The story reintroduces Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith in what is really a prototype for the modern era’s “Sarah Jane Smith Adventures.” Although the story tries to give K-9 a more central role in the action (having him suggest strategies and come up with answers before the other characters) there’s no getting around the fact that he’s ultimately a sidekick character, so despite the title Sarah takes the lead.
The story itself is rather disappointing. Her Aunt Lavinia (a noted scientist first mentioned when Sarah was introduced in “The Time Warrior” during the Pertwee years) is setting off on a lecture tour of America. But after writing a letter to the editor of a local newspaper about the ongoing practice of witchcraft in rural England, she seemingly gets an invite to travel to America a month early— and then disappears. Planning to house-sit for her aunt while trying to write a novel, Sarah arrives to find Lavinia mysteriously absent, and her investigation leads her to a local black magic coven. She’s assisted by her nephew Brendan (much like her later series would feature teenage sidekicks) and a gift from the Doctor: K-9 Mark III (Mark I stayed with Leela on Gallifrey, and Mark II with Romana in E-space. The Doctor apparently built a third K-9 just to give him to Sarah.)
Members of the coven get up to no good, breaking into Lavinia’s house to try and scare Sarah away, and it appears they’ve done something sinister to Lavinia. A half-glimpse of K-9 convinces the coven that a supernatural hellhound has been unleashed on the countryside and they kidnap Brendan with plans for a human sacrifice to appease the creature. Sarah and K-9 have to rush to the rescue to save Brendan before it’s too late.
The problem with the story is that there’s never the slightest implication of anything alien, supernatural or paranormal going on. The black magic coven is just a matter of rural superstition turned dangerous, and in the end it turns out they didn’t even do anything to Lavinia— she really did get an invitation to head to America a month early, and phones Sarah from New York at the end to say she’s arrived safely. So the whole investigation was launched for no actual reason, and (apart from whatever we might think of country folk practicing witchcraft) no one was hurting anyone until a K-9 sighting scared the coven into turning nasty. (“Nice job, hero,” is the thought that comes to mind.)
If this had become an actual series, then like the Sarah Jane Smith Adventures it would have to have included more science fiction from the Dr Who universe in order to work. As it is, even in a single special it’s disappointing to see not a trace of aliens or monsters in the vicinity of the story.
As far as Dr Who continuity goes, K-9 and Company is unquestionably canonical: when Sarah next reappears (in “The Five Doctors”) she has K-9 with her, and again in the modern series’ “School Reunion.”
Next Week:
“The Keeper of Traken,” 4 episodes.
