Religion and spiritualism has often got the short end of the stick from Doctor Who, with cultists and the like often treated as obstacles or threats, and the whole idea is generally mocked by the scientific, rational ethos that lies at the centre of the series. "Meglos" is one of the few stories that actually makes this debate a sizeable plot point, with the atheist Savants bitching against the religious Deons, and to be honest the news isn't good for the god-botherers. The origin of Tigella's mysterious power source, the Dodecahedron is revealed to be scientific, and those who worship it as a gift from their god Ti are presented as an obstruction to the scientific community. Just in case we're not sure where the writers' sympathies lie, they follow this up by trying to squash The Doctor under a rather Pythonesque rock. Score one for science.

This isn't fair on "Meglos", though, as the rest of the story is a fascinating premise - the last survivor of Tigella's neighbouring planet, the titular Zolfa-Thuran, hires a bunch of mercenaries, copies The Doctor's form and heads over to Tigella to steal the Dodecahedron, having arranged for The Doctor himself to be side-tracked. It's a good use of the old doppelgänger set-up. It's a great little story.

Sadly, I mainly know this because I've read Terrance Dicks' capable adaptation of Flanagan & McCulloch's punchy script. The production of "Meglos" is sadly less adept. It's well-directed by Terence Dudley, who does a good job on what looks to be a tight budget, and keeps the action ticking over. Tom Baker's on top form, though he actually does better as Meglos (clearly loving playing a villain) than as The Doctor. That said, the only part he grates in in the deeply stupid Chronic hysteresis scene. Time-loops are always irritating to watch, but the way the TARDIS escapes is implausible, and Baker is clearly unenamoured by the scene, possibly best demonstrated in the forced trip that's inflicted on us again and again and again. Lalla Ward does her usual great job as Romana, getting to outwit the Gaztaks on a regular basis. K9 is, as per Season 18's usual form, kept on the sidelines for much of the action.

The general production isn't brilliant, overall. SceneSync somehow looks both better and worse than CSO. The joins are hard to see and the lighting is pretty good, but the screens on Zolfa-Thura just don't have any presence. The cactus make-up for Tom Baker is rather good, and there's a gorgeous costume for Lalla Ward, but no-one else is as lucky. Zastor just looks like some sort of leper, while the Savants get comedy white bob wigs, and the Deons look like refugees from a Lilt advert. They don't even get the Gaztaks right - the pirate-style non-uniforms are just too clean and precise. Even the jungle set looks hugely artificial.

All of this could have been saved by some solid performances, but aside from Tom and Lalla, no-one really turns up. Jacqueline Hill proves she spent her years away concentrating on her family, rather than dusting up her acting skills, and we're basically left with Barbara from "The Aztecs". Edward Underdown totally fails to take any interest as Zastor, a part that would need a bit of passion to act as more than an expositional device, and the Gaztaks are closer to RADA than raiders - Frederick Treves being especially camp. Crawford Logan and Collette Gleeson are flat, failing to come across as anything other than cyphers. Christopher Owen gurns his way through as the unnamed human (though the random presence of a city suit - not explained on screen, though it was in the novelisation - does invoke a minor bit of Avengersesque surrealism, playing on the audience's automatic assumption that the story takes place in the future), and his stilted delivery ruins everyone's timing in the finale.

It all adds up to a disappointing take on a fine script. It's still a more than adequate story, with Baker's double performance and the wealth of ideas linking with punchy direction and a fast-moving story, but it could have been an absolute classic with a bit of fine-tuning and a sharper set of actors.

Review written: 30/06/2006
"Meglos" VHS @ Amazon.co.uk