History Recap / DoctorWhoS26E4Survival

Oh, '''''damn''' it.'' Not again. Anyone in the mood to [[VirginNewAdventures read]] some [[VirginMissingAdventures books]]?

->'''The Doctor:''' ''"There are worlds out there where the sky is burning, and the sea's asleep, and the rivers dream. People made of smoke, and cities made of song. Somewhere there's danger, somewhere there's injustice, and somewhere else the tea's getting cold! Come on, Ace, we've got work to do!"''
-->-- The final monologue from the Seventh Doctor for this episode, rather fitting for his character.[[hottip:*:It should be, it was edited in once they knew the show had been cancelled.]] Sadly, it's also the final line of the franchise until 1996.

->'''The Doctor:''' ''"If we fight like animals, we die like animals!"''
-->-- The Doctor's revelation on how fighting works.

[[WordOfGod According to the writing team at the time]], they were putting together scripts for a 'Season 27' when the axe fell. This season would have seen Ace's departure (to study to become a Time Lord at Prydon Academy on Gallifrey) and the introduction of a new companion, a high-class safecracker. Following [[BigFinish Big Finish's]] adaptations of the 'lost' 1986 season, they'll go on to adapt some of the stories from 'Season 27'.

* ExecutiveVeto: Midge's somewhat unexplained death is because the original script had the Master inciting the other youths to tear him limb from limb for showing weakness, which was vetoed as too horrific even for Doctor Who.

* RetroactiveRecognition: Lisa Bowerman. See above. Also, [[{{Emmerdale}} Adele Silva]]

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Originally, the Cheetah People were supposed to be a lot more human-looking, with their possession by the cat-spirits of the Cheetah World represented by false eyes, teeth and some skin-colouring to suggest cheetah spots. Then, someone decided it'd be a good idea to make them actual Cheetah People. The writer, Rona Munro, was less than impressed by the result, describing the end effect as 'puss-in-boots'.

Separated from the Doctor ''(again - this is really her story guest-starring the Doctor and the Master, though)'', Ace meets one of the Cheetah people and [[LesYay kinda befriends her]]. As it turns out, Ace is also slowly starting to fall to the spell of the planet and is now also sporting those neat contacts. Meanwhile, the Master uses Midge to escape from the planet back to Perivale. The Doctor also uses Ace, after warning her of possible consequences that don't apply to her as she's a main character, to get everyone back home. Waiting for them is the Master, who has taken the time between the two groups arriving to harness the awesome power of... a [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome scrawny male youth group to challenge the Doctor to motorcycle-jousting]]. Come on, Master. We know that it's not easy continually coming up with plans to kill the Doctor or rule the universe - but this is the equivalent of using the Death Star to rob a corner store bakery! At least wear a funny disguise and go under an anagram for no explainable reason!

** Though the original intention was something much more human.

After adventuring throughout time and space, Ace finally asks the Doctor to take a visit to her home town - Perivale. As it turns out, not much is the same since Ace left the town originally and many of her friends have just up and left. As the Doctor meanders around town, Ace finds herself poking around a playground when ''(out of friggin' nowhere)'' an [[CatGirl anthropomorphic cheetah-person]] riding a horse chases her around the park. Not long after this scene, the Doctor and Ace are whipped away to an [[BBCQuarry exotic alien planet]] where the Cheetah people come from - and where Ace's friends and a few other extras have been whipped away to. The Doctor is then escorted to the Cheetah people's leader... the Master ''(come on, you saw that one coming)''!

* CatGirl: Played surprisingly straight with the Cheetah people in that they're more Cheetah than human.

* EvillyAffable: The Master here is much less the cackling madman viewers had come to expect. In previous stories, Ainley had been told to [[LargeHam amp up the ham]] by production staff, but here was finally allowed to give a much more restrained, brooding and ultimately rather vicious portrayal.

* RetroactiveRecognition: Lisa Bowerman. See above. Also, [[Emmerdale Adele Silva]]

* RetroactiveRecognition: Lisa Bowerman. See above.

Oh, '''''damn''' it.'' Not again.

The Ainley!Master makes one last appearance. Ace is also extremely well developed for an old-series companion, culminating the final part of her [[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E2GhostLight three part]] [[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E3TheCurseOfFenric story arc]].

* KilledOffForReal: The Master, again. This time it was supposed to be for really real, but FirstLawOfResurrection + JokerImmunity = LikeYouWouldReallyDoIt.

All sarcasm aside, this is actually an extremely good story, and a fine way to go out. The Ainley!Master makes one last appearance and is in rare form against the Doctor. Ace is also extremely well developed for an old-series companion, culminating the final part of her [[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E2GhostLight three part]] [[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E3TheCurseOfFenric story arc]].. Also got a lovely 2-disc release covering not just this story, but also an entire second disc dedicated to why the series went off the air, with good explanations in retrospect. Also, a lovely snark-filled commentary from a group of fans over the final episode, which is just MadeOfWin.

