City of Death (1979) Review and its timey wimey structure

Douglas Adams has a tremendous legacy as the creator of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. He is probably one of the best-known writers to have worked on Doctor Who, with his skilful humour, quirky and imaginative style and absurdity. There is an underpinning of British humour and self-aware silliness which defines his writing. Whilst the Pirate Planet can be admired for its creativity and moral statement, City of Death is where you see the true mastery of Douglas Adams writing on display in Doctor Who with one of its best stories. Let’s delve in.

The plot of City of Death involves the Doctor and Romana in Paris in 1979 as they experience several disturbances in time. Meanwhile, a detective named Duggan is uncovering a plot by Count Scarlioni to steal the Mona Lisa. This all leads back to a scheme by Scaroth the Last of the Jagaroth going back in time to prevent the destruction of his race and his splintering across history. The Doctor, Romana and Duggan must stop him to preserve the history of the human race.

I’m not going to pretend to be an expert on Douglas Adams' work. I’m not especially familiar with his writing outside of his work on Doctor Who and mainly know it by reputation. However, just from his writing on Doctor Who, you can see where his skill lies in blending science fiction with witty British humour to point out an absurdity in humanity.

The intricate, complex and accessible time travel plotting and witty humour of City of Death is defining. It's an incredibly iconic story and a serial that would be a massive influence on a great amount of the show onwards from this point. You have a story that feels unique with a lot of out of the box elements that strangely play into the natural ingredients of Doctor Who. Douglas Adams plays with things that had been inside the toy-box but never played with.

This was the first time Doctor Who had shot abroad with a lovely trip to Paris for the production team. The excursions to the likes of Spain and Amsterdam in the 1980s often felt very forced and superficial. With Paris as its primary location, City of Death is marvellously identified by its setting. The travel log segments of the story are a joy and it gives the story a very luxurious and exotic vibe that is very pleasurable and fun. I’ve been to Paris many years ago and City of Death perfectly captures the spirit and essence of the city, and it's nice to see the Doctor and Romana on holiday enjoying themselves. Paris is known as a city of art and culture with its rich architecture and memorable pieces of artistic expression. Centered on the Mona Lisa and exploring the value of art, the story is in some ways about Paris itself, and its prominent featuring makes sense.

The movement and pace of City of Death is fairly laid back but there are always cogs in place and plot movement is always felt, which is vital. Douglas Adams structures the story cleverly as he dangles pieces of plotting, which eventually all gets pieced together into a satisfying story. The movement and energy of City of Death is created by expert writing and dialogue. There is a wittiness to the character dynamics and wacky humour with skilled sarcastic one liners which feels quintessentially British. The humour really elevates the plot and story, helpfully underpinning it rather than undermining it. The story has an energy that is entertaining, but the stakes feel very real and full of consequences. The cameo from John Cleese and Eleanor Bron kind of sits outside of this, but it’s a lovely and humorous moment.

One aspect I love in City of Death is the absurdity and silliness of the ideas. You have a time travel plot merged with a story about an alien trying to steal the Mona Lisa, which feels like a bizarrely strange mix. One of the best parts of Doctor Who is its strangeness, and I adore how City of Death just embraces that. The ideas are handled in a very accessible manner as it's unveiled to the viewer one piece at a time, and the scheme by Scaroth slowly begins to make sense. I think Douglas Adams creates a lot of comfort and faith in the way he handles his stories; there is a relaxed feel which benefits his writing and makes the plot feel very natural. It means the audience is interested in the absurd elements and wants to see how the story unfolds.

The time travel plotting of City of Death is geniusly constructed. I love how you see the events of Paris 1979 woven into the events of Florence 1505, which then enhances the stakes and dramatic weight of the death of the Jagaroth and beginning of humanity. It's nice to see different periods of time all tie together and it's all done with seamless pacing and movement. It was unconventional at this point to see time travel as a central aspect of a Doctor Who story, and City of Death demonstrates what a natural ingredient it is to the show. Douglas Adams maintains natural stakes across multiple time periods, which is very admirable, and it blends together with one single plot.

