Review by Craig Byrne
The classic series Doctor Who serial “The Twin Dilemma” is pretty notorious by frequently being voted the worst episode of the show’s 200 stories. Unfortunately for Sixth Doctor Colin Baker, it’s also his first story.
After three seasons of the subdued Peter Davison (and the excellent finale of his, “The Caves of Androzani”), producer John Nathan-Turner and his team decided to go a bit over the top. First item up for business – giving incoming Doctor a very loud, very distracting, very colorful new outfit to wear.
It’s a shame that the first thing many saw of Colin Baker was “the coat.” As an actor, Baker did a fantastic job in the role and gave The Doctor his own “voice.” It was clear he was a fan of the institution that is Doctor Who and wanted to do his best job. Many who have met Mr. Baker at fan conventions in years since can attest to that. But the coat, and that costume – ouch.
And then there are the episodes themselves. “The Twin Dilemma” was written by a writer who had never done Doctor Who before. The effects and the sets look horribly cheap. The twins that this story revolves on, while obviously they try, it’s hard not hearing them saying “Womulus” and “Webus.” It really looks like a different show from “The Caves of Androzani”… and not in a good way.
On the bright side, there are some fantastic scenes as we “meet” the Sixth Doctor. He’s abrupt, he’s rude, and Peri is his punching bag (or his strangling toy). Some of the insults are a bit over the top, and the strangling was definitely a bit much, but since the Doctor was a bit imbalanced from the regeneration we can let it slide. To be honest, though – the scenes with the Doctor and Peri are really some of the only scenes really worth seeing.
Fortunately, the folks who worked on Who back in the day who are still in the land of the living have a good sense of humor about it all. There’s a 11-minute featurette with Colin Baker and a comedian discussing the Doctor’s various costumes, and some special effects artists have a little fun and show what the Sixth Doctor may ave looked like in something more sensible. Baker, Nicola Bryant (Peri), and guest star Kevin McNally also do commentaries. Those are just two of the many features within. BBC Video again does a fantastic job of creating extra features and content, which can make a DVD purchase worthwhile even if the story itself is rated #200 out of #200.
(For the record, though, most of Sylvester McCoy’s first season was much, much worse.)
“The Twin Dilemma” is four episodes of Doctor Who on one disc. The DVD hit stores in the United States on January 5, which means it’s already available! Order yours from Amazon.com and support KSiteTV!
