I'm getting this one out of the way too, it's usually something that comes up within the first minute if you're discussing woeful miscastings on "Doctor Who". To those who weren't aware (And at this point, that's probably a LOT of Doctor Who fans under 40), Beryl Reid was in the twilight of a much lauded career in stage and screen by 1982. At that point she had a few more years of work in her, often taking roles of a lovable old thing or someone's Grandmother. Who better then to command a freighter in an episode of "Doctor Who" that reintroduces the Cybermen and requires her to basically be a more militant version of Tom Skerritt in "Alien"? I can't stress this enough to American readers: This is analgous to deciding that perhaps in the next "Terminator" film, John Connor should take orders from Betty White. Reid fusses (That's really the only word for it) over her deadlines and bonuses as though she'll miss a blindingly good coupon sale at Pricerite. The Cybermen's massacre of her crew seems to cause her a level of discomfort that usually involves Depends undergarments, and her incapability to grasp the techobabble of the freighter's operation instead comes off like she's someone's Nan trying to understand how to post a photo from her phone onto Facebook. This all seems terribly agist, I know. But it's all true. The painful thing is, in either of the stories surrounding "Earthshock", there were roles for her that would've made sense. "Black Orchid" was an Edwardian Whodunnit with a high society cricket and costume party. "Time-Flight" involved Concordes getting snatched through time by the Master; She easily could've been an attendant or befuddled passenger on the plane. But no, for some reason it seemed MUCH more reasonable to throw her in leather, cast her as a hard-ass, and have her defend her cargo against Cybermen. (This story is actually good enough to withstand this casting oddity.)
(Less than) Shining Moment:
Reid starts as she means to continue: Her entire performance seems to be begging you to look at the screen, let it sink in, and just murmur, "Ah, bless". However, it's worth noting she treats the 5th Doctor and Adric getting caught as stowaways in her hold with the same gravitas as her bridge getting smashed into by the Cybermen who just murdered their way up there through her crew. I GUESS you could say it shows her iron will, but it plays out more like either of them just interrupted a really good episode of "Quincy".
In a parallel universe where game shows' final jackpots and consequent fortunes depend on knowledge of obscure music trivia and Jon Pertwee/Tom Baker Doctor Who episodes, I've probably gone rich, insane, and am now a powermad despot. But happily we're not there, so I'm actually rather pleasant. Really.
