Review: Doctor Who Classic: Terminus

The Doctor tries to save The Universe.

Doctor Who - Season 20, Story Four - Terminus

Terminus is another story that I vaguely remember from childhood, although more for its rather ambitious premise rather than anything that actually happened. It's Nyssa's final story, and I must admit that over this Five marathon I've become rather attached. Peter Davison had it spot on when he said that Nyssa was Five's perfect companion, and despite the fact that the crowded Tardis robbed any of the companions of really powerful moments with the lead, Nyssa had some of the best natural chemistry with him. Terminus, rather appropriately, signifies the end.
     Somewhat strangely for a Who story, it starts and ends in situe. JNT was a big fan of arcs, as evidenced by his use of them four times during his seven-year era. The story itself is far from conventional, and this often causes many fans to label it boring. It's not boring at all - it's dark, dreadfully dark in a brilliant way. Funnily enough, this comes from Steven Gallagher's dark script and not from the Black Guardian.
     Turlough sabotages the Tardis, causing it to latch onto the nearest ship. This happens to be a strange ship being scouted by two raiders called Kari and Olvir. They soon discover that the ship is a Plague Liner, headed to dock with the space-hospital Terminus at the exact centre of the Universe. Nyssa is infected by Lazar's Disease and is taken into Terminus to be "cured," a process which usually kills the sufferers. The Doctor, while trying to save Nyssa, comes across the station's workers, the Vanir, who are being used as slave labour - paid only in temporary cures for Lazar's Disease.
     Curious about the ship's centric position, The Doctor investigates in the high-radiation zones and theorises that the ship used to be able to time travel. A while ago, the ship travelled back to the dawn of time and emergency protocols led it to dump a high quantity of radioactive waste into "the Void". This, The Doctor theorises, caused the Big Bang, and if the ship were to destabilise again then a second explosion could destroy the Universe. More of Turlough's machinations begin this destabilisation, but the Doctor manages to stop it. Nyssa, having been healed by the facility, realises that she could improve upon the design and turn the facility into a working hospital, as well as freeing the Vanir from slavery by synthesising the drug they need. In a scene that still moves me to tears, Nyssa decides to stay, and The Doctor reluctantly agrees.

Nyssa recovers, and makes up her mind.

    Terminus's main problem plotwise is that it takes two very distinct ideas and melds them together, like two written-off cars welded into a knock-off banger. Both ideas are interesting in their own right - the Leper Colony plot exploits a lot of our modern fears about disease and sickness, as well as mixing in some great references to Norse mythology. The Big Bang plot is pure sci-fi goodness and it's rightfully what I remembered the most about the story. Sure, the science is a bit iffy, but it's a great link back into Castrovalva and the explanations are better.
     Turlough's continuing presence only serves to highlight the issue that three companions is too many. One of the reasons that Nyssa was so badly used over the course of her tenure was that she often fell into a "surplus" position due to her more brainy nature. She doesn't leave the Tardis in Kinda, spends a lot of time there on her own in The Visitation, does the same in Earthshock and then gets posessed in Time-Flight. On the contrary, Terminus uses Nyssa rather well, and her gradual increase in confidence throughout the beginning of Season 20 is rather interesting. Arc of Infinity saw her travelling with The Doctor alone, and saw her use weapons a hell of a lot more than before. In Snakedance, she finally changed out of her "costume", and through these two stories from the Black Guardian, Nyssa gradually loses her inhibitions. (And her clothes.)
     Turlough and Tegan spend the entire episode trapped together in claustrophobic conditions, hiding in Terminus' air vents. Their subplot does nothing, goes nowhere and wasn't even filmed at the same time as the rest of the story. As a part of the Black Guardian Trilogy, Terminus has no place. Other than Turlough setting the plot off, his presence in the story after that can be largely ignored. It's ridiculous, and while this isn't the worst of JNT's arcs it isn't exactly engaging. Tegan's useless.
     But that ignores the character work on Terminus, which while a little blunt for Kari and Turlough, excells everywhere else. The sick Vanir theorist Bor, whose rambling reveal his knowledge of the truth. The deep, seething rivalries between the Vanir leaders. The touching moments at the end, where Nyssa becomes the first companion to ever kiss The Doctor, albeit on the cheek. For the first time in Who, the relationship between companion and Doctor felt real and, fundamental to the entire premise of the Fifth Doctor's characterisation, human.

Nyssa and Five hide.

     Terminus takes a couple of good ideas and gets lost along the way, but the character work for The Doctor and especially for Nyssa makes this a vital story in Five's era. I love it, and it's a shame to see Nyssa go. Goodbye, Nyssa of Traken.

Thanks.

NEXT TIME: The Eternals and the Guardians in Enlightenment.
P.S. Nyssa spends half the story in her underwear. There, I mentioned it, ok?