Well, after seeing so many of these old serials where Victoria’s role seems to be to get scared and scream a lot, it’s nice to see one where she’s a lot more competent and helpful.
Heck, she may even have to save the day.
See, the Great Intelligence is up to…something. If I didn’t know from seeing other serials that the Great Intelligence is never up to any good, I might not know what to make of that. Granted, I still don’t know what the Intelligence is up to, but at least I know he’s not some misunderstood figure or something along those lines. Furthermore, the mysterious Master and the Abbot are in on…whatever it is. Heck, at this point, all the Doctor and his companions really know about are the Yetis.
Oh, the Doctor does figure out a few things. Those spheres home in on the Yetis they are attached to if removed, something you think would get the Doctor and Jamie to hurry back to the monastery since Victoria is there with a Yeti that does wake up and go on a rampage until one monk opens the door and lets it out the front gate, an act that probably saved lives but got the monk in trouble with the grumpy warrior running security.
By the time this episode is over, the Doctor will be an ally to the warrior monk, despite the fact the two were on opposing sides up until this point. I mean, this Doctor never takes that sort of thing personally. It was very one-sided opposition. But it still happened.
Apparently, whatever the Great Intelligence is up to involves odd sounds that summon Yetis, drive Professor Travers insane, and can be countered by the Doctor and Jamie working that amplifier the Doctor found in his trunk back in episode one. Plus, the Master wants the other monks to leave the monastery so the Intelligence can do…something, but when the Doctor and the warrior guy get involved, well, no one leaves. Instead, the Doctor and Jamie get locked up.
So, that means Victoria saves the day? Well, maybe. She did get locked up, and after explaining to the friendly young monk how the Doctor has the TARDIS and he doesn’t even blink, she fakes a choking incident on some food brought to her and manages to sneak out of her cell and leave the two monks locked inside. That means she can let the Doctor and Jamie out of theirs, right? Maybe eventually. In the meantime, Victoria actually gets to see the mysterious (and very old) master, Padmasambhava.
I am very glad I know how to cut-and-paste stuff rather than type out that full name.
Anyhoo, Victoria can save the day now. Or start to. All she has to do is let the Doctor out of his cell.
Whether she does or she doesn’t remains to be seen…by me. This is a very old serial.
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