Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

Doctor Who is a British science fiction television series which has been around off and on since 1963. The main character is just known as “The Doctor” and is a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey. This means he travels through time to various places. One of his favorite places to visit is Earth. Typically, he has a companion travelling with him, usually female, sometimes male, sometimes one of each. He travels in a time machine known as a “Tardis” which is disguised as a British Police booth.

A Time Lord can regenerate if fatally wounded, which has accounted for all the different actors who have played The Doctor throughout the years. In this episode, he is portrayed by Tom Baker. Baker was one of the most popular incarnations of The Doctor, and by many fan's assessments he was the most popular.

In The Armageddon Factor, the Doctor is traveling with an assistant ostensibly on an almost equal playing field. Romana (portrayed by Mary Tamm) is a fellow Time Lord, although not of the stature of the Doctor. They are also traveling with the robotic "dog" known as K9.

While attempting to locate a segment of the device known as The Key to Time, the Doctor and Romana arrive in the middle of a nuclear war between the planets of Zeos and Atrios. Although Atrios is ruled by Princess Astra (portrayed by Lalla Ward), it is the Marshall (portrayed by John Woodvine) who is controlling the war.

Although his mission is clear in regard to obtaining the sixth segment of the key, the Doctor soon becomes involved in the political maneuvering on Atrios. Both the TARDIS and Princess Astra disappear, as does K9 for a time before he is barely saved from being melted in a furnace. The Doctor soon learns that a being known as "The Shadow" is controlling the Marshall and behind most of his decisions regarding the ongoing war. This is why all of the Princess’ efforts toward peach have been thwarted.

I can’t remember ever seeing this story-arc before. I certainly didn’t remember the character of Romana as the Doctor’s traveling companion, so this was new to me. It was also six episodes instead of the four episodes comprising most of the arcs.

There were a lot of good moral quandaries in The Armageddon Factor. Aired in 1979, it tackles what was in the minds of many at the time as there was still great fear of Russia and the United States duking it out with nukes. In this arc, the Doctor finds himself in the middle of an ongoing nuclear war between two worlds and we see the results on the societies. The people on Atrios have been driven deep below the surface due to all the fallout.

Then there is the moral ambiguity the Doctor faces when he learns the sixth component of that all-powerful Key to Time is a living being. Does he have the right to force a living being into being a mere component in a device? Once this person’s identity is known, how can he protect them from being endlessly pursued by forces which desire The Key for their own nefarious purposes?

The acting is very good. Tom Baker is excellent and I remembered with a fresh story that I hadn’t seen previously just why I enjoyed the series all those years ago on my snowy, rabbit-eared television. He takes what is thrown at him in stride and pulls it off with a cool confidence that really makes the entire situation believable to the audience. Some of the humor is a bit off the mark here, but that can also be attributed to the difference of cultures between the Brits and us here in the States.

What I really enjoyed was Mary Tamm as Romana. I never cared for Sarah Jane, one of the Doctor’s traveling companions who seemed more suited to The Perils of Pauline. Leela, the Xena-like primitive from another world was a big improvement. Of the companions I’ve seen, though, Romana had the most potential to be on an equal footing with the Doctor. Tamm carries herself with beauty, grace, and confidence throughout the story. It’s nice to see a good, strong female character from this era as male chauvinism still seemed to dominate a lot of the science-fiction being produced at this time. It’s a shame she left the show following this episode as she felt the character was being written too weak. Compared to what else was out there, the character is wonderfully refreshing.

The other characters serve the script well, the only other really notable performance is that of John Woodvine as The Marshal. He’s sinister without giving away too much and often borders on being one-dimensional, but that’s really a good place to be for this character and what’s eventually revealed about him. The robotic dog K9 might be cheesy to some, but I’ve seen it before in the series and he provides a good bit of the comic relief in the show without it being too forced. A sarcastic robot is definitely a twist!

The effects are of the endearing cheesiness Doctor Who is known for. By 1979 there were better effects available, but they cost more money. However, the low-budget effects are a part of what makes the show fun. The scenes in space as the Marshall attempts to launch missiles at Zeos are particularly bad, but in a fun sort of way. The makeup and costuming isn’t much better, although I thought The Shadow was handled rather well.

