I've Been Watching...

While I try to find something interesting to say about all the DW stories I watch, I had a little harder time with The Masque of Mandragora. I remembered parts of it, and certainly the main plot of the Mandragora Helix energy entering the TARDIS and going to Earth, and there was the guy in the purple robe, and the big Masque at the end...

And yet, when watching it, there is a lot of running around, escaping, running around again, and the first three episodes don't really advance the plot very much, what with Count Federico getting in everyone's way so nothing can progress until he's cleared out at the end of episode three. (Seriously, if you excised his entire role, and let Hieronymous be someone who is just hanging around (he isn't an actual threat until he becomes powered up), you could so easily compact the first three episodes into at most one without compromising anything.)

Still, very nice location shooting, Portmerion providing great vertical spaces to run up and down. And the sets inside being carefully dressed. (Although the temple is a bit of a let down.) Then we have the new TARDIS console room providing a nice change. It may have cost a bit at the time, but it was worth it.

The extras are rather varied. Good talking heads about Masque, nice feature on the TARDIS. But... Beneath the Masque? Really? And the commentary was more of them watching the episode than any real commentary worth listening to.

Overall, some great elements, but ultimately an average story and an average DVD.

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