abigailbrady | Doctor Who: Battlefield

I have got to 1989's first story, Battlefield. It is an absolute delight. Smartly-written, full of one-liners, and fairly well shot. It gives us a bit more development of the companion, Ace - we knew she blew up the art room at school - we now get to find out how - and a character for her to form a bond with. It also features the last appearance of the Brigadier in Doctor Who, who is given a fitting send-off, I think. I defended his involvement in Mawdryn Undead, but this is better for him as a character. And the ideas, which weren't too mysterious and unexplained, but also wasn't spoonfed... The monster is slightly bad but isn't outright terrible (I think it could work in another context, but it isn't quite right given the staging of the rest of it).

Did I mention I like this story? I think this (at least the special edition of it) is one that I could show to non-fans who like good television and not be at all ashamed of. Something I could not say very often so far about 1980s Doctor Who.

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