The Doctor returns to the city to keep an eye on the Graff, leaving Romana, K9 and Garron to search for Unstoffe and the first segment.However, Garron double crosses them and steals the trac... Read allThe Doctor returns to the city to keep an eye on the Graff, leaving Romana, K9 and Garron to search for Unstoffe and the first segment.However, Garron double crosses them and steals the tracer.The Doctor returns to the city to keep an eye on the Graff, leaving Romana, K9 and Garron to search for Unstoffe and the first segment.However, Garron double crosses them and steals the tracer.
Bob Keegan
- Sholakh
- (as Robert Keegan)
John Leeson
- K9
- (voice)
Derek Chafer
- Leviathan Guard
- (uncredited)
Pat Gorman
- Kro
- (uncredited)
Yuri Gridneff
- Shrieve
- (uncredited)
Barry Summerford
- Shrieve
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- Robert Holmes
- Sydney Newman(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn the original script, the Graff did not murder the Seeker but instead sent her back to the Catacombs, whereupon the Captain set off the explosion to seal the caves (killing the Seeker in the process). Believing himself to be the prophecied survivor, the Graff - insane and hallucinating about past campaigns - then took an ammunition pouch from a supposedly dead guard. The Doctor would reveal himself at this stage while an explosion detonated, proclaiming the Graff's final end.
- Quotes
Romana: What do we do now?
Doctor Who: You go that way, I'll go this way.
Garron: Which way?
Doctor Who: That way.
Garron: Oh, that way.
Featured review
You Can Bet Your Scringe-Stone on This Story
As Unstoffe (Nigel Plaskitt) and Binro (Timothy Bateson) flee into the Catacombs, the labyrinth of crypts and caves that run beneath Ribos's main city of Shur, in Part Three of "The Ribos Operation" with the Graff Vynda-K's (Paul Seed) gold and the jethrik Unstoffe and Garron (Iain Cuthbertson) used to lure the Graff, it presages the schematic for Part Four, which is a tunnel chase that is not only the default "Doctor Who" fallback to stretch a narrative, it also indicates that Robert Holmes's splendid scripting through the first three parts has run out of gas.
Yes, Bateson, so moving in Part Three, gets a curtain call to reinforce Binro's pathos, and Seed, his Graff becoming progressively unhinged, shows both his casual cruelty and his wild-eyed fanaticism, particularly in his final scene with its non-diagetic sound effects suggesting the deterioration of his mental state. But this conclusion to the four-part story is a desultory wrapping-up of loose ends with no figurative bang to it even if there is an actual one.
Still, it is hardly a disaster, just a keen disappointment given the first three parts of Holmes's wry, winking, witty saga that launches the season 16 story arc "The Key to Time," which sends the Time Lord the Doctor and his fellow Time Lord and companion Romana to scour the universe for the six segments to the Key to Time, all disguised, before evil forces can do the same. It should be no surprise what the first segment, located on Ribos, had been disguised as; that was never meant to be a brain-teaser, only an amusing diversion.
With no location shooting, "The Ribos Operation" lived or died on the sound stage. Ken Ledsham's intricate production design creates a believable medieval urban setting based on Russian motifs, which are echoed in June Hudson's equally meticulous costuming, particularly the headgear. The shrivenzale is underwhelming as a monster, a typical "Doctor Who" bugbear, but there have been worse--and there are worse to come. (Hello, Erato and the Myrka.) Series mainstay Dudley Simpson supplies atmospheric incidental music that also suggests the Russian motif. Finally, director George Spenton-Foster keeps the pace going, providing momentum even during the tunnel chasing that bogs down Part Four.
The original "Doctor Who" incarnation was always a spit-and-baling wire proposition as the production team scrambled to provide content to fill about six months of every year. Perennially strapped for cash and time, they tried to develop strong stories with capable actors to deliver them. At the center of that were the writers who supplied the inspiration for others to flesh out.
Robert Holmes was one of the best at doing that, combining his love of language with his abiding theme of clashing civilizations and his droll humor highlighting the follies, foibles, and failings of human beings (even those playing aliens). "The Ribos Operation" stands as one of Holmes's best tales. You can bet your scringe-stone on that.
Overall rating for "The Ribos Operation," all four parts: 8/10.
Yes, Bateson, so moving in Part Three, gets a curtain call to reinforce Binro's pathos, and Seed, his Graff becoming progressively unhinged, shows both his casual cruelty and his wild-eyed fanaticism, particularly in his final scene with its non-diagetic sound effects suggesting the deterioration of his mental state. But this conclusion to the four-part story is a desultory wrapping-up of loose ends with no figurative bang to it even if there is an actual one.
Still, it is hardly a disaster, just a keen disappointment given the first three parts of Holmes's wry, winking, witty saga that launches the season 16 story arc "The Key to Time," which sends the Time Lord the Doctor and his fellow Time Lord and companion Romana to scour the universe for the six segments to the Key to Time, all disguised, before evil forces can do the same. It should be no surprise what the first segment, located on Ribos, had been disguised as; that was never meant to be a brain-teaser, only an amusing diversion.
With no location shooting, "The Ribos Operation" lived or died on the sound stage. Ken Ledsham's intricate production design creates a believable medieval urban setting based on Russian motifs, which are echoed in June Hudson's equally meticulous costuming, particularly the headgear. The shrivenzale is underwhelming as a monster, a typical "Doctor Who" bugbear, but there have been worse--and there are worse to come. (Hello, Erato and the Myrka.) Series mainstay Dudley Simpson supplies atmospheric incidental music that also suggests the Russian motif. Finally, director George Spenton-Foster keeps the pace going, providing momentum even during the tunnel chasing that bogs down Part Four.
The original "Doctor Who" incarnation was always a spit-and-baling wire proposition as the production team scrambled to provide content to fill about six months of every year. Perennially strapped for cash and time, they tried to develop strong stories with capable actors to deliver them. At the center of that were the writers who supplied the inspiration for others to flesh out.
Robert Holmes was one of the best at doing that, combining his love of language with his abiding theme of clashing civilizations and his droll humor highlighting the follies, foibles, and failings of human beings (even those playing aliens). "The Ribos Operation" stands as one of Holmes's best tales. You can bet your scringe-stone on that.
Overall rating for "The Ribos Operation," all four parts: 8/10.
helpful•10
- darryl-tahirali
- Mar 15, 2022
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