“Snakedance”, is an adventure of the twentieth season of “Doctor Who” classic series which aired in 1983. It follows “Arc of Infinity“, it”s the sequel of “Kinda” and it’s a four parts adventure written by Christopher Bailey and directed by Fiona Cumming.
The story
The Tardis unexpectedly arrives on the planet Manussa. The Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison) realizes that it was Tegan (Janet Fielding) who set the course and is very concerned because centuries before, the planet was at the center of an empire but it was also the home-planet of the Mara, the creature that had possessed Tegan some time before.
The Doctor decides to look for the cave Tegan says she dreamed and he and his companions find themselves in the middle of a festival that celebrates the defeat of the Mara. Together with Nyssa (Sarah Sutton), he finds the cave but Tegan gets once again possessed by the Mara and gets away from the control of the other travelers. The Doctor can only try to convince the authorities of the danger but they think that the return of the Mara is just a myth and they have him locked up.
Extras
This DVD contains a good amount of extras. There are typical contents such as production subtitles, Radio Times Listings, a trailer about the next “Doctor Who” DVDs to be released and a gallery of pictures from this adventure.
There are comments in the adventure alternative audio track by protagonists Peter Davison, Janet Fielding and Sarah Sutton.
Isolated Music. The option to watch the adventure with its soundtrack in an isolated audio track.
Snake Charmer. Members of the cast and crew remember the production of this adventure.
Deleted Scenes. Some scenes deleted during the editing.
In Studio. A look in the studio during the recording of some sequences.
Saturday Superstore. An episode of this show where he was the guest Peter Davison.
There’s also an “Easter egg” quite well hidden that contains a conversation between the author of this adventure Christopher Bailey and writer Rob Shearman, one of the authors in the new “Doctor Who” series but also of audio adventures linked to the saga. Even if the conversation is more about “Kinda” than “Snakedance” it’s a curious choice to include it in this way rather than as a regular extra.
[ad name=”AmazonDVDDoctorWho468″]
During the production of “Kinda”, script editor Eric Saward and writer Christopher Bailey talked about a possible sequel to be transmitted during the twentieth season of “Doctor Who”. At that point, Bailey had a better understanding of the mechanisms of the show and was able to write a script easier to produce.
As in “Kinda”, in “Snakedance” there are elements of Buddhism and of course there’s the Mara but the structure of the story is more conventional and above all more linear. Actually, the plot has some clichés, starting with the doctor who tries to warn the authorities of the planet Manussa of the imminent danger but isn’t believed and the more insistent he becomes the more he’s taken for a madman. Other clichés are the aristocrats of the planet Manussa and in particular Lon, an arrogant and bored young man, and Dojjen, the wise old man who’s waiting for the return of the Mara.
These elements, however, are well developed and put into a solid story in which once more the Mara uses Tegan, this time to return to the planet Manussa from which it was banned centuries earlier. The festival which celebrates the defeat of the Mara becomes an opportunity to restore its power and the Doctor seems helpless.
“Snakedance” shows various elements of the society of the planet Manussa. As it often happened in the original “Doctor Who” series, various studios and costumes created for other productions were used. Not all of them are fantastic but in general the variety of these elements enrich this adventure.
In this setting, Janet Fielding can shine once more in her performance as Tegan, again possessed by the Mara. As in “Kinda”, the actress shows a variety of behaviors and emotions, suggesting that if sometimes her character was annoying it was the authors’ fault for not developing her properly.
In “Snakedance” several characters are interesting with good performances by the cast, adding strength to the story. This isn’t a sequel of the kind that simply reintroduces the same villain in a repetitive manner, instead it contains some elements of “Kinda” with some other ones in a very different setting forming a really solid mini-arc.
“Snakedance” is a really good adventure that, like “Kinda”, has built a considerable reputation. It was released on DVD along with extras of varying quality since the documentary and the “Easter egg” are interesting while others seem fillers. In the countries where it was published on its own, however, you need to buy the “Kinda” DVD as well if you don’t have it already, because you need to watch it before “Snakedance” to really get it.
In region 2 countries, this DVD is part of the “Mara Tales” box set, available on Amazon UK
Permalink