Posted in: BBC, Doctor Who, TV | Tagged: Andrew Cartmel, bbc, doctor who, dragonfire, russell t davies, sophie aldred, steven moffat, sylvester mccoy

Doctor Who: A Look at How Dragonfire Planted Seeds for "New Who"

The Seventh Doctor era of Doctor Who gets a bum rap from fans. It was the lowest-rated season that led to the BBC cancelling the show in 1989. It had its budgets cut when it had its most thematically coherent and ambitious storylines for years under story editor Andrew Cartmel. Sylvester McCoy's first season as The Doctor was much maligned as childish and silly, but it is getting re-evaluated by fans who are finding things to like about it. Things began to change with the final story in the Seventh Doctor's first series, "Dragonfire."

"Dragonfire" was Doctor Who at its most fun. The Doctor and Mel (Bonnie Langford) go to a trading colony called Iceworld just to hang out and agree to join a treasure hunt with space rogue Sabalom Glitz (Tony Selby). Glitz won a treasure map playing cards and hopes to use the treasure to buy back his ship, which is being held in hock for debts he owes. They're joined by a human teenager named Ace (Sophie Aldred), who had been snatched by a time storm from 20th Century Earth and is now stuck working as a waitress at a diner on Iceworld. They're doing the dirty work for an ice-based crime lord named Kane (Edward Peel), who wants to use the treasure to escape Iceworld and return to his home planet, from which he had been exiled.

The set design in "Dragonfire" might look dirt cheap, and the production values seemed to be mostly cardboard, but the story still had charm in its writing and cast. "Dragonfire" was the story in the Seventh Doctor's first series that fully embraced the aesthetic and satirical attitude of the 2000AD comic. This was the last of the lighthearted serials in the Seven Doctor years. Sylvester McCoy was still playing his clownish persona, but The Doctor's sinister, manipulative side, which would become prominent in the next two series, was starting to emerge. There's the hilarious philosophical discussion The Doctor has with one of Kane's guards to provide a distraction that becomes a complex debate about Existential as the guard is delighted to finally find someone to have a deep academic discussion with.

Ace was the First Modern Companion

It is here that writer Ian Briggs created Ace and set up the template for modern companions that Russell T. Davies and Steven Moffat would use when they ran the show. Ace didn't just get taken hostage and scream when monsters showed up. She was bolshy, and she was politically correct – anti-nuke, anti-racist, but specific. She liked to blow things up. She would go on to beat up a Dalek with a baseball bat. There still hasn't been a companion as tough as she was even in the current show, but Ace set the standard.

Doctor Who: Dragonfire is on the iplayer in the UK and Britbox in the US.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!