THE DOCTOR WHO RATINGS GUIDE: BY FANS, FOR FANS

1. Mawdryn Undead
2. Terminus
3. Enlightenment 		BBC
The Black Guardian Trilogy
A Story Arc

Story No#s 126-128 Turlough serves his Master... or does he?
Season 20
Dates Feb. 1, 1983 -
Mar. 9, 1983

With Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Sarah Sutton,
Mark Strickson, Nicolas Courtney,
with Valentine Dyall as "The Black Guardian".
Produced by John Nathan-Turner.

Synopsis: A young man named Turlough has been recruited for a special mission... kill the Doctor.

Reviews

Recipe for a Black Guardian Trilogy by Matthew Brenner 25/10/99

To prepare. You will need: One TARDIS, two Guardians: one black and one white, one English Public School boy with a piece of rock candy stuck to his hand, two female companions, one Brigadier, two dead birds (with feather on), and one Doctor.

Directions:

  1. Blend the first nine ingredients into a thick but smooth time-travel plot. Separate the Doctor and school boy. Double the serving by dividing equal parts Brigadier. To the first, add mustache, blue blazer, and queen s jubilee. Set aside with Nyssa and Tegan and allow to stand around giving orders. Let cool six years. Then add amnesia, flashbacks, epiphany and tea. Add liberal amounts location shooting, walks in the park, and "c'mon, back to the TARDIS." Using Transmat (in transmit mode), blend mixture and pour into pre-oiled Mawdryn ship, wait for two Brigadiers to meet: Zap! (Cooking times may vary.)

  2. Take previous ingredients, minus Brigadier, and bake slowly for 98 minutes in stationary space station at the center of the Universe. Slowly sprinkle on raiders, lepers, guards, and a Minotaur. Hide Turlough and Tegan away for most of the episode. When needed, extract them with fumigation. Repeat. Inject small amounts of a life-saving drug and radiation to the stew and top with a generous portion of "back to the TARDIS!" Salt, cure, and sift out the Nyssa.

  3. Combine the remaining two companions and the Doctor with garbled messages from the White Guardian. Increase power to the TARDIS, cook till well-done (the messages, not the TARDIS!). Add smoke flavoring, a dash of mischief from Turlough, fear from Tegan, and curiosity from the Doctor. Empty contents into Edwardian Sailing Yacht during the night. Put in one beautiful surprise of a cliffhanger! And the obligatory lack of excitement from the Doctor. Throw in a common earth crew comprised of hard men, harder rum...and SCUBA gear? Crush one Mariner on Tegan. Use telepathy to tie the naughty bits together (and plot holes as well). Add more great sets, great music, great effects, and a generous helping of "Back to the TARDIS!" Then put Doctor in the right place at the right time to prevent the baddies from winning the prize.

Garnish with celery stalk. Serves one well-fed but under-nourished television producer.