History Recap / DoctorWhoS21E6TheCavesOfAndrozani

Landing on the planet of Androzani Minor, the Doctor and new[[note]]New on TV, anyway, but the Expanded Universe quickly started to fill the gap. ''Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine'' set stories in the gap in the 1990s. Since Creator/NicolaBryant was (alongside Creator/SarahSutton) one of the few Davison-era actors regularly available to Creator/BigFinish for a long time, Five has ''many'' audio adventures with Peri (and new friend Erimem, an Egyptian pharaoh) between "Planet of Fire" and this one, and they're very close friends by this point.[[/note]] companion Peri go out of the TARDIS to wander around a very, very exotic alien planet. They quickly (and more or less in this order) find themselves under attack from random people, contract a nasty rash by stepping into a cobweb, get captured, jailed, and then shot. [[note]]In retrospect, the Doctor also seems to be taking the leaving of Turlough and the loss of Kamelion from the last episode rather well. Though again, if you consider all the audios [[{{Interquel}} added in between]] that was quite some time ago.[[/note]]

* ImproperlyPlacedFirearms: [[CoolGun Ingrams]] InSpace!

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

JustForFun/{{The one w|ith}}here the Doctor fondles a bat.

* PinballProtagonist: Even by his typical standards, the Fifth Doctor hits the rock bottom with this trope (and the worst, precisely in his last story). He fails to convince a single person that he and Peri are not any kind of threat to them, even when he makes the typical jokes, threats or proposals that would have made the previous four Doctors get away with easily. [[http://www.avclub.com/tvclub/doctor-who-classic-the-caves-of-androzani-91898 That said, the serial appears to be]] a subversion of the typical Creator/EricSaward-era formula: instead of the Doctor being effectively locked out of the story while [[SignatureStyle the villains and the "Saward 80s badass" character resolve the plot]], the Doctor is the catalyst that breaks the stalemate each time he escapes the frying pan into another fire. The only thing he actually does in the story is convince Salateen to act, but the focus is on the Doctor as a HurtingHero and SpannerInTheWorks rather than being sidelined.

* UnexpectedlyDarkEpisode: The serial stands out for being incredibly grim, even for the era. The Doctor's mere presence in the story makes an already bad mess of political skullduggery and industrial corruption irreparably worse, resulting in nearly everyone involved brutally dying (even the Doctor is forced to regenerate at the end), and the government of Androzani Major gets thrown completely out of whack by the whole affair. Analysts often speculate that the story was a WriterRevolt from Creator/RobertHolmes in response to script editor Creator/EricSaward's push to make ''Doctor Who'' DarkerAndEdgier.

* TemptingFate: The Doctor assumes that the weird white webbing he and Peri touched at the start of the story is probably quite harmless. He couldn't be more wrong.

The one where the Doctor fondles a bat.

Landing on the planet of Androzani Minor, the Doctor and new[[note]]New on TV, anyway, but the Expanded Universe quickly started to fill the gap. ''Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine'' set stories in the gap in the 1990s. Since Creator/NicolaBryant was (alongside Sarah Sutton) one of the few Davison-era actors regularly available to Creator/BigFinish for a long time, Five has ''many'' audio adventures with Peri (and new friend Erimem, an Egyptian pharaoh) between "Planet of Fire" and this one, and they're very close friends by this point.[[/note]] companion Peri go out of the TARDIS to wander around a very, very exotic alien planet. They quickly (and more or less in this order) find themselves under attack from random people, contract a nasty rash by stepping into a cobweb, get captured, jailed, and then shot. [[note]]In retrospect, the Doctor also seems to be taking the leaving of Turlough and the loss of Kamelion from the last episode rather well. Though again, if you consider all the audios [[{{Interquel}} added in between]] that was quite some time ago.[[/note]]

Landing on the planet of Androzani Minor, the Doctor and new[[note]]New on TV, anyway; in the audios, Five has ''many'' adventures with Peri between the previous serial as well as a new companion, an uncrowned Pharaoh from Egypt called Erimem, and this one and they're very close by this point.[[/note]] companion Peri go out of the TARDIS to wander around a very, very exotic alien planet. They quickly (and more or less in this order) find themselves under attack from random people, contract a nasty rash by stepping into a cobweb, get captured, jailed, and then shot. [[note]]In retrospect, the Doctor also seems to be taking the leaving of Turlough and the loss of Kamelion from the last episode rather well. Though again, if you consider all the audios [[{{Interquel}} added in between]] that was quite some time ago.[[/note]]

* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident:
-->'''Morgus''': Krau Timmin, the most appalling thing has happened. His Excellency...\\
'''Timmin''': Not the President?\\
'''Morgus''': Yes, it was all over in a second. I had no time to stop him. This is a tragic loss to the world.\\
'''Timmin''': It's dreadful, sir. And that it should have happened in ''this'' building.\\
'''Morgus''': Yes, yes, I am deeply distressed, Krau Timmin.\\
'''Timmin''': Naturally you must be, sir.\\
'''Morgus''': Still, it could have been worse.\\
'''Timmin''': In what way, Trau Morgus?\\
'''Morgus''': [[ItsAllAboutMe It could have been me.]]

