Hectic times here at THT Worldwide. A massive hardware failure took out the Tour’s main production machine. Fortunately we were 99.9% backed up (backup your data at least weekly kids) but knocking a new machine into workable shape is always a process.
Taking note of how underwater the Tour Honchos have been feeling, the Classic Capitology group has responded by putting forth caps which reflect that feeling, another foray into Tom Baker’s run with Underworld. And what a mess this story is, although perhaps it is a story Barry Letts would’ve been most proud of in this sense…
There’s a lot of CSO in Underworld. Great heaping spoonfuls of it. Letts was justifiably proud of how Doctor Who was always willing to at least try new technologies which would make the program better or at least extend what was in the realm of the possible. As was the case when new caps for The Invisible Enemy went up, runaway inflation hit Doctor Who hard enough that just getting the program made at all was no mean feat. CSO was one solution for this, but in Underworld there’s such a surfeit of it so that seeing an actual physical set for actors to walk around in comes as a bit of relief.
Even this level of virtuosity might have been more tolerable if the story was in any way memorable. But it wasn’t. A reworking of myths just isn’t evocative. The Quest is the Quest? Your guess is your guess (which is as good as mine in this case).
Fortunately Modern Recap-itulation has deigned to grace us with a visit next time. Let your mind be open for this one.