5F4 - The Armageddon Factor 4

Ten points to The Doctor for managing to work in the story title into the dialogue early in Episode Four. He also managed to say the title of The Pirate Planet in Episode Two of that story. One thing I kind of regret not doing is going back to see which stories have had their titles spoken in the dialogue. Ah, well. Next time, perhaps.

Despite The Doctor reducing his dramatic impact upon their first meeting in Episode Three, the Shadow is a creepy creation, aided my an unsettling skull mask and the demonic voice stylings of William Squire. One of my earliest childhood Doctor Who memories was of being put off by the Shadow - one of the few times in my life that Doctor Who has actually scared me.

My favourite part of this episode, though, might be the famous outtake of when Tom Baker reacts to K-9's inability to predict when the Zeon computer will self destruct. It never fails that whenever I watch the actual scene in the episode, I'm drawn to YouTube to find the outtake clip. Which I just did. Seeing a Doctor swear on camera takes some getting used to, I have to admit. It's kind of like seeing Paddington Bear drop F-bombs when things go wrong - do we need to see our childhood heroes behave in such a way? However, when Tom Baker swears, it just seems fitting. I haven't quite figured out why.

Anyway, we're four episodes through this story, and while it's not bad, it has a very drab look to it, and countless (and I do mean countless) bland corridors that everyone keeps getting lost in.