Tonight at 7:15 PM PST I continued with my marathon with the start of the 14th series story the Masque of Mandregora (episodic version.) A refreshing change from the more contemporary and futuristic stories (Pyramids barely counts as a historically placed story) takes us to Italy on the cusp of the renaissance, but an energy force has stowed away in the TARDIS and now threatens the future of the human race. One of my favorite locations was used for the exteriors (Portmerion in Wales, location for the Prisoner) and the Beeb does what it does best – costumes! It is a fun little story. 4/5.
8:55 PM PST the Hand of Fear (episodic version.) It’s a good story, and I agree with Sarah in her evaluation of Eldrad “I quite liked her, but couldn’t stand him.” Judith Paris plays the initial Eldrad rather nicely, but Stephen Thorne just ends up being whiney (same as when he did Omega!) Sarah’s departure, while seemingly tacked on, is probably the best. Though I’ve always liked Sarah, so maybe that has something to do with it…
Tomorrow night, the Doctor goes it alone…