Doctor Who: Why The Caves of Androzani is one of the greatest stories

(Photo credit: Doctor Who/BBC.

Image obtained from: BBC.)

Broadcast on Twitch yesterday, we look on The Caves of Androzani as a whole, and why it’s still one of Doctor Who’s greatest ever serials.

Ok, I’ll admit it. I’ve used the whole “one of the greatest Doctor Who stories” headline before. (Specifically, for my review for Pyramids of Mars.) But in both cases, it’s a really justified title. Possibly even more so with The Caves of Androzani.

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I partially covered the reasons why in yesterday’s Twitch Watch article. But this is a story so good and so well made, that to really go into detail why, I needed to write a separate article.

But what is it specifically that makes The Caves of Androzani so greatly loved by the fans? It features a lot of elements common to many other Doctor Who stories, after all.

There’s the claustrophobic cave setting, for one thing. The Doctor and his companion get captured and escape often in this story, as in so many others. There’s even a monster deep within the caves. On the surface, there’s a lot that this story shares in common with other Doctor Who stories. So why has it always stood out for so many fans?

I think the first thing that leaps out are the characters. Every single one of them feels well written and believable. They’re also all well cast and brilliantly portrayed. And while there are two conflicting sides in this war, most people are surprisingly sympathetic, on both sides.

What’s really refreshing about the whole situation in The Caves of Androzani is that the war featured in the story isn’t simply a battle of good versus evil. Oh, there are some really nasty villains involved, no question there. But on the whole, the situation itself is far from simple.

Two opposing sides

What really helps is how brilliant a character Sharaz Jek is. The look of him is very iconic, particularly with the mask. And there’s no doubt that he’s psychologically damaged. Especially when he starts to obsess over Peri.

But is he a clear-cut villain? As much destruction as he’s causing through his actions, no, not quite. Yes, he’s fighting hard for control of the drug spectrox. But when you find out why he’s doing it, it’s hard not to feel some sympathy towards him. Especially when you meet the man he wants to get revenge on, Morgus.

I said most of the characters in this story are sympathetic. There are a couple of exceptions to this, and Morgus is definitely one of them. Virtually every scene he’s in, he’s just dripping with pure evil.

He’s essentially the very, very worst representation of corporate business. Showing an absolute lack of sympathy towards workers who’ve died in a (very convenient) accident is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to his level of pure evil.

Of course, the wonderful irony is that as much as Jek wants revenge on Morgus, Morgus himself is doing nothing but taking advantage of the whole situation. He’s employing very psychotic gunrunners to get him the spectrox he needs, which is only becoming more valuable as the war goes on.

So we’ve got two clear sides in this war. Sharaz Jek on one. Morgus on the other. For a while, it looks like the war has reached a stalemate.

Enter the Doctor and Peri.

The Fifth Doctor and Peri meet Sharaz Jek.

(Photo credit: Doctor Who/BBC.

Image obtained from: BBC.)

Escalation

Unsurprisingly, events start to change the moment the Doctor and Peri show up. But not in the way you might think. Usually, the Doctor would get involved and try to find a way of resolving the situation. But then again, usually the situation would be more black-and-white for him than it actually is.

What makes The Caves of Androzani stand out is that the Doctor’s and Peri’s very presence causes everything to escalate. Rather rapidly, too. In a review for Doctor Who Magazine, Robert Shearman said that The Caves of Androzani is often seen as a tragedy, but in some ways, it’s almost close to being a farce.

The reason for this is that this story is full of misunderstandings. And every single one of them causes the situation to get worse. Whether it’s the Doctor and Peri being mistaken for gunrunners, or whether it’s Morgus believing that the President is conspiring against him, there are just so many moments when characters make huge mistakes.

But unlike an episode of Frasier, these mistakes don’t simply result in hilarious and embarrassing consequences. Instead, it leads to a lot of death. And I mean a lot.

Violence

The Caves of Androzani is a story that features a lot of violence. Maybe not quite as much as Resurrection of the Daleks, just two stories previously, but it’s very close.

