Everything about "Arc of Infinity" screams mediocrity. As an opener for a 20th anniversary season, it's frankly a breathtakingly bad choice. Despite featuring the reappearance of an alleged 'classic' villain, a return to Gallifrey for the first time since Season 15's "The Invasion of Time", Tegan being reunited with The Doctor and Nyssa and overseas location footage, it's a pure filler story.

Omega was never a great villain in the first place. Presumably the reappearance was due to his presence in the Season 10 opener, "The Three Doctors". The appearance of Omega (and thankfully, the actor playing him, with the capable Ian Collier succeeding the bombastic Stephen Thorne) is changed so much that the viewer is basically left wondering what the point of having him in the story was at all.

The whole story has a considerable lack of urgency. It's very talky, and mired in technobabble. The worst thing is a lot of the talky stuff is a bit pointless - we're given an insanely complex, nonsensical reason for the plot revolving around Amsterdam. Why bother? If Omega's plan is going to come to fruition in a location on Earth, why is it any less likely to be Amsterdam as opposed to somewhere else? No explanations were ever given for most alien races deciding London would be a really good beachhead…

Gallifrey is the other location for this plodding season opener. And sadly, the intrigue/character-filled arena which housed "The Deadly Assassin" and "The Invasion of Time" has reverted to the dull, stale formica drabness glimpsed in "The Three Doctors". Parts of the citadel simply appear to be colourless coffee shops, peppered with pot-plants.

Of course, part of this could be solved by some interesting characters. Sadly, the surroundings seem to have sapped the life out of the guest cast. Neil Dagleish is stupidfying dull and wooden as The Doctor's ally Damon, while Leonard Sachs just seems like a dull, humourless fat old man as Borusa. Elspet Gray is also a non-entity as Thalia. Only Michael Gough's Hedin shows any real signs of life among the Time Lords, though the relish Colin Baker adds to Maxil is also rather welcome. Maxil actually introduces some fun villainy into proceedings. While stories with no real villain (Omega just wants to live in the normal universe; Hedin just wants to help him) can be good (cf. "The Empty Child"), "Arc of Infinity" isn't one of them, and is terribly boring. At least in the first couple of episodes Maxil's trying to kill The Doctor, with the orders for The Doctor's termination seemingly giving this borderline-psychotic an excuse to kill someone, rather than it simply being his job. Colin Frazer, Tegan's cousin, is woodenly realised by Alistair Cumming (his performance doesn't change when he becomes Omega's mindless slave), but he's better than Andrew Boxer's grating portrayal of fellow back-packer Robin.

The regulars manage to salvage some of it, though. Peter Davison lends his usual conviction to proceedings, making most of the scenes he's in watchable. He's probably the best Doctor at conveying desperation and injustice, and he gets plenty of opportunity here. He also contributes a great little performance as Omega in the last episode, conveying the character's joy at all the little things about living properly for the first time in aeons. Sarah Sutton also benefits from, for the only time, not being cramped by another companion. She manages to pull off the action scenes without looking too silly, and does well with stilted dialogue elsewhere. Janet Fielding's a bit sidetracked as Tegan. The reintroduction of the character feels horribly contrived - it's odd that Johnny Byrne scripts slabs of scientific junk to justify having Omega turning up in Amsterdam, but doesn't bother explaining why exactly Tegan should turn up there. It would have been much better for The Doctor to call her over to Amsterdam for whatever reason, or to have specifically gone after her.

Considering how much we have going on here (The Doctor's termination; the return of Omega; shenanigans among the High Council; Hitch-hikers; Tegan's return) it's actually something of an achievement that "Arc of Infinity" is so utterly lifeless. It's certainly a bad choice for a season opener, and remains an inessential filler story, especially compared to many of Peter Davison's other stories.

Review written: 03/06/06
"Arc of Infinity" VHS @ Amazon.co.uk