Day 108 — April 18th 2021
The Dominators Episodes Three and Four
The Dominators — Episode Three
This is certainly the weakest episode of The Dominators so far, and I can’t help feeling that has something to do with the fact that this is also the episode with the screen time for the actual Dominators themselves. Now I’ve realised how funny they’re supposed to be they’ve quickly become my favourite part of the narrative, and I’m even coming round to the design of their costumes — somehow they really do suit the characters, even if they look ridiculous.
I’ve not come around to the curtain outfits worn by the Dulcians yet, though. They seem to have added sleeves to those outfits today and that somehow makes them even worse.
The one positive of spending less time with the Dominators today is that the Quarks get to take centre stage a bit more. They were curiously under-used in the last episode, so it’s nice to see them in full force today. The design of them is something I really like, and it’s telling that I can’t work out exactly how they move. I’m sure I read somewhere once that they employed children to be inside the costumes, and I don’t want to spoil the funny idea of that by double checking!
Their voices continue to spook me in just the right way, but I’m sad that we’ve not seen their brilliant POV shots since Episode One. They were achieved there with a rather snazzy overlay but the director seems to have given up on that entirely by this stage.
Another area where The Dominators continues to shine is the explosions. They’ve gone all out to make sure they’re the most exciting part of the story, and it works brilliantly. There’s a moment in this episode where Jamie blows up a Quark, and not only does the explosion look great, but I love that when the smoke clears we’re left with a tiny pair of Quark feet embedded in the sand!
A drop off from the first two episodes, but still a 6/10.
The Dominators — Episode Four
I’ll tell you what, the two Dominators facing off against each other is bloody good. I was going to quote some of their argument here, but the whole thing works surprisingly well, and it goes on for ages — but not in a bad way. It feels like one of those occasions where we’re watching proper drama, rather than silly old Doctor Who.
Yes, even though they’re still wearing those shoulder pads.
My favourite bit, which I will quote here, comes almost as a follow up to the main fight, when Rago and Toba take turns threatening each other;
Rago: ‘I will investigate the more advanced type of alien for myself. You will concern yourself with obeying my orders and nothing more. I will report your conduct to Fleet Leader.’
Toba: ‘And I shall protest at yours.’
Rago: ‘What did you say?’
Toba: ‘You’ve jeopardised our mission by unnecessary softness. You’ve humiliated me before members of an inferior race. Perhaps it is you who is not fit to be a Dominator.’
Rago: ‘You have the insolence to threaten me?’
Toba: ‘It is not unknown for a leader who is unfit to be replaced.’
Rago: ‘It is not unknown for a mutinous subordinate to be executed.’
Toba: ‘You would not dare.’
I’m loving the discovery that I really like the Dominators as characters, because I’ve spent the last eight years banging on about how rubbish and silly they are. It feels akin to the revelation that Maaga in Galaxy 4 is a surprisingly competent villain; totally unexpected.
The other characters in the story are of far less interest to me — the Dulcians are all pretty… well, dull. But I think that’s just another thing that makes the Dominators stand out, and why it’s so fun to watch them being thrown into this totally peaceful society and causing trouble. I love all the background noise when Rago storms into the council chamber;
Rago: ‘I require information.’
Counciller 1: ‘If you’d care to make an appointment...’
Counciller 2: ‘That is, I’m sure, the correct procedure.’
Rago: ‘Listen and obey me!’
Counciller 3: ‘Such discourtesy to our Director is not to be borne.’
Rago: ‘Silence! You will provide me with certain statistics. Open your files.’
Counciller 4: ‘Really sir, I must protest!’
Rago: ‘Protest? You defy me? You defy a Dominator?’
It’s so much more fun to watch than people standing up to the Dominators and fighting back — just that level of annoyance that they’ve invaded without following the proper procedure! Hah! I wouldn’t want it every week, but I’ll take it here as a fun one-off, which helps the story maintain the brilliant humour we’ve seen so far.
One other thing I’m loving, and we get to really explore in this episode, is the design of the Dominator’s space ship. It feels more modern than pretty much any of the designs we’ve seen in the series so far for futuristic locations like this, and I genuinely think you could get away with recreating it in the show now, with very few alterations, and no one would bat an eyelid. It’s fab.
And I love the little light-up Quarks on the wall, which flicker and switch off when one of them is destroyed outside the ship! That’s a brilliant idea, and it seems to get glossed over a little here.
A pretty strong episode, and another 7/10.
