The Savages

The TARDIS arrives in an age which the Doctor describes as one of peace and prosperity, and as far as he can tell it is everything he had hoped for, being welcomed into a city overseen by the Elders who bestow great honours upon him. Steven and Dodo are not as easily convinced when they encounter savages outside the city who are bent on throwing spears at them. Dodo makes a chilling discovery about how the Elders manage to keep themselves alive, and the terrible price it exacts on the Savages, and when the Doctor makes his displeasure known, it seems he is goin
g to pay the same price himself...

It turns out that the Doctor has fans in the Elders; they have plotted the course of the TARDIS over the years and knew that he would come to them one day. They say that they know everything about him, but it's a mystery why they would expect him to condone their way of life, which is effectively vampirism. As it's a missing episode there's no way to verify if there was some sort of montage of the Doctor and company presented when the Elders speak of his travels, but if it ever were to be resurrected as an animated episode (or found in its entirety and remastered) I would figure there'd be a montage of the other incarnations of the Doctor presented.

All in all it's a pretty limp episode with a see through plot and not much imagination behind it. Scheming government, willfully ignorant people, victimized underclass... it's all there as part of a science fiction recipe but it's not really on par with Ian Stuart's Black other contributions to Doctor Who; I got my first taste of it in a Target novel published in 1986 and the bland black cover was not exactly inspiring. Eventually I got a hold of the audio episodes and heard what I was missing, but I wasn't too concerned about artistic merit; I wanted to hear Steven leave.

Yes, Steven Taylor is a memory after this one. After a year and a bit on the TARDIS crew Steven leaves to become the new leader of the newly liberated planet. His time with the Savages and the guidance he provides convinces them that he is the man to lead them out of this dark age, and as the Elders realize the errors of their ways and unite with the Savages to rebuild their world, they agree to follow Steven as well. It all seems a bit rushed and a bit unlikely as Steven was no longer pondering moving on from the TARDIS crew despite his arguments with the Doctor over the fate of Anne Chaplet in stories previous (both on screen and in the expanded universe media), but the time had come regardless (and in the real world of TV production there was change coming and as far as the BBC execs were concerned it did not include Steven). Steven has come a long way since joining the Doctor, going from disbelief in time travel to something of a hero when thrown into the plots of the Daleks or into history. His willfulness never left him, though, and the clashes with the Doctor were not arguments for arguments sake, he truly wanted to make a difference where they went and was frustrated by their inability to do so when it came to matters of historical fact. As the leader of the planet, he could do that at last. Dodo has not known Steven very long but reacts as if her big brother was off to join the navy or something - Steven was always protective of her as he was with Vicki, so what will become of her without his presence?

The TARDIS crew is down to two now. But for how long...?

NEXT EPISODE: THE MAN IN THE VELVET MASK