The Fifth Doctor: The Caves Of Androzani
The Caves of Androzani constantly tops many a best episode list and its easy to see why. Its easily the Fifth Doctors best story, so much that Peter Davison has stated that he would have kept doing more if they had all been of the quality of this one The entire story is a race against time with the Doctor and Peri subjected to spectrox toxemia, which will kill them unless they can find the cure, the milk of the queen bat. The trouble is, the Doctor and his hapless companion are caught up in the political machinations of Androzani Minor as they face off against the insidious Sharaz Jek and then the true enemy, Trau Morgus, a ruthless capitalist who will stop at nothing to get what he wants. This story is a series of cliffhangers. Episode one ends with the Doctor and Peri seemingly gunned down by military forces while episode three ends with the Doctor sending the ship he is on crash landing into the planet. It is all a hopeless cause of courseone more step the Doctors impending death and while he is able to hold off the effects of the regeneration as the poison takes hold, he is tragically only able to obtain a cure for one personthat of his companion Peri, who only joined him in the previous episode
Planet Of Fire. In the end, he collapses on the floor of the Tardis, with only a frightened Peri with him. Its a regeneration similar to other Doctors. His body dies of poison and this time he is faced with the people he encountered in his short life. Tegan. Nyssa. Adric. Turlough. The Kamelion. All warning that he mustnt die. And finally the Master, laughing, willing him to die. Its a bitter ending for the Doctor. Followed by the cold, sardonic introduction of Colin Bakers Sixth Doctor. Straight away he is aloof and condescending to Peri. Immediately we realise there is going to be a different dynamic in the Tardis. And of course, there was still one more story to go in series 21. That only makes this surprise regeneration stand out more. Like the First Doctor, we start a series with one Doctor and end with another Ranking: 2nd Shock Value: 8 Epic Scale: 8 Emotional trauma: 8