PLOTLINE
The Doctor's return to Nest Cottage lands him in trouble when a key component from the TARDIS disappears. Mrs. Wibbsey is inadvertently responsible, but all she can offer in recompense is a bag containing four curious objects. It seems that each one is a clue, and the beginning of a chase through Time. In ancient Sussex they are apprehended by primitive tribesfolk, and mistaken for wizards. Can the revered goddess Wibbsentia get them out of hot water? Who is the fearful wizard in the neighbouring village, and why is the countryside littered with bodies?
Performed by Tom Baker and cast.
COMMENT - Mild Spoilers
He's back, and about time too.
The iconic, legendary and likeable Tom Baker returns to the BBC under the eminent guidance of Paul Magrs in DOCTOR WHO - DEMON QUEST - THE RELICS OF TIME.
Following the refreshingly entertaining 2009 "series", DOCTOR WHO - HORNETS' NEST, this new set of five linked episodes sees the Fourth Doctor traipsing his way back to next Christmas (well, it is a time travel series) at Nest Cottage and the welcoming bosom of his "taken-out-of-her-own-time" housekeeper, Mrs Wibbsey (played again with gusto by Susan Jameson).
Echoing the "comedic double acts" written for the CLASSIC SERIES by Robert Holmes, the Doctor and Wibbsey are perfectly matched in the mould of Jago & Lightfoot (THE TALONS OF WENG-CHIANG) or Vorg and Shirna (CARNIVAL OF MONSTERS). It is easy to see why the previous partnership of the Fourth Doctor and Mike Yates was not re-attempted for this series.
In this first episode, Baker is still as eccentric; still as (mildly) lecherous and still as unworldly as ever, and like a warmed pair of slippers on Christmas morning it is comforting to be envelope by.
With parts of the TARDIS (relating to special movement as opposed to time) accidentally sold (by Wibbsey) at the village's local fete, the Doctor is forced on a hunt to retrieve them but where to start? Clues, that's what he needs and thankfully Wibbsey had not sold the items but had "exchanged" them for what she thought was general bric-a-brac.
However, in a twist of manipulated faith the bric-a-brac is a collection of artefacts that are linked to the Doctor himself, and the first to be examined are documents relating to a Roman-style mosaic over two thousands years old that depicts his face and billowing voluminous scarf.
How has "planted" the artefacts, and why? The hunt is on.
Absconding to Celtic Britain, the Time Lord and housekeeper trudge across a winter's wasteland, encountering an aggrieved village (that forces them into assassination of enemy's leader - a magician), desiccated bodies lain waste throughout a forest and a singular elephant.
Uncovering the truth behind the "magician", the intrepid time travelling team. well, spoilers. Needless to say the "magician" is not who he seems to be (well, this happens twice) and they escaped with their lives. Just.
Of course, with any first episode, the plot has to be established but here is all little too inconsequential and subdued. Forgettable, almost.
Hopefully, the best has yet to come.