I watched The Armageddon Factor with an 11 year-old and 13 year-old. Both of them liked it a lot and sat through the entire six episodes giving them a lot of attention. They weren’t bored by the complicated story nor distracted by the not-up-to-current-expectations special effects. It was a lot of fun to see them enjoying this show the way I had all those years ago.

While the story is somewhat complicated with its morality questions, The Armageddon Factor is a good arc in the ongoing adventures of my favorite Time Lord. If you’ve never seen the series, you might want to start someplace else before testing the waters with the Key to Time series.


NOTE: Although I'm viewing them out of order, the Key to Time series should actually be viewed in the following order:

KEY 1 - The Ribos Operation
KEY 2 - The Pirate Planet
KEY 3 - The Stones of Blood
KEY 4 - The Androids of Tara
KEY 5 - The Power of Kroll
KEY 6 - The Armageddon Factor


Doctor Who on DVD: 



The First Doctor (William Hartnell) 

The Beginning Collection ~ The Keys of Marinus ~ The Aztecs ~ The Dalek Invasion of Earth ~ The Rescue/The Romans ~ The Web Planet ~ The Time Meddler ~ Lost In Time ~ The War Machines

The Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton) 

Lost In Time ~ The Tomb of the Cybermen ~ The Mind Robber ~ The Invasion ~ The Seeds of Death ~ The War Games

The Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) 

Spearhead from Space  ~ Doctor Who and the Silurians ~ Inferno ~ The Claws of Axos ~ The Sea Devils ~ The Three Doctors ~ Carnival of Monsters ~ The Green Death ~ The Time Warrior 

The Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) 

Robot ~ The Ark in Space ~ The Sontaran Experiment ~ Genesis of the Daleks ~ Planet of Evil ~ Pyramids of Mars ~ The Brain of Morbius ~ The Hand of Fear ~ The Deadly Assassin ~ The Robots of Death ~ The Talons of Weng Chiang ~ The Horror of Fang Rock ~ The Invisible Enemy ~ The Invasion of Time ~ The Ribos Operation ~ The Pirate Planet ~ The Stones of Blood ~ The Androids of Tara ~ The Power of Kroll ~ The Armageddon Factor ~ Destiny of the Daleks ~ City of Death ~ The Leisure Hive ~ The E Space Trilogy ~ The Keeper of Traken ~ Logopolis 

The Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison) 

Castrovalva ~ Four to Doomsday ~ The Visitation ~ Black Orchid ~ Earthshock ~ Time-Flight ~ Arc of Infinity ~ Black Guardian Trilogy ~ The Five Doctors ~ Warriors of the Deep ~ Resurrection of the Daleks ~ The Caves of the Androzani 

The Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker) 

The Twin Dilemma ~ Attack of the Cybermen ~ Vengeance on Varos ~ The Mark of the Rani ~ The Two Doctors ~ Timelash ~ Revelation of the Daleks ~ The Trial of a Time Lord

The Seventh Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) 

Delta and the Bannermen ~ Remembrance of the Daleks ~ Battlefield ~ Ghost Light ~ The Curse of Fenric ~ Survival 

The Eighth Doctor (Paul McGann) 

Doctor Who - The Movie

The Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) 

Doctor Who 2005 - The Complete First Series 

The Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) 

Doctor Who 2006 - The Complete Second Series ~ Doctor Who 2007 - The Complete Third Series ~ The Infinite Quest ~ Doctor Who 2008 - The Complete Fourth Series ~ The Next Doctor  ~ Planet of the Dead ~ The Waters of Mars ~ The Next Doctor ~ The End of Time

The Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith)

Doctor Who 2010 - The Complete Fifth Series


DOCTOR WHO MOVIES

The Doctor Who Collection: Doctor Who and the Daleks ~ Daleks Invasion Earth 2150 A.D.


OTHER RELATED SERIES:

Torchwood Series One ~ Torchwood Series Two ~ Torchwood Children of Earth

The Sarah Jane Chronicles



© 2006 Patti Aliventi

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD