Best Episode: Vengeance On Varos Colin Baker's era suffered from not only the BBC's disapproval, but from producer John Nathan-Turner's apparent intention to cause additional trouble. With so few episodes from which to choose, Vengeance On Varos stands out as being the episode most worth watching. It is the one episode where Colin Baker gets to show what he has to offer as the Doctor with minimal interference from the other story elements. The story also introduces us to Sil of Thoros Beta, who proves to be an interesting alien with more of a focus on business than on bloodlust. Worst Episode: Mindwarp With the sudden plan for the show's hiatus, an entire season got junked so that "Trial of a Time Lord" series could be made; the second story in that series was "Mindwarp," and aside from seeming to spin its wheels in every direction, the ending of it is so unsatisfying that it stands as a monument of what never to do with a series. Add to this that the ending in question never really happened, and you have something that should never have been greenlit. Best Race: Thoros Betans The race in question never got named, but since they came from Thoros Beta, that's as good a name as any. Sil ("Vengeance on Varos," "Mindwarp") and Lord Kiv ("Mindwarp") were two of them. Caring more about profit than just about anything else, there was still a certain amount of humor from their interactions that show added depth to who they were. Worst Race: The Vervoids A race of animate plant life appearing in "Terror of the Vervoids," there's little to recommend them, and even less to say about them. Best Companion: Peri Brown The Doctor had all of two companions during this period of time: Perpugilliam "Peri" Brown and Melanie Bush. Neither one got a really good treatment from the writers, but Peri was around for the longest, and as a result, the audience got a chance to bond with her. Worst Companion: Melanie Bush By comparison, Melanie appeared only in "Terror of the Vervoids" and "The Ultimate Foe," the two bits at the end of the "Trial of a Time Lord" story. She didn't really get to make much of an impression.
Michael Marcus is a game designer, author, and mad scientist living in Hamtramck, Michigan; his current project list include a series of comic short-stories collectively called "One-Punch," a book on hypnosis and language called "The Prometheus Codex," a collaborative game project called "Art War," and a fun spy story called "The Adventures of Jack Uzi" at http://tinyurl.com/JackUziChannel (for those interested).
