Faced by dwindling audiences and overwhelming competition from the unusual double-header of Hollywood sci-fi and Coronation Street, the 25th anniversary season of Doctor Who had a lot to live up to. The commemorative story itself had to be something special, a tale that would be talked about for decades to come as a true showcase of the series at its best. It was no less than the loyal fanbase deserved, right? Wrong! Because Silver Nemesis did pass into legend - and for all of the wrong reasons! Preceded by Ben Aaronovitch's superlative four-parter Remembrance of the Daleks, which featured more elements from the show's past than Nemesis had in its little silver finger, the meagre three-episode romp was a colossal disappointment. A plot about a double-glazed meteorite didn't help. And just why were the Cybermen so shiny!? They're supposed to be laying low. Buffed up here like a Porsche's wing mirror, they could be spotted a mile off! And as for the crucial question of the Doctor's identity... a cosmic fudge! The Doctor's emotionless enemy showed no interest in learning the secrets of the Time Lords (they're only one of the universe's most powerful species!) and Lady Peinforte's ramblings about "the time of chaos" were nipped in the bud by Sylvester McCoy telling Sophie Aldred to "sshh". Had the internet been around, it would have broken. Here's to the next quarter-century!
I am a journalist and comedian who enjoys American movies of the 70s, Amicus horror compendiums, Doctor Who, Twin Peaks, Naomi Watts and sitting down. My short fiction has been published as part of the Iris Wildthyme range from Obverse Books.
