In this story the Doctor and assistant and fellow time lord Romana arrive at the twin planets of Atrios and Zios. They are seeking the sixth and final segment of the key to time, a device giving ultimate power over the universe (don’t all such devices do this?….perhaps there should be a “most powerful mysterious device in the universe” dominate-off contest.)
Upon their arrival they discover that at this stage in their history the twin planets are involved in a nuclear war with each other. This has gone rather better for the inhabitants of Zios than it has for those on Atrios. Doctor and Romana arrive on Atrios, where the locator they carry tells them they will locate the sixth segment.
They are, as usual, drawn into the petty politics and individual problems of the people on the planet. The princess of Atrios is missing, and without her morale boosts, the fight is going ever worse for the people of Atrios. The Marshall controlling the war for the Atrios people cannot get the upper hand and is down to his last few ships, due to Zios having a secret weapon which cloaks their planet from attack.
Equally naturally for Doctor Who, this all leads to the Doctor discovering that behind the seemingly straightforward events playing out is a sinister unseen force (in this case known as “The Shadow”) who is attempting to control the fates of all involved and claim the sixth segment for his own evil purposes. Through his guile, skill and ingenuity the doctor sets out on a quest to defeat the machinations of The Shadow.
Doctor discovers that The Shadow is controlling the Marshall (and many others) and using him to assure the mutual destruction of both planets, while the Shadow spirits away the princess, who is herself actually the sixth segment to his spaceship base.
Can the doctor save the princess from becoming a small piece of geodesic plastic in the key to time?
Can he and Romana defeat the evil Shadow, and prevent the key falling into non-time lord hands?
Will two planets be destroyed by a nuclear war that no one wanted?
All these, and more questions will have you hanging on the edge of your seat in “The Armageddon Factor”
Well, maybe not quite exactly the edge of your seat. So much for the plot.
This is a story with many of the key components to good Doctor Who…. Complex clever plot, plenty of gadgets, good acting (in parts) and Tom Baker, Mary Tamm and K9 (the doctors sarcastic and resourceful robot dog) all in good form.
This story was shown in six episodes, which is the longer format for Doctor Who, against the more common four episode stories. This permits more time for the complexities of a good story to develop. This story spends time dealing with the issue of the hopelessness of nuclear war, the vagaries of mind control, the freedom of will of the individual, and whether the Doctor should interfere with destiny, as its main story themes. The actors carry these themes through thoughtfully both in the screenplay and also.
Unfortunately, there is only so much that one can accomplish in 148 minutes, and if the story is faulted by anything, it is trying to accomplish too much. At times this can makes following the plot easily a difficult achievement.
This story also was the swansong for Mary Tamm, who did not wish to renew her tenure as the Doctor’s assistant for another season. Upon being signed on for the sixteenth season, Tamm had been instructed that her position as an assistant would be different to those that went before her. Cast as a time lord, she would not be the now-familiar “screaming ignoramus,” but would be on a more equal footing with Tom Baker. It did not turn out this way, and Mary Tamm stepped away from the polystyrene rocks for the last time in Armageddon Factor.
Another sad loss at this time was John Leeson, who had been doing the voice work for K9. His loss was also a detracting one, since much of the success of the little robot dog was dues to Leeson’s ability to animate the sparse lines given to him, in such a manner that children were charmed by the invention of it all, and adults were delighted by Leeson’s masterful injection of sarcasm and irony into K9’s existence. John Leeson is at his very best in this episode, bringing me a lot of laughs in his final performance. You will greatly enjoy his final show!
This story also marked, as mentioned earlier, the end of the 26-week drama that was the “key to time” plotline. As a grand finale to such an extensive plotline the story fails us. The end is not predictable, but neither is it particularly cathartic, and feels rushed.
Adding to the rushed feel (but also my personal enjoyment!) is the amazing number of cock-ups in this story…
Observe how the TARDIS is still visible behind Romana is episode two, after we have already watched it leave!
Marvel at the prescience of Merak and Shapp as they spout forth words of wisdom regarding the TARDIS and the mechanics of a time loop, things they can know nothing about!
Watch carefully and you’ll see one of Shadows mutes kick up a piece of BBC studio carpet!
All in all then, this is a good Doctor Who story, but it was given too many responsibilities. You’ll enjoy watching it, but you’ll be surprisingly pleased it’s over, too.
The last stretch of the quest for the Key to Time brings the Doctor and Romana to the planet Atrios in the last days of a nuclear war with its neighbo...More at Buy.com
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