“Enlightenment” is an adventure of the twentienth season of “Doctor Who” classic series, the third of the mini-arc known by the global title “The Black Guardian Trilogy”, which aired in 1983. It follows “Terminus” and it’s a four parts adventure written by Barbara Clegg and directed by Fiona Cumming.
The story
The White Guardian of Time appears to the Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison) and gives him a set of coordinates before the Black Guardian appears and interrupts the communication. The Doctor enters the Tardis coordinates and at the arrival discovers that he, Turlough (Mark Strickson) and Tegan (Janet Fielding) are on what looks like a ship from the Edwardian era but actually very little is what it appears.
Extras
This DVD contains a huge amount of extras because this adventure was published on two DVDs. There are typical contents such as BBC continuity, a PDF file with the Radio Times Listings, production subtitles, a gallery of pictures from this adventure and the announcement of the DVDs to be published shortly.
There are comments in the adventure alternative audio track by protagonists Peter Davison and Mark Strickson, writer Barbara Clegg and director Fiona Cumming.
Winner Takes All. A documentary on the production of this adventure with interviews with cast and crew.
Casting Off! Several actors and director Fiona Cumming talk about their experience in “Doctor Who”.
Write Single Female. Writer Barbara Clegg talks about her career and the creation of “Enlightenment”.
The Story of the Guardians. What we know about the Guardians of Time. Dedicated to the memory of Cyril Luckham and Valentine Dyall, the actors who played them.
Storyboards. A look at the drawings of the original special effects and how ships models were filmed.
Isolated Score. The option to see this adventure with music by Malcolm Clarke in an isolated audio track.
Special Edition. A new edition of “Enlightenment” re-edited as a feature film lasting about 75 minutes with new special effects that mainly concern the exterior scenes with ships redone in CGI.
Re-Enlightenment. Some highlights of the study of “Enlightenment” for the creation of new special effects.
Original Edit Comparison. A comparison between the original version of the beginning of the third episode and the aired version.
Movies Trims. Some scenes of “Enlightenment” cut during editing.
Finding Mark Strickson. Actor Mark Strickson talks about his career.
Finding Sara Sutton. Actress Sarah Sutton talks about her career.
Russell Harty’s Christmas Party. Peter Davison performing in a Christmas show in 1982 along with Sandra Dickinson, who at the time was his wife.
In the second DVD you can find in PDF format the Radio Times special for the twentieth anniversary of “Doctor Who” and the “Bible” of the production of the series.
There are also two “Easter eggs”: they’re nothing special but you can look for them through the menus.
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The production of “Enlightenment” could’ve had problems even worse than “Terminus” because of the electricians labor dispute. There was even a strike, which luckily came to an end at some point, allowing “Doctor Who” production to resume. At that point however the delay was huge but “Enlightenment” was part of the Black Guardian trilogy therefore it had to be produced. As a result, producer John Nathan-Turner decided to cancel the production of what was scheduled as the last adventure of the twentieth season. Thus what would become “Resurrection of the Daleks” was postoponed to the following season.
“Enlightenment” is the final adventure of the Black Guardian trilogy in which there’s also the White Guardian, who appeared in “The Ribos Operation“, the first adventure of the season known as “The Key To Time”. Unfortunately for the occasion the White Guardian’s costume is similar to the Black Guardian’s but white with a kind of pigeon on his head. The clothes he wore in “The Ribos Operation” certainly gave him more dignity but it was decided that the two Guardians had to be dressed the same way changing only the color.
“Enlightenment” introduces the Eternals, immortal creatures who fight against boredom forever. The ship race is in fact a way to bring a little excitement in their lives. The Eternals look with self-importance at the “ephemerals”, as they call mortal creatures, yet thanks to their telepathic powers they feed off their emotions. Usually in fact they’re very cold and Captain Striker and his first mate Marriner show that trait particularly well.
When the Doctor and his companions arrive on the ship, Marriner feels Tegan’s strong emotions. For him it’s a diversion from boredom of rare intensity so he looks more and more for her company, acting as a sort of emotional vampire.
“Enlightenment” is also an adventure in which Turlough has to take his final decision. Traveling on the Tardis he has come to know the Doctor and if he already had some doubts about the idea of killing him now he doesn’t want to do it anymore at all. The Black Guardian however keeps on demanding that Turlough keeps his side of the bargain and his requests are certainly not made with kindness. In the end Turlough is forced to make his choice and that helps developing his character.
Of all the characters, the Doctor seems to be the least active after the beginning of “Enlightenment”. During this adventure he spends a long time trying to understand why the White Guardian of Time sent him there and talking to Captain Striker: for him, who basically ran away from Gallifrey because a Time Lord’s life was boring, the Eternals’s situation must look terrible!
The characters are a strong factor in “Enlightenment” but the costumes add value to this adventure too. In the BBC warehouses there were surely plenty of historical costumes of various periods used in who knows what productions so it was possible to use them at will.
Even the original special effects are not bad. The ships models are really well done and it’s only in some complex scenes that you notice that the animations were made with little money.
For this DVD a special edition of “Enlightenment” was made where the division into episodes has been eliminated and for which they created new CGI special effects. However we can see that the budget wasn’t high because in the outer shots the ships don’t have many details. Thus there are only a few scenes with CGI effects that are significantly better than the original ones.
Regardless of which version you prefer to watch, “Enlightenment” is a truly original story well crafted. It has some flaws – for example the relationship between the Guardians and the Eternals isn’t really explained though it has an influence on this adventure – but if you don’t try to figure out all the backstory probably you’ll find this adventure very beautiful.
“The Black Guardian Trilogy” box set – available on Amazon UK
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