Something that remains constant is the emphasis on character, a trait that I suspect will come to define the Chibnall era of Doctor Who. This isn’t to say it’s style-over-substance. It quickly becomes apparent that the real star of the episode is all of the gorgeous location shooting in South Africa, and the numerous set pieces used to create this ravaged world. The crash landing of Epzo’s (Shaun Dooley) ship onto Desolation’s surface while Graham, Ryan, and Angstrom (Susan Lynch) flee from it had me cackling and chortling and having a general blast. All parties and ships are headed for a planet called Desolation. This is fine, as you can’t begin an episode at the same level on which you ended the last one. I have a general rule about cliff-hanger resolutions, and that’s that they’re almost never as exciting as the cliff-hangers themselves, and, true to form, last week’s nail-biting ending is resolved in the least engaging of ways: the time travelers are scooped up in pairs by two spaceships emerging from hyperspace. This is also the first time since the 1970s that a new Doctor Who theme can be accurately described as spooky or alien. Some may miss the Doctor’s visage, but I think this particular sequence works better without it. As the current TARDIS team echoes that of 1963, so does this title sequence and theme tune. A swirling pattern akin to a massive lava lamp, it eventually gives way to a star field of sorts. How about that fabulous psychedelic title sequence and the unnerving rearrangement of the theme tune? This is 30 seconds we’re going to see over and over, likely for numerous seasons to come, and for an old-school fan it hits all the right spots. One should never want to get to the end of a Doctor Who episode. With the early revelation that the titular marker is no less than the TARDIS itself, “The Ghost Monument” makes for an episode that one is eager to get to the end of, as we’re all excited to see the new inside of the ship.
In any case, “The Ghost Monument” is a serviceable actioner even if it’s somewhat unremarkable in the storytelling department.
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Though this is a practical exercise for a writer to get a feel for the series and to demonstrate range, it’s equally useful as a means of introducing new companions to the Doctor’s world. The talk of Pertwee and Jo's previous appearances there make it at least minutely interesting.It is customary for showrunners to kick off their inaugural seasons or eras with a present/future or sci-fi/past or historical trilogy, and Chris Chibnall has crafted his first episodes as Davies and Moffat did before him. Peri's speech 'so dull, it lacks sparkle, no reflection, it's all so matt and lifeless, even the goblets don't shine.' It could be used word to word to describe my feelings about this episode. The Androids look and sound awful, I mean what were they thinking? The guards in bee keeper suits look so bad. The machinery looks like it was made by Valerie Singleton on Blue Peter. You can see that money was cut to the series, the sets are so cheap looking and drab, there is no imagination in any of them, The Two Doctors had looked so slick and well produced, this was a real downturn. Often classed as one of the worst serials in the show's history, for good reason I guess, it's a bit tacky, the script isn't really up to much, and I find some of the acting is rather bad, Paul Darrow in particular is shocking, he's so over the top, it's an even more theatrical Avon, in a smock. The amulet is returned to Tekker and the Doctor is set to be thrown into the Timelash. The Doctor collects her, and Wells sneaks on board. Vena lands on Earth, 1885 in the house of HC Wells. Peri falls into the hands of the The Borad.
Vena accidentally falls into the Timelash clutching an amulet that's the secret to the Borad's power, and the TARDIS lands on Karfel. Karfel's leader, the Maylin is killed, and power is seized by Tekker. War looks likely between Karfel and neighbours the Bandril. Meanwhile on the Planet Karfel, their evil leader, The Borad is experimenting with time, and sending rebels through the time corridor, into the Timelash. The TARDIS flies through a time corridor and ends up in trouble.