Back in 1986 the BBC, by way of an experiment, gave us a Doctor season based entirely around one idea - The Doctor was on trial. Unlike the previous Key To Time trilogy in which Tom Baker's Doctor and Mary Tamm's Romana had a set of six linked adventures which could stand alone, this was presented as a running story (the trial) with three stories dropped into it. The whole thing was topped off by a twisty-turny ending that sort of ended happily ever after. I say sort of as this was to be, unfortunately, Colin's last outing as the Doctor until he returned to the role in triumph under the auspices of Big Finish. Apart then from finishing off Colin's tenure in the role, what else should we take from The Trial? I have reviewed and considered the wider canon (if such a thing exists) and bring you the following...
5. The Vervoids
There are aliens and there are
aliens. And then there are the Vervoids. Visually these must be counted amongst the rudest designs ever to air on what is ostensibly a children's or at most family TV show. Managing to resemble both male and female genitalia at one and the same time (which is no mean feat), it was almost impossible to watch this at the time of transmission without being rather distracted. This was possibly no bad thing as despite a relatively decent story in Terror of the Vervoids (and the only broadcast Sixth Doctor + Melanie Bush story), the Vervoids themselves are not a well formed concept. Managing to be far less threatening than John Wyndham's Triffids, these are a real disappointment in the hierarchy of vegetable based sci-fi creatures (there's a list idea!) and have fittingly been left in the conservatory of past ideas.