Script to Scrutiny
The strengths of this script clearly lie in its sense of investigating
mysteries, its humour, and its art appreciation theme. Its biggest flaws
show through after the mysteries are fully revealed and the on-screen
plot needs to shift to action. Once it is revealed that the Count intends
to steal the Mona Lisa, the Doctor abandons the setting and leaves it
up to Romana and Duggan to foil the Count's plan. They merely get a few
token scenes that completely lack any encounter with the Count or his
henchmen, and they completely fail to come to grips with that plot strand.
The Doctor continues to investigate the main villain and discover
the plan behind the plan, but upon his return to Paris, he has nothing
significant to do during the remainder of the story other than pilot
the TARDIS one more time. His all too brief exchange with Paris policemen
outside the Louvre is a hint of an interesting way of developing an action
plot, if only a greater collaboration with the police had been expanded on.
Too much plot-time is wasted wandering around Paris, and indeed chasing
after the Count through
a number of imaginative and visually stimulating settings, but the Doctor
himself is reduced to a Doomsayer, nattering on and on like a broken record.
It becomes slightly reminiscent of
"The Time Monster" (story no. 64)
and half a dozen other
Jon Pertwee tales,
although thankfully never becomes quite as irritating
under Tom Baker's delivery. The real disappointment is his lack of having
anything concrete to do. It is left to Romana and Hermann to save Paris
from the Count's presence, and Duggan to *supposedly* take the action to
save the day.
The biggest problem with the story is the farcical level of importance
placed on not changing history, which if not carefully checked, threatens
to dredge up the old anti-heroism plaguing the
William Hartnell era.
Indeed, note that our heroes care nothing for the fate of the Jagaroth race.
Thankfully, it is believable that the Count is enough of an amateur at
time travel to concoct the scheme he does, and it is believable that
Romana is too inexperienced to know any better herself, relying on her
mis-education at the Time Lord Academy on Gallifrey. The Doctor, however,
should know better, but seems to have forgotten what little he learned
during "Inferno" (story no. 54):
"Yes, of course, of course.... An infinity of universes....
ergo, an infinite number of choices....
So free will is not an illusion after all!"
That season seven story seemed to indicate that although
the Time Lords may have conquered Time and Space, they still have
something to learn about freedom of choice, and in this particular
story, the Doctor seems to need to relearn that as well.
The second part of the farce of the time travel conundrum of
"City of Death" is the importance placed on Scaroth's contributions
to history. Creating all life, building the pyramids, prompting Mankind
to each technological advancement ever made....? If the human race is too
stupid to make its own achievements, it's even more ridiculous to think
that one villainous alien could be the source of it all either. And if
the explosion of his spacecraft doesn't trigger the organization of life
on this planet, there are plenty of other natural and extra-terrestrial
events keen to help. Any good comet hit during an electrical storm will
probably do, if the Fendahl or the Daemons don't get there first.
Besides, if Scaroth succeeded in stopping his past-self from
splintering, he would simply branch off onto a parallel history in a parallel
universe. He would, in effect, be saving his double and his double's
race, doing for them what he could no longer do for himself. While they
"prosper" in one universe, he would still be splintered in the other.
Mankind and all life would still evolve in both universes, even if a little
slower in the one without help from the Jagaroth. Personally, I think
that one sounds a little healthier.
And so, feeling comfortable with my own view of choices in time-travel,
I find it very difficult to root for the Doctor and party in the final stages
of this story. More to the point, I think, would be the fact our villain
has demonstrated himself to be a murderer, a thief, and a war-time
spacecraft pilot. More worthy of development might have been an attempt
to see the Jagaroth safely off of our prehistoric planet, and back to their
own interstellar political spheres. Ian Scoones' superb model work is
a definite highlight of the story, and I'm 100% supportive of his efforts to
showcase as high a level of modelwork on the show as possible. But I do
find it sad that the story behind the model work in episode four is little
more than a re-run of what happened in episode one - a trap that many science
fiction time travel stories fall into.
But in the end, it must be said that director Michael Hayes
manages to bring a lot of fun together into this piece, and even where it
may be lacking in delivering great action to the adventure, there is a lot
of creative camera work to emphasize the drama, and eye candy from the
scenic shoots in Paris and the electronic effects wizardry of
Dave Jervis
in the studio. "City of Death" is highly enjoyable, typically sits
well with most Doctor Who fans, and ranks fairly highly with me also.
International Titles:
Deutsch: (Kunststadt)
Magyar: (Művészet városa)
Français: (La ville de l'art)
Русский: (Город искусства)
This story has become available on DVD and VHS video:
