Who Review: Snakedance

The TARDIS is off-course, and the only explanation is whoever read the destination coordinates made a mistake. Or did they? After all, it was Tegan who acted as navigator, and she is trying to take a nap, though her sleep is interrupted by bad dreams. The Mara is rearing its serpentine head again, and its dormant influence over Tegan is reawakening. It caused her to give the Doctor coordinates to Manussa, which was formerly occupied by the Sumaran Empire. It is there that the cult of Snakedancers still celebrate the Mara’s banishment, and conduct rituals to keep the Mara away. It is also the home of the “Great Mind’s Eye” crystal, which, when combined with smaller “Little Mind’s Eye” crystals can channel the mental power of the wearers to create matter. Meanwhile, on Manussa, the ruling Federator’s indolent son, Lon, has taken a sudden fascination with the legends of the Mara, and its prophesied return. But Ambril, an archaeologist and expert on the Sumaran period, is convinced the legends of the Mara are just that–legends. When the TARDIS crew arrive on Manussa, despite the Doctor’s best efforts, Tegan is overpowered by the Mara, and leaves to find the Great Mind’s Eye. The Doctor’s attempts to warn Ambril fall on deaf ears. Somehow, the Doctor and Nyssa must find a way to warn the Manussans and save Tegan, before the Mara returns and consumes them all…

SPOILER ALERT!! My comments may (and likely will) contain spoilers for those that haven’t seen this serial. If you want to stay spoiler-free, please watch the story before you continue reading!

For Doctor Who’s twentieth year, producer John Nathan-Turner wanted each story to bring back an old friend or foe (or both). The first story, “Arc of Infinity” saw the return of Omega, last seen in the Third Doctor story, “The Three Doctors” in 1973. For “Snakedance,” the production team didn’t reach very far back at all. The returning character is the Mara, last seen the previous season in “Kinda.” In that story, the Mara had taken over Tegan, and in the end was banished to the dark places. Banished doesn’t mean destroyed, and now its back with plans to stick around.

“Snakedance” was written by Christopher Bailey, who had written “Kinda.” He drew from the same pool of essentially Buddhist philosophy, but I think in “Snakedance” he did a better job making the ideas understandable to the layman. I particularly appreciated the lack of “Do you not see?” and “Do you not understand?” remarks that made “Kinda” come off as patronizing. Otherwise “Kinda” had some great acting, and was a good story. “Snakedance” also has some great acting (including a young Martin Clunes in one of his first lead roles), and is a good story.

Nyssa gets a change of clothes at last, sporting an 80s-style stripey skirt, red knee-length shorts, and blue-and-white wide-collar blouse. Martin Clunes is not quite so fortunate. His costume for the snake dance consists of a silky white tunic adorned with blue clouds, and a golden, sunshine headdress. I’m sure the symbolism is very meaningful.

I’m guessing the effects department learned some painful lessons from “Kinda.” The big snake at the end was a complete disaster (the CGI re-make on the DVD is excellent, which is a surprise–not all the CGI make-overs are that good). In “Snakedance” most of the snakes you see are fake, but they are small and used effectively. There is a big snake at the end, but it does look a bit more credible. Its death scene, with the strawberry and vanilla melted ice cream oozing from him, was a bit of a let-down. Though it would have catered many Manussan parties.

One particular oddity (at least to me) was the inclusion of the Punch and Judy show. The classic British puppet act involving acts of marital violence between Punch the Sociopath and his pan-wielding spouse was given a connection to the story by replacing the traditional crocodile character with a snake. But how on earth did Punch and Judy get to Manussa? Is there a Manussan legend of a traveling entertainer from Britain whose ship somehow ended up on Manussa, and, in exchange for the people’s hospitality, he gave them the gift of homicidal British vaudeville? Surely it would have been more appropriate to invent some kind of Mara-related entertainment that made sense to the Manussan culture. But no…

Complaints aside, the script is very good. Possibly my favorite part is when Ambril is showing the Doctor how ridiculously primitive the Sumarans were by holding up a headdress that is supposed to represent the six faces of delusion. “But look!” Ambril says, “There are only five faces.” To which the Doctor suggests Ambril try the headdress on. “Now count the faces.” Yes–the sixth face of delusion is the wearer’s own. A classic look of realization and foolishness on Ambril’s part.

In “Kinda,” we knew who was under the control of the Mara by the snake on the arm, and the pink coloring in the mouth (achieved no doubt by chewing one of those tablets they used to give us in school that colors the plaque on your teeth). This time, not only do we have the snake on the arm, but the victims face turns red. An interesting variation. I wonder if this was because the tablets tasted nasty?

At the end of “Snakedance,” the Mara has been destroyed, not just banished, but Tegan is shaken by the experience. The final scene, where Tegan is crying and the Doctor comforts her is not common in Classic Who. Recognizing that the audience mainly consisted of children, the producers didn’t often linger on the negative emotional consequences of the story. I think this is good, and the scene is well played.

“Snakedance” isn’t must-see Who, but it is worth watching. Despite their failings, this, and “Kinda” are good, thoughtful stories, with some excellent performances. And if you’ve loved Martin Clunes in anything else he has done since (e.g., “Doc Martin”), you ought to watch “Snakedance.”