* EvilVersusEvil: The only relatively sane and decent character is Chellak, and even he's willing to send a guy to certain death just to cover up an embarrassment.

* BadBoss: Stotz is awful to his gunrunner underlings, holding a knife to Krelper's throat and almost force-feeds him a suicide pill. Later he kills them after they refuse to go along with his scheme (which he was [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness planning to do anyway]]).

** When Jek says he wants Morgus' head "congealed in its own vile juice," that's not a metaphor.

* ChromosomeCasting: Apart from Peri, the only female character is Timmin. They're the only characters who survive.

* UnexpectedlyDarkEpisode: The serial stands out for its unusually nihilistic approach. The Doctor's mere presence in the story makes an already bad mess of political skullduggery and industrial corruption irreparably worse, resulting in nearly everyone involved brutally dying (even the Doctor is forced to regenerate at the end), and the government of Androzani Major gets thrown completely out of whack by the whole affair. Analysts often speculate that the story was a WriterRevolt from Creator/RobertHolmes in response to script editor Creator/EricSaward's push to make ''Doctor Who'' DarkerAndEdgier.

* AnyLastWords: The firing squad

** Morgus repeatedly turns to the camera and gives exposition soliloquies. WordOfGod[[invoked]] says that this wasn't intended — the actor had misunderstood the stage directions in the script, but the director liked the effect it gave and told the actor to keep doing it, as it made the story similar to a classical theatre piece and played on the similarity of the plot to early-modern revenge tragedies.

** The first cliffhanger of the Fifth Doctor's final adventure has him being executed via firing squad. [[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E7TheWarGames Just like the Second]].

* EstablishingCharacterMoment:

** According to actor Creator/PeterDavison, death would be preferable to turning into Colin Baker. We assume he's joking, given the two actors are friends.

* GoodScarsEvilScars: Sharaz Jek wears a mask and rubber suit to hide massive scarring all over his body.

* {{Homage}}: The whole story is one to ''Literature/{{Dune}}'' (apart from that Jek, who's got an obvious [[Franchise/ThePhantomOfTheOpera Phantom of the Opera]] thing going on). Androzani is an export platform for a life-extending mineral, currently being feuded over by the head of the mining conglomerate (read: Baron Harkkonen) and President (i.e. Padishah Emperor). The colour-coded Army uniforms seem to be inspired by ''Franchise/StarTrek''.

-->'''Morgus:''' Why are you staring at me? Perhaps you think you recognise me?
-->'''Krelper:''' No, sir.
-->'''Stotz:''' Even if he does, Krelper won't say anything.
-->'''Morgus:''' [[ImpliedDeathThreat It wouldn't be wise.]]

* MyGreatestSecondChance: The Doctor and his companion, Peri, are exposed to deadly radiation early on in the story, and the Doctor spends the rest of it giving his all to save Peri. Having been unable to save Adric back in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS19E6Earthshock Earthshock]]", he felt even his own life was not worth sacrificing Peri's, and after spending four episodes looking for the antidote and escaping more imminent death, he gave the only dose that survived to his companion. Even his last thought, "Adric?", indicates he felt this was a "second chance" of sorts.

* NoSeatBelts: Averted with the Doctor's crashlanding, enabling him to recover and flee before Stotz and his men can get to their feet.

** When Jek says he wants Morgus' head "congealed in its own vile juice" that's not a metaphor.

* SolidGoldPoop: The highly valuable life-extending drug spectrox is made from something produced by the bats dwelling in the titular caves. The exact nature of the substance is never explained; however, antidote to spectrox toxaemia is the milk of the queen bat, which the Doctor uses to save Peri's life at the cost of his own. His HeroicSacrifice takes on a bit of fridge hilarity when you realise that the Fifth Doctor's last act was to milk a bat.

* TemptingFate: The Doctor assumes that what he and Peri picked up is probably quite harmless. He couldn't be more wrong.

