Survival

D'ya know any nice people? Y'know, ordinary people, not power-crazy nutters? - Ace

Survival is an oddly apt and equally ironic title for the last ever Doctor Who serial, because surviving is exactly what the franchise had been doing during the late eighties, but to look at this one, you do wonder why the series never carried on from strength to strength.

Classic Doctor Who has a typical format, craply done with some flimsy scripts, yet oddly enticing all the same, and that's not to say there weren't some diamonds in the rusting crown, Talons of Weng-Chiang is an example of Doctor Who at it's supremely best.

This story combines the beginnings of truly good visual effects in Doctor Who with some above and beyond acting. Of course nowadays we're treated to CGI wonderment on a grand scale, the population's gone up since 1989 so there's a lot more people paying TV Licence. All the same this story actually benefits from the lower budget, as the mangled moggies marauding Ace's old streets become all the more sinister for how fake they look, yet at how realistically they move.

One thing about Survival that maybe few will agree with. This is truly scary. Well, unsettling would be a better world because it's so alien, and yet at the same time it's very grounded within us, making a commentary on the animalism that still threatens to surface. The choice of setting for Ace's old haunting grounds can't be taken lightly, as this run down working class area contrasts with the savagery portrayed by the cheetah's, it allows us to discern how civilised even the 'wasters' - as Patterson describes them are compared to what our ancestors were.

Survival is intricate and thought provoking on a scale that I find hard to match in the revival, or even in most of the Who I've witnessed. What makes the last monsters of 80's Who really scary is the fact they aren't governed by malevolence, but by instinct, and indeed The Master, in his third incarnation's last appearance becomes considerably more sinister as his internal struggle from being corrupted slips away from him.

One scene which has particular poignancy with me is after The Doctor is presumed dead in the explosion (having instead landed head first in some bin bags), Ace solemnly dons The Doctor's hat and reflects on everything that's occurred in the space of an afternoon, it shows the vastness of loss for Ace and makes for a fitting performance in Ace's departure from the show, and in doing so, finally calls the TARDIS 'home'.

A beautifully evocative piece that's capped off by some of the best performances by McCoy and Ainsley in their last confrontation in the street, the face off of bitter rivals is the only time we've seen such silent contempt for the Master expressed by the Doctor, something which makes for brilliant television and shows The Classic series can even excel against it's more modern iterations.