2 episodes. Running Time: Approx. 70 minutes. Written by: Scott Handcock. Directed by: Nigel Fairs. Produced by: David Richardson. Performed by: Richard Franklin, Michael Chance.
THE PLOT:
It is summer. A time for families to go outdoors: eat ice cream, play in the park, and enjoy the warm sun.
But a freak temperature drop in Hyde Park freezes dozens of people to death in an instant. When UNIT investigates, Capt. Mike Yates is shocked to see a winter landscape under the hot summer sun, adorned with frozen statues that used to be living beings.
One eyewitness survived: a girl who was selected as a volunteer for a magic trick by street magician Diamond Jack (Michael Chance). At Jo's insistence, Mike agrees to help her find him while the Doctor and the Brigadier pursue other leads.
They find Jack easily enough. But while Mike's back is turned, the magician makes Jo the subject of his disappearing act - leaving the captain desperate to find her and stop Jack before his next deadly trick...
CHARACTERS:
The Doctor: Richard Franklin does an excellent job of capturing the Third Doctor's authority, particularly in the scenes that see the Doctor confronting Diamond Jack. The Doctor is a little too sure of himself as he activates an alien device without knowing what the results will be, a mistake he does eventually own up to. His situation as an exile has some parallels with Diamond Jack's, though I don't think the story does enough with that element for it to stand out.
Jo Grant: Somewhat bizarrely for a Mike Yates Companion Chronicle, the story is mostly driven by Jo. She's the one who drags Mike out to follow up on a lead on Diamond Jack, and she gets the strongest link to Jack when he selects her as a volunteer. When she's held hostage near the end (because of course she is), she thinks up a plausible lie to save herself without betraying her friends.
Capt. Mike Yates: He finds the frozen statues in Hyde Park to be oddly beautiful, and the way he describes them makes it clear how much this sight haunts him decades after the fact. He has feelings for Jo, which makes it a little too easy for her to convince him to leave HQ with her, but he isn't willing to actually give voice to them, something Jack mocks.
Diamond Jack: The mysterious magician, whose powers are clearly not terrestrial. Jo thinks he doesn't have any actual ill intent. He's just a showman, playing to the crowds. Naturally, there's more to it than that - but I'm not sure there should have been. Jack is interesting in Episode One. Once all is revealed, he becomes just another routine villain to be routed. Michael Chance gives a good performance, playing Jack's lines as a man who is always showing off to an audience. His tone is mostly innocent in Episode One; then, in Episode Two, he takes on a harsher edge while still remaining the showman.
THOUGHTS:
The Magician's Oath is a story that I'd categorize as a "near miss." The imagery of the frozen Hyde Park and the victims caught in the disaster is eerie, horrible and beautiful all at the same time. That first episode is well paced, and Mike's initial encounter with Diamond Jack makes for a terrific scene. The cliffhanger is also good. At the midpoint, the story fully had me in its grip.
...And then proceeded to lose me about halfway through Episode Two.
The second episode still opens well, with a well-written confrontation that involves all of the regulars and Jack. But it's this scene that becomes the story's undoing. Everything is revealed all at once, in one big info-dump. By the time the scene ends, we know what happened at Hyde Park and why, and we know exactly what Jack's secret is.
At this point, there's still a good twenty minutes left in the story, but there's nothing interesting to fill that time. Instead, we get a pretty standard chase ending at Tower Bridge. Jack holds Jo hostage. Never mind that he has the power to freeze a park full of people without even trying - All of a sudden, the best he can do is become the umpteenth villain to menace Jo in a scene that feels like something straight out of a direct-to-video action thriller.
OVERALL:
The Magician Oath ends up as a disappointment, all the more because of how strongly it starts. The frozen over Hyde Park is a wonderful visual and a terrific narrative hook, and the first episode is both eerie and intriguing. Then the second episode devolves into standard villain clichés and ends with a routine standoff.
Would this fold neatly into the Pertwee era? Sure - but it would also rank among the era's weaker offerings.
Overall Rating: 4/10.
Previous Television Story: The Daemons
Next Television Story: The Day of the Daleks (not yet reviewed)
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