DVD Extras include:
- Audio commentary by actors Tom Baker (The Doctor),
Gareth Armstrong (Giuliano),
producer Philip Hinchcliffe,
and production unit manager Chris D'Oyly John.
- "Secret of the Labyrinth" making-of featurette
- "Bigger on the Inside" history of the TARDIS featurette
- "Now and Then" Portmerion location featurette
- "Beneath the Masque" featurette
- Pop-up Production Note Subtitles
Buyers' Guide Review
by Martin Izsak
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(A more in-depth analysis, containing "SPOILERS" and intended
for those who have already seen the program, can be accessed
here.)
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The new season begins with some general changes to the show.
The font used for opening titles and credits for the next four years
is much thinner and elaborate - a nice change for variety, and it looks
more sophisticated too. And then there's the TARDIS interior.....
The TARDIS gets full marks for visual literacy this time. We start
with a nice little tour of the deep interior, followed by a proper
introduction to the darker, wood-paneled, second control room. Nifty.
Nice for variety. The scanner screen is a definite improvement - the
first time it has ever really been up to standard, in fact.
Lots of nice TARDIS movement for those of us who like it, and demonstrating
the interior/exterior relationships nicely enough.
On to Rennaissance Italy, the period and costumes are fresh and
brightly coloured, and work particularly well in combination with the
location to give the right atmosphere for the time. A bit of helix
energy tracks about the scene as well, nicely reminding everyone that
this is a sci-fi show.
Musically, Dudley Simpson comes up with a few really nice
period versions of the Fourth Doctor's Theme here and there, but
the score isn't otherwise terribly memorable. Here Simpson begins
an absolute monopoly on the program's music for the next four years,
which I'm not sure was the best course for the program. As good
as Simpson is, the challenge to continue to be fresh, inventive, and
memorable with each story is rather steep.
Astronomy clashes with Astrology in this story, which sounds like
a topic as worthy as science vs. magic. But "Masque of Mandragora" never
became as popular as the "The Daemons" (story no. 59), partly because it
doesn't capitalize well on this theme. There are the odd interesting scenes
of the Doctor countering the views of Hieronymous, but these are too
few and far between to carry much weight. Nicely, it is the future
of science that is said to be at stake in the story. Many of the best bits
concern the simple languaging of ideas: science sounds mystical when
reduced to a vocabulary of a simpler time. Then of course there's
the classic question of how Sarah can understand Italian. It comes
up quite logically, after the Doctor recites a quote in Latin.
This also really is the first place the Doctor has taken Sarah where she
would know that the inhabitants should be speaking something other
than English.
The way that the Doctor uses her question is ridiculous though;
if you don't mind reading spoilers, I go through it point by point
in the In-depth Analysis version of this
review.
The story is bogged down by an overindulgence in two very boring
elements. The worst is the cult of the Brethren of Demnos. A horde
of zombie-like non-characters chanting supplications to some mystic
megalomaniacal deliverer as they go about their morbid rituals makes
very dull sci-fi viewing. The Doctor's first encounter with them
is ridiculously dialogueless and dispassionate.
And that's only the beginning of the clichés, which continue with
Sarah going through an overly lengthy sacrifice routine, twice.
When the plot isn't dragging itself through this form of padding,
it's going through another: the very Shakespearean court intrigue between
Prince Guiliano and his uncle Count Federico. It contains no real
mystery, as everything is laid out plain as day for the audience,
and gone over and over again in great detail for three episodes.
It does not really move forward and develop either. It results mostly
in scenes of the two parties sitting around and whining
about their problems. Once in a while, there's a good bit of running
around on the excellent location, and some very playful and safe sword
"fighting", but no real plot developments spring from these sequences either.
I'll save my discussion of the final episode's plot for the
In-depth Analysis version of this review,
but suffice it to say that many less-than-ideal ways to use the characters
during this episode leave the conclusion of the story quite disappointing
as well.
The Mandragora Helix does its best stuff early in the story.
The later zapping powers
are better beam weapons than the usual Hinchcliffe era
superimposed blob lasers, but seem less spectacular than that used in
"Planet of the Spiders" (story no. 74).
And the ending is questionable, for more reasons than I will discuss
in this version (by now you know where to go to find them, after
you've seen the show).
The Eavesdropper
One thing I will point out even here, is that where the
Hartnell and
Troughton Doctors have
the habitual flaw of going missing for entire episodes at a time, and the
Pertwee Doctor
has the habitual flaw of becoming the
Man of Sleep,
Tom Baker's Doctor has a habit of running around
and hiding in the shadows, while the guest characters dominate the
dialogue without the Doctor's viewpoint having a chance to interact.
This dynamic heightens itself in the final episode of "Masque of
Mandragora", and... enough said for this version of my review.
Although this story is a bit of a cosmetic breath of fresh air from
the usual season thirteen fare, it doesn't really deliver fresh subject
matter, just new packaging for the same old stuff that has been done
better elsewhere, and in particular fails to capitalize on the
astrology vs. astronomy philosophical struggle that could have been
a stronger centerpiece for the story. Mysticism gets no real credible
or sympathetic voice in this piece,
rather it is simply portrayed as power-seeking manipulation and trickery.
The story definitely has its
wonderful moments, and is miles ahead of both
"The Brain of Morbius" (story no. 84) and
"The Android Invasion" (story no. 83),
but in the end, I think the new season's
Wooden Turkey Award will come home to roost on Mandragora's Altar.
The Louis Marks Stories Ranked (best to worst):
-Planet of Evil (story no. 81)
-Day of the Daleks (story no. 60)
-Planet of Giants (story no. 9)
-The Masque of Mandragora
This story is available on DVD and VHS video:
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DVD NTSC Region 1
for the North American market:
in the U.S.
in Canada
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DVD PAL Region 2
for the U.K.
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VHS Video
NTSC
A
in the U.S.
NTSC
B
in the U.S.
NTSC
in Canada
PAL
for the U.K.
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