* CallForward: The episode, by complete coincidence shares a lot of elements with the new series. There's even a character at the end who looks and acts like [[Characters/DoctorWho Jackie Tyler]], and is about the same age Tyler would have been in 1989.

* StockEpisodeTitles: 47 uses
* WordOfGay: The episode's scriptwriter, Rona Munro, has [[http://www.btinternet.com/~david.darlington/rona2007.html publicly stated]] that the relationship between Ace and Kara was intentionally homoerotic. She also said that what appeared on screen was '''toned down''' from her original concept.

* AndTheAdventureContinues: The story -- and the original run of ''DoctorWho'' -- ends with the Doctor and Ace happily walking back to the [=TARDIS=] to continue their adventures, with a monologue from the Doctor (written at the last minute, when it was learnt that this would be the final episode indefinitely) to reinforce this.

All sarcasm aside, this is actually an extremely good story. The Master makes one last appearance when played by Anthony Ainley and is in rare form against the Doctor. Ace is also extremely well developed for an old-series companion, culminating the final part of her [[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E2GhostLight three part]] [[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E3TheCurseOfFenric story arc]].. Also got a lovely 2-disc release covering not just this story, but also an entire second disc dedicated to why the series went off the air, with good explanations in retrospect. Also, a lovely snark-filled commentary from a group of fans over the final episode, which is just MadeOfWin.

Oh, ''God '''damn''' it.'' Not again.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/survival.jpg
[[caption-width:340:"Doctor, look! [[FurryFandom Furries!]]"]]

All sarcasm aside, this is actually an extremely good story. The Master makes one last appearance when played by Anthony Ainley and is in rare form against the Doctor. Ace is also extremely well developed for an old-series companion, essentially making the final part of her [[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E2GhostLight three part]] [[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E3TheCurseOfFenric story arc]] into one general [[Awesome/DoctorWho crowning story of awesome]]. Also got a lovely 2-disc release covering not just this story, but also an entire second disc dedicated to why the series went off the air, with good explanations in retrospect. Also, a lovely snark-filled commentary from a group of fans over the final episode, which is just MadeOfWin.

* Main/BBCQuarry: Appropriate lighting and decent use of scenery makes this a lot more subtle. Sylvester [=McCoy=] actually called this a 5-star quarry at one point.
* Main/CatGirl: Played surprisingly straight with the Cheetah people in that they're more Cheetah than human.

* CompleteMonster: The Master in this episode comes off much less villainously charming, and much more sadistically evil.
** Which is a result of John Nathan-Turner finally letting Anthony Ainley have at it and play the role the way he'd wanted to play it all along - more sadistic and serious, less with the [[EvilLaugh Evil Laughs]].
*** Which doubles as a WhatCouldHaveBeen. Imagine how awesome even rubbish episodes like Time Flight might have been if Ainley had been able to portray the Master as a genuinely scary villain rather than having to play like a second rate version of the 60's Batman show's Joker.
* Main/EpilepticTrees: More than a few fans have taken to the idea that the blonde woman at the end was a young Jackie Tyler.

* Main/FetishFuel: The Cheetah people, as well as being turned 'feral' by the planet...

* Main/LesYay: WordOfGod itself says that Karra ''(the Cheetah person)'' and Ace were... very close.
** Most blatantly, the Doctor warns Ace that the Cheetah People are "dangerously attractive".
*** Ace has this with EVERY female guest star she appears next to in the series pretty much. It's just a hell of a lot more pronounced in this episode.

[[caption-width:335:"Doctor, look! [[FurryFandom Furries!]]"]]

-->The final monologue from the Seventh Doctor for this episode, rather fitting for his character.[[hottip:*:It should be, it was edited in once they knew the show had been cancled.]] Sadly, it's also the final line of the franchise until 1996.

-->The Doctor's revelation on how fighting works.

All sarcasm aside, this is actually an extremely good story. The Master makes one last appearance when played by Anthony Ainley and is in rare form against the Doctor. Ace is also extremely well developed for an old-series companion, essentially making the final part of her [[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E2GhostLight three part]] [[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E3TheCurseOfFenric story arc]] into one general [[CrowningMoment/DoctorWho crowning story of awesome]]. Also got a lovely 2-disc release covering not just this story, but also an entire second disc dedicated to why the series went off the air, with good explanations in retrospect. Also, a lovely snark-filled commentary from a group of fans over the final episode, which is just MadeOfWin.

Incidentally, Ace's... special friend (Karra the Cheetah-person) was played by Lisa Bowerman, who would proceed to the DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse as the voice of [[{{Characters/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse}} Professor Bernice Summerfield]].

* HeyItsThatGuy: Lisa Bowerman. See above.

*** Ace has this with EVERY female gues star she appears next to in the series pretty much. It's just a hell of a lot more pronounced in this episode

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* ExecutiveVeto: Midge's somewhat unexplained death is because the original script had the Master inciting the other youths to tear him limb from limb for showing weakness, which was vetoed as too horrific.