Television 

12 Weeks, 12 Doctors: Five Thoughts on Doctor Who‘s “Vengeance on Varos”

By | August 24th, 2020
Posted in Television | % Comments

Welcome to your summer vacation through space and time, all from the comfort of your couch and TV.  We’re spending our COVID-19 summer winding our way through Doctor Who history, focusing on one episode from each Doctor’s tenure through to the Capaldi era. (Want to know what we’re watching? Here’s the schedule!)

His time on Doctor Who was one of the shortest, featuring an 18 month break that almost spelled the show’s cancellation. We are, of course, talking about Sixth Doctor Colin Baker, whose tenure featured some of the darker stories in the show’s history.  We’re looking at one of those today, “Vengeance on Varos,” which aired in two weekly parts on January 19 and 26, 1985.  By now, you know the warning: Spoilers!

1. The Zeiton Ore Must Flow 

Much like last week’s episode, “Vengeance on Varos” finds the Doctor and Peri meddling, albeit unintentionally, in the political and economic affairs of a planet and its main export. The planet here is Varos. The export is Zeiton-7 ore, whose market is controlled by the lizard-like Sil from Galatron Mining Corporation.  Sil’s corruption has led to impoverished and dystopian conditions on Varos, with food rations, forced votes and torture for the ruling government when the votes do not go in the governor’s favor.

Unlike “The Caves of Androzani,” the Doctor and Peri have a clear reason to come to Varos: the TARDIS is busted, and Zeiton-7 ore will be able to fix it.

2.  “When did we last see a decent execution?”

This was one of the first classic era Doctor Who episodes I watched, owing to the fact it was one of the few that streamed on Netflix at the time I discovered the series (circa 2010-2011).  And what an introduction to the series this was: one of the darker, more violent episodes of the series, featuring everything from torture via cell mutation to televised executions for entertainment (and profit, according to the Varosian governor) to a drowning in an acid bath.

On one hand, it’s fascinating to see the ideas (and flaws) of reality TV play out before that was even part of our standard cultural vernacular. On the other, it’s certainly not the tone we think of today when we think of the more family-friendly Doctor Who, though when viewed in the context of entertainment standards in 2020 it seems rather quaint by comparison.

As the governor says: It’s crazy. It’s cruel. It’s Varos.

Shortly after this season concluded, the show went on hiatus for to be followed by the season long arc “The Trial of a Time Lord.” The series and its legacy was certainly in distress and on trial by the court of public opinion.

3. Bright on the Outside, Darker on the Inside

Colin Baker’s Sixth Doctor is most known for his brightly colored patchwork coat, a striking contrast to this character: moody, arrogant, and uncharacteristically blase to violence and death. There’s an air of superiority as he figures out the tricks of the Varosian punishment dome.  He’s condescending to Peri, mocking her American accent (inaccurate as it is) and her intelligence. And his cavalier attitude towards the guards that fall in the acid bath meant for him is one of the darkest moments of all of Doctor Who.  (There’s been a longstanding myth that the Doctor pushed them into the bath, but it’s clear that they fell in accidentally. His comment “forgive me if I don’t join you” adds fuel to that fire.)

For all his bravado and arrogance, he is a clever man, figuring out that the primitive execution by hanging he and rebel Jondar were to face was a means to get information.  And that information is what starts to turn the tide of the relationship between Varos and Galatron Mining.

4. Where’s Peri? 

While Peri is physically present in this episode, her contributions to advancing the plot are limited.  She’s a passive player, with the Doctor and the rebel Jondar providing action and strategy.  Peri, on the other hand, spends most of her time captured or under torture. After the whiny and weepy Peri of “The Caves of Androzani,” it’s an improvement. But she’s still a big step back from the empowered women of companions past.

Continued below

5. So What Happens Now? Where Are We Going To?

Throughout these two episodes, we get to know Arak and Etta, a married Varosian couple who do not interact with the Doctor, Peri, or any of the major players. They provide commentary in the style of a Greek chorus, giving insight into what life is like on Varos. Etta remains devoted to her government and ruling structures, while Arak wants to see some change, even while he enjoys the barbaric entertainment.

But by the time the Doctor leaves, change is afoot. New sources and new demand for Zeiton-7 give Varos more negotiating power.  Varosian rule of law pivots away from violent punishments and towards prosperity, tolerance, and peaceful justice. But still, Arak and Etta appear perplexed.  Their TV and punch in vote buttons are off. The world they knew is over.  What will the future hold? A question many of us 35 years later, in August 2020, ask as our world that we knew from a few short months ago is gone.

The Varosians now face making their own future.  It’s a daunting task. One hopes that they will make the right decisions, but one also wonders how much of their old life they will refuse to give up.

TARDIS Trivia (our Afterthoughts section) 

  • Connery. Jason Connery.  Yes, that is son of the very first cinema James Bond (and unintentional star of SNL’s Celebrity Jeopardy), Sean Connery, in the role of the rebel Jondar.
  • Although this aired in two 45 minute segments (which is how it is presented on Britbox), international syndication found it split into 4 parts of 25 minutes each.
  • Sheila Reid, who played Etta, returned to Doctor Who in the Clara Oswald years in “The Time of the Doctor,” and “Dark Water.”

Next week, we reach the end of the first era of Doctor Who with a look at “The Curse of Fenric,” from Sylvester McCoy’s tenure as the Seventh Doctor.

If you want more classic Doctor Who, you can check out the streaming subscription service Britbox (available in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. at the time of this writing). If you’re in the U.S., Latin America, Puerto Rico, and Europe, you can also get your classic Who fix via the free streaming service Pluto TV, which has its own Doctor Who channel!


//TAGS | 12 Weeks 12 Doctors | 2020 Summer TV Binge | Doctor Who

Kate Kosturski

Kate Kosturski is your Multiversity social media manager, a librarian by day and a comics geek...well, by day too (and by night). Kate's writing has also been featured at PanelxPanel, Women Write About Comics, and Geeks OUT. She spends her free time spending too much money on Funko POP figures and LEGO, playing with yarn, and rooting for the hapless New York Mets. Follow her on Twitter at @librarian_kate.

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