Usually, this is something I don’t like in Doctor Who. At least, not without plenty of stylistic and gorgeous horror to go with it, as we got during the Philip Hinchcliffe era. But the violence of the mid-Eighties was often very unpleasant to watch. Sometimes, it would be one of the only things a story would offer.

When I first watched The Caves of Androzani, I must admit, the violence was essentially the first thing I saw. As a result, I didn’t really enjoy it quite as much.

But on subsequent viewings, I started to realize there was one clear difference between this and so many other hugely violent Eighties stories. Specifically, that it genuinely works. There’s a reason for it in the story.

As I’ve mentioned, there are a lot of hugely sympathetic characters, on both sides. So a lot of the deaths in this story have impact. Some of them are huge and dramatic, especially towards the end of the story. Some of them are shocking and come out of nowhere. But all have a huge impact.

The Fifth Doctor loses half the antidote before he gets to the TARDIS.

(Photo credit: Doctor Who/BBC.

Image obtained from: BBC.)

Direction and score

How can I talk about The Caves of Androzani without mentioning how beautifully directed it is? Graeme Harper made his directorial debut with this story. Which is incredibly impressive, considering how brilliant the story is.

There are so many little touches that Harper brings to The Caves of Androzani. Whether it’s a great opening shot for the Fifth Doctor and Peri, or a perfectly set up special effect, Harper brings a strong sense of vision to this story. Everything is wonderfully shot, the lighting’s just right, and there’s a real sense of atmosphere brought to it.

One more thing that adds atmosphere? The score. For The Caves of Androzani, the score is easily one of the very best of this period, if not Doctor Who altogether. There’s a rich sense of atmosphere given to so many scenes. With the scenes of Jek in the caves especially, it really enhances the sense of creepiness to his character.

But it also does more than that. It also increases the tension and excitement. One moment that particularly stands out is the Fifth Doctor desperately running for his life from the gun runners. It’s incredibly intense to watch, and a big part of that is the amazing score.

Regeneration

Of course, one key reason that The Caves of Androzani is such a major story for fans to watch is of course the regeneration. And the reason for it is probably one of the very best of the entire series.

It’s not the Doctor saving the universe, like in Logopolis. It’s not even saving the life of someone he’s close to, not really. While there are a number of great Fifth Doctor and Peri stories in the expanded media, this was made immediately after her introduction, and you can tell. At this point, the Doctor isn’t even sure whether he likes Peri yet.

So as they’re both dying from the heavily poisonous spectrox toxaemia, the fact that he does everything he can to save her life is just incredible. The Fifth Doctor suffers so much in this story. He gets captured, tortured and even at one point taken off the planet, away from his friend.

And yet nothing stops him. Nothing. His desperation to fight on is beautifully summed up in the amazing cliffhanger to part three. As he’s crashing the ship he’s on, with the psychotic gunrunner Stotz pointing a gun at him, the closing line sums it up perfectly:

"I’M NOT GOING TO LET YOU STOP ME NOW!"

Final moments

And he doesn’t let anything stop him. Despite all odds, he comes through for Peri. And he makes sure to give her the antidote, even when it’s only enough for one. So the regeneration itself is a brilliant scene.

Especially as he’s so doubtful that it’ll work. In Logopolis, Four was certain that he would live on when the regeneration began. But Five isn’t so sure this time. His companions urging him on to keep going is a great way to send-off Five’s era.

My favorite part about the whole regeneration, though? The Master urging the Doctor to die. And while he hears his laugh, that’s when the regeneration kicks in. It’s like one last act of defiance on the Doctor’s part. One last way of telling his enemy – all his enemies – that he will always fight on.

In some ways, this probably explains Six’s considerably more aggressive attitude.

Overall, The Caves of Androzani is just an incredible piece of television. Everything about it is so brilliant. The writing, acting, directing, music, everything just seems to come together to create one of Doctor Who‘s greatest stories. Over three decades on, and that still hasn’t changed. An essential story to watch.

(And I did mention that my full-on review would be long, didn’t I?)

Next: First look at Series Eleven during World Cup Final on Sunday!

Is The Caves of Androzani one of your favorites? Did you enjoy watching it on Twitch the other night? What’s your favorite moment from the serial? Let us know in the comments below.