There is still a vital message to the story about the value of art with a seamless moral running through. You see different perspectives on art across the story, with Duggan’s pragmatic concerns and Scaroth and the Countess viewing it as a symbol of status and wealth. The Doctor shows that art’s true value is in its artistic merit, which is a worthwhile message that points out an absurdity in the classism of art culture.

The main menace of the story is Scaroth, the Last of the Jagaroth played by Julian Glover. Julian Glover is a well-known actor of villainous parts featuring in: Star Wars, James Bond, Game of Thrones and Indiana Jones. He had previously appeared in Doctor Who as King Richard the Lionheart in the Crusade, but I think his role as Scaroth is definitely his most memorable Doctor Who role. I really adore the idea of fragments of Scaroth having been splintered across human history and variants of himself working to achieve an end goal. There is something very creative and fascinating about that idea. The main version of Scaroth we see is the one from Paris 1979 who calls himself Count Scarlioni. There is something very calm, calculating and measured about Julian Glover’s performance that I really love. There is a gentlemanly sense of class and civility about him, with a suave and cultured personality that feels rather amicable. The calmness of Julian Glover’s performance is the perfect match for Tom Baker’s frantic and mad energy. Julian Glover plays against Tom Baker’s wacky and whimsical personality very successfully through his sarcastic, witty and blunt remarks. His calmness and rational approach to a situation make him feel effortlessly cool and threatening. There is a calculating anger and undercurrent of threat to Julian Glover’s performance that has the essence of a Bond villain. He’s skilfully able to manipulate and use much to his advantage as a means to an end.

There is a depth to Julian Glover’s performance, with a hurt and unhinged side to him. Being splintered across time is obviously going to have some impact on your sense of self, and I like the vulnerability that comes from Scaroth having the burden of his race and the guilt of the past lying upon him. There is a hurt, anger and struggle to Scaroth as a character which grounds him and makes him relatable. You understand the consequences of Scaroth’s intent, but he is nevertheless a sympathetic person because you feel for what he has lost. Scaroth has helped the human race to progress but looks at them as dirt, as he only did it for selfish reasons. There is a brilliant vanity and superiority to the character of Scaroth and his sense of personal achievement. He has a fascinatingly layered pain and backstory, which ultimately defines them and makes them relatable.

Scaroth is aided by a number of sympathetic hench villains which play an important role in the story. Scarlioni’s wife, the Countess, is played by Catherine Schell and there is a sense of wealth, dignity and status to her character that is well played with a lot of vulnerability. There are layers to the intentions of the Countess. It's clear she has fallen for the image which Scaroth has created. The wealth and criminal genius of Count Scarlioni appeals to her. You can see that she is rather ill-treated and controlled by Scarlioni and she pushes the doubts about him to the back of her mind as she is blinded by her admiration. Scaroth has clear dominance over her, and it isn’t until the Doctor confronts her where she is able to see the reality of the situation. Hermann, the Butler played by Kevin Flood, is also a lovely addition of a character and I like the bluntness of his aggression.

You have Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor here in his sixth season in the part, so he was well adjusted to the role. He is usually a joy to behold as the Doctor with his eccentric and silly personality, but he truly comes alive in this story through the writing he is given by Douglas Adams. The script gives Tom Baker full permission to play with the silliness and the humorous aspects of the Doctor. Tom Baker finds the perfect blend between being a dominating authority figure and a reckless rebel. There is a carefree nature to his personality in this story that I really love, with the Fourth Doctor easily able to take control of a situation through humour. I love his first meeting with the Count and Countess and the way the Doctor plays up his natural silliness. He has a very eccentric and wacky personality, but his flippant wittiness and immaturity skilfully manipulates the Count and Countess with the foolish role he plays. The same is the case with his confrontation with Captain Tancredi in 1505. Tom Baker wonderfully dials up the humour of his personality and it's enjoyable to see him winding up Scaroth and the guard. The moment with the camera is a particularly funny moment and feels like pure Tom Baker.

