Doctor Who (TV Series) Terror of the Zygons: Part Four (1975) User Reviews

"You can't rule a World in hiding, you have to come out on the balcony sometimes to wave a tentacle." Great end to a great story.

[poolandrews · 8/10 · 5 July 2007]

Doctor Who: Terror of the Zygons: Part 4 starts the Zygons send the monstrous Skarasen down along the coast to swim up the Thames & attack the capital, they take off & have a jamming device which prevents any radar tracking them. Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart (Nicholas Courtney) has no idea where the Zygons have landed & is helpless, only the Doctor (Tom Baker) on-board the Zygon spaceship can save the Earth now...

This Doctor Who adventure was episode 4 from season 13 & originally aired here in the UK during September 1975, directed by Douglas Camfield I have really enjoyed Terror of the Zygons & it has become a firm favourite of mine, it would be great to see the Zygons make an appearance in the new series but I doubt it'll ever happen as they don't seem too interested in bringing classic monsters back. The script by Robert Banks Stewart has flown along like a rocket & I just prefer these faster moving four part stories as opposed to the plodding six or even the mammoth seven parters. This has been a great sci-fi horror plot that has body stealing themes, good character's, decent dialogue, Sarah Jane in sexy boots & even manages to incorporate the legend of the Loch Ness monster to decent effect. Overall I liked this immensely & recommend it to all.

The acting has been pretty good here, some of the Scottish accents are a touch strong but that adds to the fun. Tom Baker is just class as the Doctor, Sarah Jane is one of the best companions ever & they are both very watchable. Terror of the Zygons was Harry Sulivan's (Ian Marter) last story as a regular companion, he appeared in the show once more during The Android Invasion (1975) in two stories time & that was it. It was also the last time Bigadier Lethbridge Stewart was appear as a regular cast member although he did return in The Mawdryn Undead (1983) & a couple of other times during the 80's. Again some of the special effects here leave a lot to be desired in particular the Skarasen's attack on London although I really liked the organic looking interior of the Zygon spaceship.

Terror of the Zygons: Part 4 is a great way to round off a great story, it's become a personal favourite of mine in fact. Overall across it's four episodes I'll give Terror of the Zygons an impressive 8 stars out of 10.

End of an era, outstanding ending.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 10/10 · 20 October 2019]

The Doctor must escape The Zygon ship, and stop Broton causing a major incident in London.

This has an end of era feeling, it's the end of Harry, and the end of UNIT being commonplace, both would return in Android Invasion, but that's a whole new ball game. Hinchcliffe wanted to take the show in a whole new direction, and did that so well. Also the last we see of The Brigadier, until Mawdryn undead.

It's a gorgeous looking episode, the Zygons and sets look awesome, they got the lighting spot on. It has plenty of action, with monsters, explosions and unarmed combat, everything you want. I'm glad the Zygons returned, but always preferred the design of these Zygons. Favourite scene, the showdown between The Doctor and Broton, great use of shadows.

The Skarasen, it was the seventies, it always reminds me of The Chewits advert, not the most convincing monster, but the Loch Ness monster story surrounding it was great.

Great performances all round, Tom is outstanding, as are all of the regulars, a special mention for John Woodnutt, great as always.

It's so good, and deservedly gets huge praise. 10/10

S13: Terror of the Zygons: Solid serial with good design, locations, performances, and decent story

[bob the moo · 4 November 2015]

Summoned back to Earth by UNIT, the time-travelling trio of the Doctor, Sarah-Jane, and Harry, find themselves in Scotland. The Doctor is not amused to find that the Brigadier brought him all this way just to investigate some oil rigs being destroyed, however investigation of part of a wreckage appears to show a giant tooth mark. Meanwhile, Harry's own investigations seen him shot and hospitalized, making it clear that certainly something odd is going on – not least of which is the landlord's bagpipe playing.

Despite the so-so ending to the previous season, I was in the stride so carried on into the thirteenth season to find this solidly strong serial as the kick-off. The narrative is not without faults, as it very much follows the Doctor Who norm of 'monster of the week', cliffhangers, and disused quarries. It is engaging enough though, mostly because the plot devices are kept moving, so although specifics don't always make sense, by the time you start to question it, the serial has moved forward to the point where that plot device is not really relevant anymore, so it feels like less of a weakness. The drama does move forward well though, and this is one of the better examples of the Who staple fare. Not sure if my Scottish peer Theo would agree, but personally I did not find it distracting that every possible Scottish stereotype was wheeled out for this one – from jokes about tightness through to Nessie herself.

