YMMV / Doctor Who S23 E3 "Terror of the Vervoids"

• Ensemble Dark Horse: Janet the stewardess, to the point where many of the show's fans are still upset that the Doctor didn't "accidentally" leave Mel on the Hyperion III and take Janet as his new companion.
• Harsher in Hindsight: Mel forcing the Doctor to work out, after Colin Baker gained a large amount of weight after leaving the show due to diabetes.
• Narm:
  • The third episode sets up an awesome cliffhanger, with the Hyperion III heading directly into the Black Hole of Tartarus... and then cuts back to the ship's interior so that the Doctor can point out that they're heading directly into the Black Hole of Tartarus, thus allowing the episode to end on a close-up of Colin Baker's face. Again. Thankfully, the Collection Blu-ray release's special edition cut of the serial (be it the version that removes the Trial framing device or otherwise) re-arranges both scenes to allow for a proper, smoother cliffhanger ending.
  • Bonnie Langford's screaming as Mel is already in a narmy league of its own, but she was specifically asked by John Nathan-Turner if she could hold a scream in an "F" note so that it segued with the ending credits. She could, which arguably pushes it right back around into Narm Charm!
• Padding: The trial scenes really start to feel like this at times, particularly the lengthy segment where the Doctor replays footage to show how he knew that the disguised Hallett wasn't a real Mogarian. Somewhat tellingly, this story had a special edition on the Season 23 Blu-ray box set that removed the trial segments, as well as the doctored Matrix scenes.
• Questionable Casting: A significant factor in Mel's tepid reception during her time as a companion stemmed from the casting of Bonnie Langford, who many considered overly perky (a criticism she'd faced since the start of her acting career) and a swerve in the opposite extreme after Peri's relatively hapless portrayal. Among her detractors was alleged unofficial continuity advisor Ian Levine, who reportedly left the show's production staff specifically because of a fight he had with John Nathan-Turner over her casting in this serial.
• Signature Scene:
  • The first episode cliffhanger where the Vervoids start to emerge from their pods, partly due to it being one of the few instances where a "Trial of a Time Lord" episode doesn't just end on an extreme close-up of Colin Baker's face, and partly because of Mel screaming in-tune with the theme song.
  • The console room scene where Mel is introduced. Not only do the music, the Doctor's workout and Mel's outfit make it the epitome of 80s cheese, but it's the only console room scene in the Sixth Doctor's televised run^note Unless you count the one that opens "The Two Doctors", but that scene featured the Second Doctor and Jamie. where he isn't either bickering with Peri or somehow in conflict with a guest character, which marks a refreshing change.
• Special Effect Failure: It's pretty obvious that this was the "Trial of a Time Lord" segment that got the shaft budget-wise, as evidenced by the very cheap-looking sets, unconvincing spaceship model, the "black hole" that looks like a giant kaleidoscope in space and the fact that at times the Vervoid actors very obviously have drawstrings hanging off their trousers. Plus, the frizzy hair of both Doctor and companion playing hell with the chroma key. Most of these VFX problems are fixed up in the special edition for the Collection Blu-ray.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: The horribly mutated Ruth Baxter shows up for the second episode cliffhanger, setting up all sorts of intriguing possibilities as to what role she could play. She then gets totally forgotten about until midway through the fourth episode, when she appears for just long enough to get killed by a Vervoid.
• Unfortunate Character Design: The Vervoids, who are so suggestive of a certain part of female anatomy that the BBC have had various problems putting their picture on VHS/DVD covers in countries with more puritanical standards. Even in the UK there have been problems — WH Smith once refused to stock an issue of Doctor Who Magazine with a picture of the Vervoids on the cover on the grounds it contained an "inappropriate adult image".

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