However, beneath that silly personality is a graveness and an age which you can feel throughout City of Death. There is a recklessness to the Fourth Doctor that is endearing, but he still takes the business of time very seriously, and knows the consequences of tampering with it. I love the intelligence of the Fourth Doctor that we glimpse beneath the silly personality. He subtly steals the bracelet from the Countess and you can tell from his interactions with Scaroth he is slowly figuring him out and deducing his scheme. The Doctor is clearly way ahead of everyone else. I really like the harshness of the Doctor in his confrontation with Scaroth. He isn’t willing to be pushed around and used by Scaroth because he knows the consequences of Scaroth’s plan and acts as a figure of authority. There is a silliness but dark authority which Tom Baker can expertly switch between.

You have Lalla Ward playing Time Lady Romana and at this point she is just getting into the swing of the part. She brings a hyperintelligence to the character, with admirable academic and scientific knowledge, which is very believable. Lalla Ward can pull off the technobabble and scientific dialogue with ease and make it feel like natural dialogue. Romana has a very rational and scientific brain and is easily able to deduce and work things out. I particularly like the way she is able to figure out there is a bricked-up room behind the cell. There is an intelligent superiority to the way Lalla Ward carries herself as Romana. She feels dominant and capable with control and ease over a situation. She brings the right qualities of innocence and age to work perfectly as a character. Having been sheltered on Gallifrey with a degree of naivety; she shows how she’s now learning from the Doctor’s experience. Lalla Ward takes the essence of the character Mary Tamm established and, in my opinion, improves upon it. Tom Baker and Lalla Ward also have incredible chemistry; there is a proper closeness and friendship between the two characters. They were a couple at the time, and I think their romance off screen translates to their chemistry on screen.

Tom Chadbon as Duggan is a very memorable character and a nice contrast to the intelligence of the Doctor and Romana. Tom Chadbon plays the comedic simplicity of his role rather well with Duggan’s blunt and simplistic tactics and attitude. Duggan is frequently out of his depth, but doing his best to deal with the situations he comes up against. His constant aggressiveness, narrow-mindedness and desire to thump anyone in his way makes him feel somehow endearing. He has great chemistry with Lalla Ward and is a fun comedic foil. Professor Kerensky is played by David Graham, who is well known as one of the original voices for the Daleks. There is a comedic quirkiness, intelligence, but dim-witted and naïve nature to Kerensky that makes you feel sympathy for him.

City of Death is directed by Michael Hayes, who previously directed the Androids of Tara and the Armageddon Factor in Season 16. City of Death has a greatly cinematic feel that is aided by the exotic location of Paris. It's framed in a very pleasing way, which presents the city at its best. Michael Hayes does a brilliant job of showing Paris from angles and positions which are interesting, unconventional and add variety to the scene even when the camera is stationary. The studio footage is also shot in a way that does not feel jarring with the location shoot and it blends together nicely.

So, how did I feel about City of Death? I think it’s a simply fantastic story that paved the way forward for Doctor Who. You have a plot full of peculiar ideas, but it all feels masterfully balanced and cohesively drawn together into a dramatic and high stakes storyline. City of Death embraces the silliness and the weirdness of Doctor Who and uses time travel as a core component with rewarding interwoven storytelling. Scaroth, the Last of the Jagaroth is one of the best individual Doctor Who villains with a sympathetic and interesting backstory. On top of this you have an exotic location, witty dialogue, interesting characters which contrast one another and fantastic performances from Tom Baker and Lalla Ward. Douglas Adams can balance silliness with darkness, stakes and a worthwhile message on the value of art, creating one of the very best Doctor Who stories.