Doctor Who The Varos Argument: Killer Doctor?

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

photo copyright BBC

Back when the BBC almost cancelled Doctor Who under the guise of a hiatus during Colin Baker’s first season in the role, it was claimed one of the reasons for the postponement was the violent nature that had suddenly taken over the stories. As we know now it was a bullshit excuse because Michael Grade hated the show and simply wanted rid of it. However like the best fandom in the world, the BBC controller seriously underestimated the power of the fans. It ended ultimately with the sacking of Colin Baker from the role and the show went on for three more years under Sylvester McCoy before faalling into the abyss for several years. Again as time has shown this era gave us some of he best stories in the show’s history like Curse of Fenric, Remembrance of the Daleks and the oddball Greatest Show in the Galaxy.

Behind the scenes budget cuts and trapping the long time producer John Nathan Turner in the job until it went off air, all contributed to the demise. Ratings were thrown about to justify the cancellation but when you are placed up against Coronation Street of course ratings aren’t going to what they were. I lived through it and saw everything and to this day it pisses me off that people will simply believe what they read in the press and nod like brainless sheep. I never take anyone’s opinion of anything; I prefer to judge for myself. I hate lies being told and it will spark a bad reaction from me if you accuse me in the wrong.

I went to the Panopticon convention in the Imperial College London where Colin Baker bravely turned up for the fans despite being sacked. Everyone knew it sucked that he was the scapegoat but he was applauded and welcomed by most of fandom back them. There was a very vocal section that continued to slam the show and these attacks, while some were legitimate criticisms, undoubtedly helped contribute to the end. I saw the same type of sheep behaviour when Jake Sisko from Deep Space 9 was called that annoying brat all because of the legacy of Wesley Crusher. Jake like all the other characters on the show was a fully rounded three dimensional figure so were these people not watching what I was watching? Are they so gormless that they cannot form their own opinions and stand up and say no?

The point in question has stuck with me for years and when I see similar behaviour in Star Wars fandom towards Rose and Jar Jar and more recently the Jodie Whittaker era of Doctor Who (most of which is justified to be fair), I have to wonder are they reading forums and going with popular opinion or have they hair on their balls and bits to justify their views through legitimate argument. I often think to myself, that fool seriously needs laid.

While season 22 of Doctor Who was lashed for being too violent (it’s always been violent, check out Tom Baker’s era before the unicorn and bluebird brigade stuck their nose in), one of the stories uder fire was Veengance on Varos. In that story the Doctor and Peri are forced to land on Varos to get a component mineral to fuel the Tardis. However they find a society that airs prisoners subjected to a series of traps they must evade in order to survie while the populace watches. It is a veritable video nasty world which is the entire point of the story by Philip Martin.

The Doctor having faked his death in a simulated scorching desert, awakens in a body disposal centre. Here. bodies are thrown into vats of acid rather than being buried or cremated. His return from the dead startles the two guards dumping the bodies. One guard bumps into the other pushing him into the acid. The remaining guard tussles with the Time Lord before being pulled into the acid by his dying comrade. Now the media all claimed that the show had gone too far to show the Doctor killing an innocent by throwing them into a vat of acid. This was too much for children at teatime and clearly showed how far the show had gone dark for ratings.

Wait a second, I thoguht to myself. Has any of these tabloid trash even watched the story or that particular scene? This is where I took offence because they were trying to get rid of my favourite show by lying to the masses whom just like the ones on Varos, simply nodded and accepted what they were told and read. The state was controlling the narrative and how ironic it was happening in the real world.

Of ourse shows can get stale and need a reboot from time to time but to try and justify by obvious lies is another level entirely and thank God fans fought back including me. I sent my petition like many others. But I digress.

As the news read, the Doctor had no problem coldly murdering someone by tossing them in acid and making a dsmissive quip. The quip is there, that much is true but the Doctor is an alien so his reactions are not necessarily going to be what we expected. Besides, everybody had a quip in the eighties from Arnie to Freddy Kruger. Look at the scene. It’s on YouTube so no excuse not to see for yourself. Yes it is a long time ago but this sort of behaviour is still happening today as per Star Wars as previously mentioned so we as fans and adults have a responsibility to make up our own minds before launching a criticism especially when the future of the shows we love depend on it.

Have you seen the reels where a corpse at a wake suddenly coms back to life terrifying the mourners or people trapped in a lift with a body that suddenly rises? It’s hilarious. The reactions are real and I’ve seen it in real life when trapped gas escaped from a dead relative while the wake was happening. I’ve never seen my cousins move so fast. I laugh now but it’s the reaction that is tthe point.

The hapless guards have the same reaction and attacks the Doctor. They struggle and it is clear how the guard falls into the acid.

Yet so many don’t think for themselves and despite the evidence being right in front of them, it is ignored for the more dramatic show that is no longer suitable for children myth. There was only the video player to go back on if you recorded it in the first place. There was no internet, reels or IPlayers to jump on and judge for yourself. Even dedicated viewers and fans always find something new on repeat viewings so memory can cheat you.

This era was a time when the BBC boss was on a witch hunt to cancel the show, Sure, it may have needed a boost but that was down to the BBC’s actions like keeping a producer in a job he needed to leave to expand his CV. Stuff like this reflects on the main actors and in this case Colin Baker would ultimately lose the role he adored. He has been an ambassador for the show ever since and came back for the Children In Need special Dimensions in Time along with the other surviving Doctors, the stage show taking over from Jon Pertwee, a massive run in the Big Finish audio adventures and in the Jodie Whittaker send off Power of the Doctor. How ironic the show is now the most anticipated one with the return of David Tennant and the debut of Gatwa as the new Doctor.

Things like the misreporting of the acid scene in Vengeance on Varos are hopefully a thing of the past but it stands as a perfect example of people jumping on a bandwagon without checking their facts first just to justify getting rid of a show, tired or not. By the way, Vengeance on Varos is a bloody good story with a villain that fans would still like to see return on screen, Sil. Who knows?