Customer Reviews

Doctor Who - Enlightenment [VHS]

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3 star:		(2)
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That's the message the White Guardian desperately tells Tegan in the final chapter of the Black Guardian/Turlough trilogy, which concludes with a fascinating concept dealing with immortal Eternals and mortal Ephemerals, in which being an Ephemeral is better. The Eternals are engaged in a spaceship race, where the craft are replicas of Earth vessels from various periods, with the officers and crew wearing uniforms conforming to a given period. The craft the TARDIS crew land on is an early 20th century Edwardian racing yacht, with the crew taken from 1901, the same year the first British submarine was launched. The prize? Enlightenment.

The Eternals don't have human ingenuity and imagination of their own, something that Ephemerals, or as Tegan says accurately, "human beings," are gifted with. The Doctor denounces them as parasites who feed on living minds.

Turlough's desperation is at a fever pitch here. He constantly beseeches the Black Guardian for advice, but by this time, the powerful being is fed up with the boy and has doomed him to living until he kills the Doctor. He looks more to the Doctor as his source of guidance and protection, but the weasel always working to better his position, especially when it appears he is joining sides with Wrack, the menacing pirate captain of the Buccaneer who has an equally menacing laugh. Kudos to Lynda Barron.

Tegan's her usual grumpy self, but she does show outrage when the Eternals react to the destruction of a rival competitor without compassion. Heck, I would be grumpy if I was being courted by a first mate who finds my mind fascinating.

In the dinner scene, the Doctor appreciates fine wine like he did in Day Of The Daleks. He also finds time to change his celery.

The best line is when the Doctor tells the seasick Tegan, "Brave heart, Tegan." To which the hapless Australian replies, "It's not my heart I'm worried about."

Marriner is the only Eternal who is the closest to likable, as he helps the Doctor aboard the Buccaneer. True, his obsession with Tegan makes him like a creep sometimes, but he is beginning to find out what it's like to be human. If he could choose, would he forsake his immortality in exchange for living with Tegan, or is his emotional insulation, as Romana would've called it, too advanced for him to actually care for her? It's almost like Wim Wenders' Himmel Uber Berlin.

The balance of power in the universe can be summed up in this exchange between the Black and White Guardian.

White Guardian: You will never destroy the light.
Black Guardian: Others will do it for me.
White Guardian: Destroy the light and you destroy yourself. Dark cannot exist without knowledge of light.
Black Guardian: "Nor light without dark."

That knowledge itself is enlightening.

This was always one of my favorite Doctor Who epidodes. It's mysterious, exciting, well written, and well played. A true Doctor Who classic. I'd put it in the top five of the greatest Doctor Who episodes. The "confrontation" between the Black and White guardians at the end is thought provoking, and an end is finally brought to Turlough's annoying two-facedness. The Eternals are brilliantly, even chillingly, well played. And while it has been mentioned that Captain Wrack (sp?) is far to emotional to be a true Eternal, I think that is easily explained by the mulitude of extreamly emotional people she is "feeding" off of. On the down side, the costumes of the Black and White guardians are less than impressive when compared to how they previously looked. I think a simpler aproach than the decked out outfits they were kitted up with would have worked better. But this is a small part of the overall story and doesn't really make that much difference.
This is a truly wonderful episode and a must for any Doctor Who video collection.

Enlightenment is surley the best Dr Who ever-Seriously! It is futuristic and is a joy to watch. Everyone puts in there best efforts and with a great storyline, GREAT musicand great outfits E.T.C It makes it probably the best Dr Who adventure of all time! COULDN'T RECCOMEND IT MORE!

Originally, I was never impressed with the final story in this Black Guardian trilogy. That's because I watched it as an edited movie, and it didn't seem to flow very well. But in its episodic parts, as on this tape, it works much better. I think the only problem I had with this story of timeless beings known as Eternals, racing through space in sailboats to reach the prize of Enlightenment was the performance of Linda Baron as Wrack, the pirate. It was a great performance, but all wrong for the character of the empty Eternal. She played the pirate over the top. Fun, but wrong for the story and character.

"Enlightenment" concludes a rather odd trilogy, 'The Reurn of the Black Guardian'. Mark Strickson shines in his OTT performance.There's a lot of charming moments, but also has a minor incosequential feel about it. The setting on board the ships is done very well. The Immortals are chilling cool. Although I do sense a lot of hidden sexual references throughout. We also see the White Guardian making his return since "The Ribos Operation", but we don't really find out a whole lot from both these Guardians. A little odd at times, probably because of the originality of the story, but worthy.

I think the title of my review sums this one up, but just incase... It's brilliant! The writer had a very creative and imaginative mind. This is so different from any other Dr. Who story, and yet keeps the true spirit of what Doctor Who is all about. Which, I suppose, is what makes this one so good. If they were all like this, I don't think I would like it so much. But that's what I like about it. It's not like all the others. It has a very good story in it. Keeps you wanting more and more as the story goes on. It's exciting, has good special effects, the Eternals are one of the spookiest beings in the history of Dr. Who, the music is very eerie, and ends with a final showdown with the Black Gaurdian in which Turlough must finally choose between killing the Doctor or suffering the wrath of the evil Guardian himself. Highly recommended!

I really enjoyed this doctor who adventure. I am not a big fan of Davidson, but this story had such an enchanted twist to it, that I very often find myself playing the tape again. The theme about ships floating in space is different and the various captains of each ship make for an enjoyable and wildly entertaining episode. Tegan is as annoying as ever with her constant moaning and complaining, but does manage to lighten up as she prepares to attent a wonderful dinner aboard the boat of Iraq. I must say that I very much enjoyed the actress who played the captain "Irag." She was awesome and a believeable villan. If you are not a big Davidson fan, but you want to buy just one tape from this doctor, this is the one to purchase.

The Doctor and the Tardis crew land on a spaceship at the urgent request of the White Guradian. The Doctor and his crew help the beings who belong to the ship with their space race. The Doctor suspects that one of the racers is out to win the race.The Doctor discovers the ship and tries to stop them. Turlough 's deal with the Black Guradian is finally over!The Black Guradian is finally defeated?

From what I remember of this story, having only seen it once, I wasn't too impressed. Just to correct a misconception of a previous reviewer, it was ETERNALS not humans who were racing to achieve enlightenment. There were humans on board the 'ships' but they were only part of the game.

Anyway, this story centers around Turlough (not really a good thing), and doesn't really make you sympathize with him, or in fact ANY of the characters involved. Captain Wrack was terrible. I really couldn't stand that character for some reason. As I watched the story, I found myself just wishing the race to be over so I could see the resolution and stop watching it.

On a good note, the end was ALMOST worth the wait. I won't reveal any more for the sake of those who have not seen it, but lets just say it makes a nice, final resolution to the Black Guardian Trilogy.

Not one of the better Who stories, but you should see it at least once anyway.

This is a great Peter Davidson episode, with a mystery to be solved, a group of humans in a race to win "enlightenment", and the Black Guardian himself. The true nature of the Guardians is evidenced in this episode, and Turlough provides an interesting twist on the plot. A must-see for Dr. Who and Peter Davidson fans.