The production values of the serial also greatly help this feeling of robustness. The external locations look good, but it is the design of the Zygons that is most effective. Okay so they seem to share voice coaches with the Ice Warriors, but otherwise they are a creepy mix of suckers and beaks. Their ship has a wonderfully organic feel to it, and it does remind of David Cronenberg (albeit in a more family friendly way). The Nessie effects are probably the weakest part of the serial (indeed the idea itself is not great). Luckily the creature is not seen too often, because when it is, it does look like a dead greyhound in a Halloween costume. The cast all give good performances, with Baker on good form again; I like that there is not 'one thing' about him that n tends to dominate viewings (ie he is not 'serious', 'action-orientated', 'wacky' etc) but that he is able to play well across all situations as seen here. Sladen is solid again, while Marter is significantly better than his character last season (okay not the actor's fault, but still, it seems I was not alone in not liking him since he has been changed here). Courtney (and UNIT generally) is a welcome return to the series, while the supporting cast are all solidly good.

The serial perhaps is too much on-formulae to really surprise and stand out as a great serial, but it is a solidly good one which plays along the lines of many other serials but does so with higher standards and tighter control than may always be the case.

Monstrously Good!

[A_Kind_Of_CineMagic · 10/10 · 22 November 2014]

Review of all 4 episodes:

This tremendous story opens one of best seasons of the show's history in superb style. Tom Baker's first season, Season 12 was fantastic, as good as any season up to then, with producer Philip Hinchcliffe and script editor Robert Holmes establishing what I feel stands as the greatest era of all time. Season 13 would turn out to be even better and this story starts the season at top level.

Much like other occasional stories in Doctor Who over the years, before and since 2005, this story has an element to do with an iconic idea or legend (like werewolves, vampires, ghosts etc). In this case the Loch Ness monster. Ironically the realisation of the monster on screen is the only real negative in this great adventure. However, it is actually a very small aspect of the story and does not detract from it for me.

The story is that an alien race called the Zygons have had a small group hiding in Scotland for a few hundred years and that the Loch Ness monster is actually a cyborg monster, the Skarasen, they intend to use as a weapon. The Zygons have a very long term plan to conquer Earth and change it to suit their needs in readiness for the arrival of the rest of the Zygons who are spread across the galaxy after Solar flares destroyed their home planet. They are able to transform themselves into humans that they have captured and using this and the Skarasen the plan is kicked into action.

The Zygons are fantastically good alien villains. They look brilliant, are menacing and scary as well as having good dialogue. The story is exciting, thrilling, fun and humorous. The Zygon ship is great and other effects such as an explosion in episode 4 are really well done. The skarasen monster is realised badly on screen as it is a pretty poor puppet and is a small distraction but thankfully has very little screen time and is the only effect that is not good. The setting, the music, the action and the direction by the great Douglas Camfield are all top notch.

The acting is wonderful with Tom Baker, Elisabeth Sladen, Nicholas Courtney, Ian Marter and John Levene all terrific as usual. It is sad that UNIT would be fazed out from this point. Guest performances from John Woodnutt and Lillias Walker are especially good and the whole cast is strong.

The dialogue and plot keep excitement and interest throughout. The lack of importance given to the monster allows the story to still be a 10/10 classic. If it was re-released with a CGI monster it would eliminate that one fault but even with the occasional, disappointing appearances by the Loch Ness monster/Skarasen, this is a classic adventure of extremely high standard and great fun.

All 4 episodes 10/10. One of my favourite stories.

80: Terror of the Zygons

[Tom-Gentile8 · 10/10 · 28 July 2018]

"Well, you can't rule the world in hiding.You've got to come out onto the balcony sometimes and wave a tentacle, if you'll pardon the expression."

As a child who grew up and loved "New Who", I was introduced to the Zygons in The Day of the Doctor and given another story within The Zygon Invasion/Inversion. Both of these episodes have a very special place in my heart, so the thought of their first (and only other) story rising above them was completely unexpected. But, from the first few seconds of this serial I knew it was gonna be something special. Philip Hinchcliffe's effect on the show is obviously in full force as we're given the darkest and most eerily disturbing U.N.I.T story in the history of the fictional organization. I obviously wasn't scared by this but I received an uncanny, creepy feeling while watching these parts that I haven't felt since Series 6 in 2011 when I was ten, and thought Doctor Who was the scariest television show I'd ever experienced. Those were the days...

Part One - July 24th Part Two/Three - July 26th Part Four - July 27th

Zygonners...

[Xstal · 6/10 · 29 June 2022]

A furious mad dash to find and catch hold, before the Zygon masses start to take over the world, the Skarasen in tow, up the Thames is doth flow, the Loch Ness Monster has become rather bold.

A bit of an anti-climax.