Jaconda Forever

I remember liking this story, but this episode did seem rather slow to get going. I’m not sure the previous cliffhanger turning out to be totally irrelevant to the story helped it. I mean, the TARDIS falls off a cliff, and then it’s barely mentioned again? Seems like they could have landed in the Roman Empire and been attacked by slave traders or something for the cliffhanger. At least then it would have had some relevance to the story. The lecherous way the slave buyer asks about “The British woman” does not fill me with confidence that issues related to sexual violence will be handled appropriately for a children’s show in this story.

So was the Doctor’s plan to put a cap in Bennett’s ass? That seems very un-Doctor-like, although I suppose the character is still getting fleshed out at this point in the show’s history. I also got Bond villain vibes from Bennett as he explained his evil deeds to the Doctor. Odd that Vicki’s first impression of the TARDIS crew is that Barbara is the murderous animal killer, while the Doctor is the suave charmer. Come to think of it, I don’t understand why the plot required Barbara blasting Sandy. But still, nice to have Vicki on board. I used to work with somebody named Maureen O'Brien . I wanted to mention to my coworker that there was an actress from my favorite show that had the same name as her, but an obscure companion from 50 years ago on a show that's only slightly less obscure to American audiences seemed too weird to bring up.