Arc of Infinity Preview

‘Arc of Infinity’ opened Doctor Who’s 20^th season. It starred Peter Davison as the Doctor, Sarah Sutton as Nyssa, and reintroduced Janet Fielding as Tegan Jovanka after her departure from the TARDIS crew in the previous story.

Season 20 coincided with the programme’s 20^th anniversary and each story featured a villain that had previously appeared in the series. In the case of ‘Arc of Infinity’, legendary Timelord Omega reappeared, having been absent from the show since its 10^th anniversary special.

‘Arc of Infinity’ takes place in Amsterdam, the second time that Doctor Who had been filmed abroad. This lead to an awkward encounter for Janet Fielding when she was mistaken for someone in quite a different profession as a result of her outfit.

Colin Baker also makes an appearance as Commander Maxil when he shoots Peter Davison. This is clear evidence that Colin Baker really wanted the part. Colin Baker would reprise the role of Commander Maxil for an uncredited cameo appearance in Big Finish’s Gallifrey spin off series.

Perhaps some aspects of the story don’t work so well (The Ergon certainly is a “less successful attempt at psychosynthesis” and probably not likely to return for the 50th) but the majority of the story works well.

The idea of adversaries returning for an anniversary year is a good one, it’s a shame that the 50^th anniversary run of stories doesn’t seem (as of the date of this post) don’t seem so spectacular.

We will be watching ‘Arc of Infinity’ on Wednesday. The bar opens at 7.30pm GMT and we press play at 8.00pm GMT. Hope to see you there.