* IHaveYouNowMyPretty: Sharaz Jek's intentions towards Peri are... not benign. And, although it's not explicitly stated, this does not go unnoticed by either Peri or the Doctor; in every scene the three characters are in together, [[IWillProtectHer the Doctor makes a point of putting himself between Peri and Jek]].

* IWillProtectHer: This is essentially the Doctor's key motivation for the bulk of the story -- he's not interested in the civil war or the smuggling or whatever, he just wants to get Peri cured, [[IHaveYouNowMyPretty out of Sharaz Jek's hands]] and off the planet ASAP. Given the ''utter bloodbath'' this episode ends up being, it's a wise philosophy to have. By all technicalities, he succeeds.

Meanwhile, the story takes an unexpected nose dive into PsychologicalHorror and political intrigue. Jek falls madly in love with an increasingly unconscious Peri, but she's terrified when she sees his burned face underneath the mask, and he goes into a VillainousBSOD. The local president, who's 85 but looks 50 thanks to refined spectrox, is caught up in an arms race conflict full of corruption. He's deposed by his lackey by creative use of an elevator shaft, and the lackey is quickly deposed by his smug secretary lady using the regular legal system. It all results in death. [[KillEmAll Lots and lots of death]].

* KillEmAll: With the exception of Peri and Krau Timmin (who only observes the action from Morgus' office and never goes to Androzani Minor), ''every'' named character in the story dies, including the Doctor himself.

* StaggeredZoom: When the Doctor decides to confront one of Jek's androids to see if it'll differentiate between human and Time Lord physiology, the shot transitions to the android's point of view via a staggered zoom into the giant lens on its face.

* NeverMyFault: Sharaz Jek blames Morgus for everything bad that happens to him.

-->'''Stotz:''' The boss gave me one of these. Ten seconds he said. Let's see if it works. ''(shoves it in the mook's mouth, who tries to swallow it whole but Stotz jams a fist over his throat)'' COME ON, YOU SLUT! BITE! BITE! BITE! ''(lets him go)'' Next time, it'll be for real.

-->'''The Sixth Doctor:''' Three I’s in one breath? Makes you sound a rather egotistical young lady.
* EvenEvilHasStandards

* FiringInTheAirALot: The soldiers who hear their colleague scream as the monster kills him run back shooting their guns in the air. Given that it's difficult to kill, they may have been hoping to scare it off.

** The effect used for the Doctor's distorted vision near the end of Part Three is the same effect used for his regeneration at the end of the serial, with the former appearing to subtly foreshadow the latter. The use of this effect in Part 3 was intended by the director to indicate the onset of the Doctor's regeneration, which means that the Doctor is holding off his regeneration for the entirety of Part Four.

* GadgeteerGenius: For once, the Doctor's not the only one - Sharaz Jek has his android creations.

* IconicItem: We finally get an explanation for why the Doctor wears a stick of celery.

* MistakenForSpies: The Doctor's unexplained presence on Androzani Minor leads Morgus to assume he's a spy for the President, leading to several fatal mistakes on Morgus' part.

* NotQuiteDead

* PeopleInRubberSuits: The ridiculously fake monster, which as usual is [[SpecialEffectsFailure overlit instead of being kept in shadow]][[invoked]].

* TragicVillain: Sharaz Jek is a cruel, possessive terrorist, but only because of Morgus' betrayal. He goes into a lengthy villain monologue to Peri over how he used to be an optimist, but the trauma from the incident caused him to see the ugliness in everyone. He wants to keep Peri for himself because she's the only light in the darkness for him.

* YouRebelScum

* UnexpectedlyDarkEpisode: The serial stands out for its unusually nihilistic approach. The Doctor's mere presence in the story serves makes an already bad mess of political skullduggery and industrial corruption irreparably worse, resulting in nearly everyone involved brutally dying (even the Doctor is forced to regenerate at the end), and the government of Androzani Major gets thrown completely out of whack by the whole affair. Analysts often speculate that the story was a WriterRevolt from Creator/RobertHolmes in response to script editor Creator/EricSaward's push to make ''Doctor Who'' DarkerAndEdgier.

* UnexpectedlyDarkEpisode: The serial stands out for its unusually nihilistic approach. The Doctor's mere presence in the story serves makes an already bad mess of political skullduggery and industrial corruption irreperably worse, resulting in nearly everyone involved brutally dying (even the Doctor is forced to regenerate at the end), and the government of Androzani Major gets thrown completely out of whack by the whole affair. Analysts often speculate that the story was a WriterRevolt from Creator/RobertHolmes in response to script editor Creator/EricSaward's push to make ''Doctor Who'' DarkerAndEdgier.