Doctor Who (TV Series) City of Death: Part Four (1979) User Reviews

Is no-one interested in history?

[Sleepin_Dragon · 10/10 · 11 October 2019]

History indeed. I know there were problems with other channels, but 16.1 million viewers watched this when it first went out, had it been poor, people would have simply switched off.

It's been a thrill ride, a wonderful story, and the conclusion is fittingly, a brilliant episode. Everything is so neatly explained and answered. Tom is wonderful once again, he's charismatic and commanding. The scenes of him and Lalla running through Paris are awesome.

Overall City of Death ranks as one of the show's best stories, it's excellent, and super consistent.

Sadly the rest of Series seventeen would be a bit rocky, with some poor story lines, and of course the unfinished (and wonderful) Shada.

This one however, is wonderful. 10/10

The Land that Time Forgot...

[Xstal · 9/10 · 14 July 2022]

Contemplative fayre indeed, if you consider your own seed, the evolutions and probabilities, that led to your own eventualities.

The overwhelming take way, is what a great actor of sinister character Julian Glover portrays, and did so many times before and after.

S17: City of Death: Enjoyable and engaging, with good pace and tone throughout

[bob the moo · 30 July 2017]

City of Death features a comedy cameo by a famous comedian, the creation of mankind by an alien race, a companion in an overtly sexy but playful outfit, location shoots highlighting that we're in Paris, and several actors giving it a good slice of ham – all in a serial where the plot involves the theft of the Mona Lisa from the Louvre. Oh, and we also skip back to try to hook up with Leonardo Da Vinci. One could be forgiven for assuming that I was talking about a Matt Smith Doctor Who episode here, but actually we're still back with Tom Baker.

The truth is though, and Theo Robertson will probably not appreciate this too much; but this serial does rather fall into the "all a bit of fun, isn't it" mold of the newest seasons. That is not to say that it drives things to excess, or has lots of political agenda items rammed in there, but more that it has that playful lack of respect and sense of tomfoolery, while still managing to deliver a decent enough plot. Much like the new Doctor Who series though, it manages to be worth watching but at the same time it's not quite as good as it could have been. The serial does have fun energy though, starting with the death of an alien and then jumping to a vacation in Paris, then into a heist plot, then back into something more alien. It has plenty of nice ideas in there, and it benefits from having a nice dash of silliness across it.

The cast pick up on this. Baker is on good form. Glover manages to have fun but without making his character a joke. The supporting characters are less strong though. I found Ward to be a bit aloof and not getting the tone right; meanwhile Chadbon is solid enough but always seems a little lacking material. The location shoots are fun (despite feeling a bit obvious in their constant placement), and the special effects are good enough to do the job. While I didn't find it to be the tremendous romp or classic that it appears some others did, I did find it enjoyable and engaging, with good pace and tone throughout.